Although a trial with Sunderland came to nothing, in late 1921 he turned out for Bristol City's reserve team and, despite the local paper's opinion that he and another trialist "may develop into useful players, but neither were sufficiently experienced for Southern League football",[4] succeeded in earning himself a contract with the Second Division club.
"[7] On Easter Monday, he was "outstanding" as Bedlington beat hot favourites Blyth Spartans 5–0 to win the Northumberland Senior Cup on their first appearance in the final.
[10] He made his Football League debut in the opening match of the season, on 26 August 1923 at home to Leicester City, and reportedly performed well in difficult circumstances after the loss of the experienced left half Tommy Bleakley to injury.
[15] Shortly afterwards, he received a telegram offering him terms from Darlington, a club from his home area newly promoted to the Second Division as Northern Section champions; according to the Hull Daily Mail, he "regard[ed] it as probably all for the best" that he had already found employment.
[17] Adey played regularly for Swindon, occupying the left-half position, and helped the team finish sixth in the table and reach the second round of the 1925–26 FA Cup.
He was mainly used at left half, but played at inside left for a spell in mid-season during which he scored both goals in a 2–1 win against Barrow and a "delightful" goal in a heavy defeat at home to Rotherham United combined with a bad miss from close range and a general performance that showed the Sheffield Sports Special that he was "not a success at the inside forward position, otherwise a different score would have been recorded".