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Sol Campbell

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Sol Campbell
Personal information
Full name Sulzeer Jeremiah Campbell
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Position(s) Centre back
Youth career
1989–1992 Tottenham Hotspur
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–2001 Tottenham Hotspur 255 (10)
2001–2006 Arsenal 135 (8)
2006–2009 Portsmouth 95 (2)
2009 Notts County 1 (0)
International career‡
1994–1996 England U21 11 (2)
1994–2006 England B 2 (0)
1996–2007 England 73 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:17, 20 September 2009 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19:49, 21 November 2007 (UTC)

Sulzeer Jeremiah "Sol" Campbell (born 18 September 1974) is an English professional football player, without a club. A central defender, Campbell has previously played for the English domestic clubs Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Portsmouth and Notts County, and the English national team.

Born in East London to Jamaican parents, Campbell was the youngest of twelve children. After an education at The Football Association's school of excellence at Lilleshall Hall, Campbell's professional debut was at age 18 for the North London based English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in December 1992. Campbell spent nine years at Tottenham, scoring 10 goals in 255 appearances, and captaining the team to victory in the 1999 Football League Cup Final against Premier League side Leicester City. Tottenham failed to finish higher than seventh position in the domestic league while Campbell was with the club, and in 2001 he controversially joined Tottenham's fierce rivals and North London Premier League neighbours Arsenal, in order to compete in European football. Being out of contract, Campbell's free transfer to Arsenal was the first high profile Premier League 'Bosman transfer'.

Campbell's most succesful domestic club period came in his five years and 135 appearances at Arsenal where he won two Premier League winners medals and three FA Cup winners medals, encompassing the 2001-02 League and FA Cup double, and being part of the team that became known as The Invincibles for their undefeated 2003-04 Premier League campaign. After being left out of the team for the 2005 FA Cup Final, and controversially walking out of a League game against West Ham on 1 February 2006 at half-time after a bad performance, Campbell returned to the side that contested the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final, scoring Arsenal's only goal but eventualy losing 2-1 to FC Barcelona. Despite signing a three-year contract in 2005, the 2006 Champions League Final proved to be Campbell's last game for Arsenal, and he subsequently asked to leave the club in July 2006 to seek a "fresh challenge".

After being released from his contract, in August 2006 he joined Premier League side Portsmouth on the south coast of England, on a free transfer. His subsequent three years and 95 appearances for Portsmouth included captaining them to success in the 2008 FA Cup Final against Championship side Cardiff City. At the end of the 2008-09 season, with Campbell's contract at Portsmouth having expired, he made the surprise move to drop down three levels of the English football pyramid and join the League Two side Notts County of Nottingham on a free transfer. Campbell signed a five year deal at the club where his former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson had recently become Director of Football. In another surprise however, in September 2009 it was announced that Campbell had left the club by mutual consent, having played just one game.

As an international footballer for England, Campbell gained his first full England cap aged 21, in a friendly match against Hungary at Wembley Stadium in May 1996. It was his only senior cap before being called up for the 1996 European Championships the following month, hosted in England. In May 1998 Campbell became what was then England's second-youngest captain, after Bobby Moore, aged 23 years 248 days. Campbell's first and only goal for England came in the 2002 World Cup in the opening group game against Sweden, although he has twice had tournament stage goals disallowed for infractions by team-mates, first against Argentina in the second group game of the 1998 World Cup, and then in the Quarter Finals of the 2004 European Championships against Portugal. In 2006 Campbell become the only player to have represented England in six consecutive major tournaments, playing in the tournament stages of the 1996, 2000 and 2004 European Championships, and the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups. Three more caps in the last games of the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying stages brought Campbell to a career total of 73 England caps. England's failure to qualify for that tournament saw the replacement of Steve McClaren as England manager with Fabio Capello, who as of September 2009 has not called on Campbell to play for England.

In addition to his England caps and domestic winners medals with Tottenham, Arsenal and Portsmouth, Campbell's honours in the game include being named in the official Teams of the Tournament for the 2002 World Cup and 2004 European Championship, and in the Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year three times, in 1999, 2003 and 2004.

Career

Early career

Campbell went to Portway Primary School in Stratford.[1] He was a prodigious schoolboy talent and was part-educated at the FA's School of Excellence at Lilleshall, where he met table tennis player and later football agent Sky Andrew.[2] Campbell signed for Tottenham Hotspur, where he began his career as a striker.[citation needed]

Tottenham Hotspur

Campbell made his first team debut for Tottenham in December 1992, scoring a goal after coming on as a substitute for Nick Barmby, though he did not appear again that season. He played up front and in every defensive position over the course of the next two seasons before settling as a central defender. As club captain Gary Mabbutt's appearances became more limited because of injury and age, Campbell became Spurs' linchpin defender.

