Kolkata: Sol Campbell’s parents are from Jamaica and even at 50, he has upper arms that would be the envy of fast bowlers. But growing up in an east London neighbourhood consumed by street football, cricket is on the fringe of his sporting interests. So, it was some coincidence that when Campbell, separated from Eden Gardens by a little more than the length of a football pitch, spoke of Arsenal feeling the weight of being Invincibles he would echo Australia after their 16-Test winning streak ended here in 2001.
“We were kind of waiting, wondering when it’s going to happen,” said the former Arsenal and England central defender. “Can we get through another game without losing? And it felt a little bit heavy on us.”
Doesn’t mean he is not sore about how Arsenal’s 49-game unbeaten run ended in 2004-05 though. “VAR would have picked that now or a switched-on referee,” said Campbell with a shrug. Television replays showed no contact between Campbell and Wayne Rooney but referee Mike Riley’s decision to award a penalty stood and Ruud van Nistelrooy converted to send Manchester United on way to a 2-0 victory in the season Arsenal finished second.
Nistelrooy had come within a coat of paint of the crossbar from ending Arsenal’s unbeaten run early in the season prior. “That goes in and Invincibles doesn’t happen,” said Campbell. “You needed that little bit of luck.”
Alongside manager Arsene Wenger’s tactical nous, Thierry Henry’s other-worldly goals, Patrick Vieria running the midfield and the assurance of Jens Lehmann in goal, Arsenal’s squad of innovators and artistes needed a slice of good fortune to win the 2003-04 Premier League unbeaten. They have moved stadiums since but P38 W26 D12 L0 is emblazoned in yellow at Emirates. It hadn’t been done in England after 1893-94 and never after that.
“Those kind of accolades, they choose you. You create the environment, you get good players and you create something unbelievable, so special, so unique…”
Campbell and Kolo Toure were the beating heart of that campaign in central defence. “Definitely the best centre-back I played with at Arsenal,” said Campbell of the Ivorian midfielder Wenger converted into a centre-back. “With England, it would be Rio (Ferdinand).”
Arsenal haven’t won the Premier League after that. Can Mikel Arteta do it? Campbell gives detailed answers so he prefaced this by pointing out how “energy sapping” it was for Arteta to balance moving players and getting those he wanted. “Last two seasons, it’s come into effect,” he said. Arsenal finished second in both.
“They have got to get a run together, look after their game and, hopefully, put pressure on the guys above. If it doesn’t happen, Liverpool are probably going to end up winning it.”
In the city as ambassador for Sunday’s Tata Steel World 25k, nothing is off-topic so Campbell’s conversation with a group of journalists flits from Arteta to Argentina, the late goals for England that weren’t, from Tottenham Hotspur to Arsenal and the abuse he gets for moving as a free agent in 2001.
He can see the funny side of failing to take on Ronaldinho and Rivaldo in one move. “I’m a good defender but you needed to be close to Superman.” It led to the goal that eliminated England from the 2002 World Cup.
But he is still sore about what happened in 1998 against Argentina and against Portugal six years later. Campbell had put the ball in the net in the 81st minute but the goal was disallowed because of a foul by Alan Shearer on the Argentina goalkeeper.
Campbell sees it differently. “There was nothing wrong with that. The keeper misjudged the header. There was no one holding him down,” he said. The one against Portugal in the 2004 European championship “was just ridiculous”, he said, referring to the 89th minute strike that was ruled out because John Terry was judged to have fouled the goalie. They still hurt because you never know what could have happened, he said.
What also hurts is some Spurs fans “still harbouring something” against him. Luis Figo, Emmanuel Adebayor, William Gallas, Clarence Seedorf, he said, have also moved between clubs with a history of antagonism between them. “But no one is singing songs about them,” he said. Campbell has been called Judas and in January 2023, The Guardian reported a Spurs fan singing about having a party “when Sol Campbell dies”.
No one asked what’s going on here, he said. Not the footballers’ union, the Premier League and the English FA. “Is there racial tension there? Maybe there’s a little bit of that in there as well. New stadium, new players, new training ground. Move on.” Campbell maintained an even tone while speaking about this but said it was only recently that he could talk about it.
“I think many people don’t want to listen to my story because what I went through is probably shameful for them.”
