Some of the most legendary names in sport have been blowing out their birthday candles this month, opening a mass of congratulatory cards and eating their celebration cake.

It’s hearty congratulations to that now-reformed alcoholic Tony Adams on his 40th birthday (October 10) - one of the greatest and most graceful centre-halves ever to decorate Arsenal’s back four. When George Graham needed a captain and leader of troops, Adams answered the call, only for his fairytale almost to go disastrously wrong.

As a 17-year-old, Adams was the teenage wonder kid who had it all. He came spectacularly through the youth team at Highbury before becoming an established folk hero. Now a proud holder of several Premiership medals, he can look back to the old days mostly with affection.

Adams might have served his boot-cleaning apprenticeship at Arsenal but all the toil and drudgery does seem to have been worth it. He became an England skipper supreme and the defender was a rock at the heart of the national side’s defence. Adams was never one to kick lumps out of opponents and he read the game in front of him with enormous intelligence.

Now, after a spell behind Her Majesty’s prison bars and several hundred pints of lager, life has taken a kinder turn for Adams - and he can almost smell the roses. He is the trustworthy assistant to Harry Redknapp at Portsmouth and enjoying every moment of a colourful life.

It’s also many happy returns (October 23) to the legendary Pele, the Brazilian footballing giant and world-class superstar. In the whole turbulent history of football, few more naturally talented and exceptional players have ever kicked a ball. If he’d been a painter, poet or sculptor, Pele would probably have been a peerless genius.

Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Pele), 66, has picked up his bus pass and pension and put up his magical but now retired feet. As another 17-year-old he became one of the youngest footballers ever to play in the World Cup. In the 1958 finals in Sweden, the handsome Brazilian sorcerer showed us the full bag of his tricks. There was the juggle on the head of the ball, the stylish body swerve and the devious dummy of defenders. He could also shoot destructively, even from the half-way line.

But the lasting images of Pele will always be carved in our memories. Who will ever forget him lovingly hugging Bobby Moore after the Brazil-England master class in the 1970 World Cup? In that same famous battle royal, Gordon Banks made one of the best saves ever. From the moment Pele sent his bullet of a downward header towards the net , a goal seemed certain. But England keeper Banks performed that miracle of all saves.

In cricket, October produced one of the most controversial players that England and Australia will always remember - and in some cases despise. Douglas Jardine was one of the villains of the piece in the famous Ashes ‘Bodyline’ tour of 1932-33. Alongside the balletic and long-legged Harold Larwood, Jardine, who died in 1958, was the skipper and cunning strategist behind England’s terrifying bouncers.

From a more recent vintage, it’s birthday greetings to that former England skipper and excellent all-rounder Tony Greig (October 6). As tall as a giraffe, he was a remarkable spinner with an amazing action. Greig jumped, bounced and then flicked the ball into baffled batsmen. He could also bat as if his life depended on it.