He was entering the last year of his contract with Spurs. Although Campbell successfully captained his side to a League Cup final win over Leicester City in 1998-99, Spurs never finished better than seventh during Campbell's time there. This denied him his wish to play at Europe's top level, the Champions League.

In the summer of 2001 Campbell's contract expired. Mindful of the Bosman ruling, Tottenham offered him a contract which would have made him the club's highest paid player ever, but after months of negotiations and several public assurances that he would stay at Spurs, Campbell stated his wish to leave the club in order to play Champions League football. Several top European clubs expressed interest in signing him, but he joined Arsenal - Tottenham's biggest rivals - on a free transfer. Campbell had previously stated in an interview with Spurs Monthly magazine that he would never play for Arsenal.[3] Ever since, he has been labelled "Judas" by Spurs supporters.[3][4] Years later the bitterness from Spurs supporters remained; in January 2009, four Tottenham Hotspur fans were banned from every football ground in England and Wales for three years after being found guilty of chanting an offensive song (containing homophobic and racist language) aimed at Campbell.[5] The following month, the Daily Mail listed Campbell #1 in a list of "football's biggest traitors".[6]

Arsenal

In his first season at Arsenal (2001-02), Campbell enjoyed immediate success, as he won both Premiership and FA Cup winners' medals as Arsenal won the Double. During the season, Sol was partnered at the back by either Tony Adams or Martin Keown.

In 2002-03, Campbell maintained his Arsenal and England place, but an injury he suffered towards the end of the season curtailed the Gunners' title chances and he also missed their successful retention of the FA Cup due to a suspension brought on by a red card against Manchester United. The following season Campbell regained his place and his defensive performances were instrumental as he helped Arsenal regain the Premiership title without losing a single game.

Campbell continued to play for Arsenal, winning an FA Cup winners' medal in 2004-05.

In the 2005-06 season, Campbell was blighted both with injuries and a loss of form.[7][8] In Arsenal's 3-2 home loss to West Ham United on 1 February, Campbell was largely responsible for West Ham's first two goals, before being substituted at half-time. Unusually, he then left the stadium, not staying to watch the second half. His team-mate Robert Pirès commented that Campbell was facing a "big worry" in relation to his private life,[9] and Campbell did not make any contact with the club for several days. However, he resumed training with his team-mates on 6 February[10] and after 10 weeks away from first team action made his return in a draw away to Portsmouth on 13 April, although he sustained a broken nose in the process and had a short layoff while it was operated on.

He was back playing on 25 April in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Villarreal in Spain; a 0-0 draw on the night put the Gunners into the final. In the Champions League final at the Stade de France in Paris, Campbell scored the opening goal, a header from a free kick taken from Thierry Henry after a foul on Emmanuel Eboue. However ten-man Arsenal went on to lose 2-1 to Barcelona. Sol Campbell also holds the distinction alongside Teddy Sheringham, Steve McManaman, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard as one of 5 Englishmen to have scored in the UEFA Champions League final.

On 8 July 2006, Arsenal announced that Campbell had parted ways with the club in order to seek "a fresh challenge".[11] He made 197 appearances for Arsenal, scoring 11 goals, in all competitions.

In 2008 Campbell was voted 15th in the "Gunners' Greatest 50 Players" poll. [12]

Portsmouth

Campbell before a match in 2008

On 8 August 2006 he completed his move to Premiership team Portsmouth, signing a two year contract. This was seen by Wenger as a surprising decision, as Campbell signalled that he might move abroad;[13] although Campbell admitted to keeping his options open.[14] His time at Portsmouth started well, forming a successful partnership in the centre of defence with Linvoy Primus and helping them keep five consecutive clean sheets. He scored his first Portsmouth goal in the 3–1 win over Sheffield United on 23 December 2006.[15]

He was named as captain for the 2007–08 season by Harry Redknapp. He signed a new two year contact with the club.[16] He led Pompey out as captain at Wembley Stadium in the 2008 FA Cup Final, which they won 1–0 against Cardiff City.

Notts County

Campbell left Portsmouth when his contract expired in July 2009 before signing a five-year deal with League Two side Notts County in August of the same year.[17] Campbell said that Notts, who had recently been the subject of a takeover by a Middle Eastern consortium, were the best club for "where I am at the moment in my life", and that the recent appointment of ex-England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson (whom he played under at international level) as director of football played a "big role" in his decision. Two of his former managers, Arsène Wenger (Arsenal) and Harry Redknapp (Portsmouth), registered their surprise at seeing Campbell sign for a League Two club.[17] Campbell made his debut for County in the 2–1 defeat to Morecambe at Christie Park on 19 September.Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page). On 22 September, Campbell walked out on Notts County and his contract was cancelled by mutual consent the following day, 23 September, having made just one appearance for the club.[18]

International career

He made his debut against Hungary on 18 May 1996, coming on a substitute. Although he had only one cap by the time Terry Venables selected his squad for Euro 96, Campbell made the squad as defensive cover. He came on as a substitute in England's 2-0 Group Stage match against Scotland for his second cap.

Over the next two years, Campbell became a regular member of new manager Glenn Hoddle's defence, partnering Gareth Southgate and Tony Adams. On 29 May 1998, at 23 years and 248 days, Campbell became what was then England's second-youngest captain after Bobby Moore[19] in a 0-0 draw against Belgium, though Michael Owen has subsequently overtaken Campbell after captaining England against Paraguay in April 2002.[19] Campbell started all four of England's matches in the 1998 World Cup.

During the 1998 World Cup, Campbell was involved in a highly controversial incident in England's second round clash against Argentina.[20] With fewer than ten minutes to go, the score was 2-2 and England were down to ten men after David Beckham was sent off. Campbell headed a corner into the Argentinian net. He wheeled away to celebrate his first international goal, which looked likely to put England into the quarter-finals, but an illegal elbow to the goalkeeper by Alan Shearer had caused the referee to blow for a foul. Campbell was still in the corner of the pitch dancing round the corner flag as Argentina restarted the game and counter-attacked. England eventually lost the game on penalties.

Campbell was his country's first choice centre-back and played in England's successful qualification campaign for Euro 2000 and in all three group games at the tournament, which England exited after defeat by Romania.

After the retirement of Tony Adams, Campbell partnered Rio Ferdinand and embarked on the Three Lions' successful World Cup qualification campaign for the 2002 tournament to be held in Korea and Japan.

Campbell scored his first England goal at the 2002 World Cup in the opening group game against Sweden. England drew the game 1-1, but then beat Argentina 1-0 in the next match; Campbell's partnership with Rio Ferdinand was part of a strong defensive performance throughout the tournament which saw him the only England player to be named in the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team. England progressed to the quarter finals, where they lost to eventual winners Brazil.

Campbell maintained his place in the centre of defence as he took part in England successful qualification campaign for Euro 2004. During the tournament, Campbell had a late goal disallowed as England fought to make progress in their quarter-final clash with hosts Portugal, with the score tied at 1-1, Campbell won a header in the opposition six-yard box to score what seemed to be a late winner for England. However, the referee, Urs Meier, decided that John Terry had pushed Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo and gave a free kick. The game ended 2-2 after extra time, and England lost the penalty shootout. Meier received threats to his life afterwards and felt forced to retire for his own safety.

Campbell continued to play for England after Euro 2004, although his place in the international team had become less secure since the emergence of the central defensive partnership of John Terry and Rio Ferdinand, which blossomed during Campbell's period of absence with injury in 2005. Nevertheless, in October 2005 he won his 66th cap and earned himself (jointly) a place in the top 20 most capped England players.

Campbell was named in England's squad for the 2006 World Cup, but was third-choice centre back, with coach Sven-Göran Eriksson preferring the partnership of Ferdinand and Terry. However, after a knock to Ferdinand, Campbell came on as a substitute in England's group game against Sweden, which made him the first player to represent England on the pitch at six consecutive international tournaments.[21] As of 20 June 2006 he has played 69 times for England, scoring one goal. After Sven Goran Eriksson's resignation, new coach, Steve McClaren, choose to look elsewhere for central defensive strength and was dropped for his first game in charge against Greece in August 2006.

After a great first season at Pompey, ahead of England's friendly with Germany, after injuries to Ledley King, Jonathan Woodgate and Michael Dawson along with Jamie Carragher retiring from international football, Campbell was recalled to the national team a year after being dropped by head coach Steve McClaren. However, an injury forced him to pull out of the squad for the fixture.

McClaren recalled a fit Campbell for England's Euro 2008 qualifers against Estonia and Russia in October 2007. This time, Campbell was selected for the game and won his 70th cap after Terry suffered a knee injury in training. Campbell played three more times under McClaren as England's qualification campaign failed and the coach was dismissed.

New coach Fabio Capello did not select Campbell for his first squad when it was announced in January 2008. Campbell currently has 73 caps and still retains hope of making it to England's squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup along with teamates Gary Neville, David Beckham and Owen Hargreaves.If Campbell makes it to the World Cup then this would be his seventh major tournament for his country. He believes that leaving Notts County was not only because the project of the club was five years but because he desperately wants to get back into the England team by playing European or Premier League football.[22]

Club statistics

Template:Football player statistics 1 Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |1992–93||rowspan="9"|Tottenham Hotspur||rowspan="9"|Premier League||1||1||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||1||1 |- |1993–94||34||0||4||0||2||0||colspan="2"|-||40||0 |- |1994–95||30||0||4||0||4||1||colspan="2"|-||38||1 |- |1995–96||31||1||4||0||4||0||colspan="2"|-||39||1 |- |1996–97||38||0||1||0||4||1||colspan="2"|-||43||1 |- |1997–98||34||0||3||1||3||0||colspan="2"|-||40||1 |- |1998–99||37||6||7||0||8||2||colspan="2"|-||52||8 |- |1999–2000||29||0||2||0||2||0||2||0||35||0 |- |2000–01||21||2||5||0||1||0||colspan="2"|-||27||2 |- |2001–02||rowspan="5"|Arsenal||rowspan="5"|Premier League||31||2||7||1||colspan="2"|-||10||0||48||3 |- |2002–03||33||2||5||1||colspan="2"|-||10||0||48||3 |- |2003–04||35||1||5||0||colspan="2"|-||9||0||49||0 |- |2004–05||16||1||1||0||colspan="2"|-||4||0||21||1 |- |2005–06||20||2||1||0||2||0||6||1||29||3 |- |2006-07||rowspan="3"|Portsmouth||rowspan="3"|Premier League||32||1||2||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||34||1 |- |2007–08||31||1||5||0||1||0||colspan="2"|-||37||1 |- |2008–09||28||0||3||0||colspan="2"|-||4||0||35||0 |- |2009–10||Notts County||Football League Two||1||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||1||0 Template:Football player statistics 3481||20||59||3||31||3||45||1||616||28 Template:Football player statistics 5481||20||59||3||31||3||45||1||616||28 |}

International goals

Scores and results list England's goal tally first.
# Date Venue Opponent Result Competition Scored
1 June 2, 2002 Saitama, Saitama  Sweden 1–1 2002 FIFA World Cup 1

Trivia

Campbell made an un-credited appearance in Guy Ritchie's film Snatch, as a bouncer at an un-licenced boxing fight. [23]

Honours

Tottenham

Arsenal

Winner

Runner-up

Portsmouth

Runner-up

Individual

  • FIFA World Cup Team of the Tournament: 2002
  • UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 2004
  • PFA Team of the Year: 1998-99, 2002-03, 2003-04

References

  1. ^ Hytner, David (2009-03-03). "Campbell wants points deducted for fans' abuse". The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-03-03. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ "Football: SOL REACHED FOR SKY AND STRUCK GOLD; Former table tennis". Sunday Mirror. 2001-07-01. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
  3. ^ a b Brennan, Dan (September 2001), "25 Transfers That Rocked The World", FourFourTwo, no. 169, p. 93
  4. ^ spiked-life | Column | Offside, 23 November
  5. ^ Bowcott, Owen (2009-01-20). "Four banned from matches over abusive chants against Sol Campbell". The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-08-12.
  6. ^ "THE LIST: Sportsmail's top ten of football's biggest traitors Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1156662/THE-LIST-Sportsmails-footballs-biggest-traitors.html#ixzz0QiHbNfTC". Daily Mail. 27 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-10. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  7. ^ "The strange case of Sol Campbell, still missing in action". The Guardian. 2006-02-03. Retrieved 2006-11-13.
  8. ^ "Hansen voices fears over Campbell". BBC Sport. 2006-02-02. Retrieved 2006-11-13.
  9. ^ "Arsenal offer support to Campbell". BBC Sport. 2006-02-04. Retrieved 2006-11-13.
  10. ^ "Campbell attends Arsenal training". BBC Sport. 2006-02-06. Retrieved 2006-11-13.
  11. ^ "Campbell in surprise Arsenal exit". BBC Sport. 2006-07-08. Retrieved 2006-11-13.
  12. ^ "Gunners' Greatest 50 Players - the results". Arsenal.com. 2008-08-02.
  13. ^ "Pompey complete Campbell signing". BBC Sport. 2006-08-06. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
  14. ^ "Campbell in surprise Arsenal exit". BBC Sport. 2006-07-06. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
  15. ^ "Portsmouth 3-1 Sheff Utd". BBC Sport. 2006-12-23. Retrieved 2007-05-21.
  16. ^ "Kanu signs one-year Pompey deal". BBC Sport. 2007-08-06. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
  17. ^ a b "Campbell seals Notts County move". BBC Sport. 2009-08-25. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
  18. ^ "Campbell makes Notts County exit". BBC Sport. 2009-09-23. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
  19. ^ a b "England Records". EnglandFanzine.co.uk.
  20. ^ "England pay penalty again". BBC Sport. 1998-06-30.
  21. ^ "Inside the mind of Sol Campbell". The Independent. 2006-08-09.
  22. ^ http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12010_5540744,00.html
  23. ^ Sol Campbell profile at IMDB
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sol Campbell.


Sporting positions
Preceded by Tottenham Captain
1997-2001 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Portsmouth Captain
2007-2009 		Succeeded by
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