Sol Campbell

Tottenham Hotspur

Following his experience at West Ham United, Campbell was reluctant to join another professional club's youth programme, but after two months of persistence from Tottenham Hotspur's chief scout Len Cheesewright, he eventually joined the Tottenham Youth team. Youth team manager Keith Waldon later recalled that it was his physicality rather than his technical ability which made him stand out as a good prospect for the future. At age 14, he was one of only 16 young footballers accepted onto a training programme at Lilleshall Hall. Waldon offered to make him captain of the youth team, but Campbell declined the offer as he wanted to concentrate on his own game. Campbell made his first team debut for Spurs on 5 December 1992 against Chelsea at White Hart Lane, scoring the goal in a 2–1 defeat after coming on as a substitute for Nick Barmby. Despite this start to his career, he was not picked by manager Ray Clemence again throughout the remainder of the 1992–93 season. New boss Osvaldo Ardiles played him at left back at the start of the 1993–94 season in place of the injured Justin Edinburgh, before he was switched to right back in place of Dean Austin. At the end of the season, he signed a four-year contract with the club. New manager Gerry Francis led the club to the semi-finals of the FA Cup in the 1994–95 campaign, but Campbell missed the match due to injury and Spurs were beaten by Everton. Campbell continued to progress in his performances, but Spurs…

Campbell was a regular through the various England youth teams, and picked up two man of the match awards during the 1993 UEFA European Under-19 Championship which England won with a 1–0 win over Turkey. Campbell made his international debut as a substitute against Hungary on 18 May 1996. Although he had only one cap by the time Terry Venables selected his squad for UEFA Euro 1996, 21-year-old Campbell made the squad as defensive cover. He won his second cap in England's 2–0 group stage match against Scotland, again as a substitute.

Over the next two years, under new manager Glenn Hoddle, Campbell became a regular member of England's defence, partnering Gareth Southgate and Tony Adams. On 29 May 1998, aged 23 years and 248 days, Campbell became England's second-youngest captain after Bobby Moore in a 0–0 draw against Belgium, though Michael Owen subsequently overtook Campbell after captaining England against Paraguay in April 2002. 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. With less than ten minutes to play, the score was 2–2 and England were down to ten men after David Beckham was sent off. Campbell headed a corner into the Argentine net and wheeled away to celebrate his first international goal, which appeared to be the winning goal which would have put England into the quarter finals. However, the referee…

Regarded as one of the best English centre backs of his generation, Campbell was a strong, athletic and imposing defender, with a good positional sense, and was also a strong tackler. Due to his height and physical power, he excelled in the air, both offensively and defensively, although he initially had to work hard to improve his heading ability during his teenage years. He did not possess good natural stamina, but had pace, power, agility and quick feet, as well as significant mental strength. Due to his versatility and range of skills, as well as his ability to carry the ball out of defence and get forward, he was also capable of playing as a right back on occasion. However, despite being fairly comfortable in possession, he frequently drew criticism throughout his career for his poor distribution.

Campbell was born in Plaistow, London, to Jamaican parents Sewell and Wihelmina. He was the youngest of twelve children, nine of whom were boys. His father was a railway worker and his mother, Wihelmina, was a Ford factory worker. Despite growing up in a rough neighbourhood in a family with very little money, Campbell veered away from a life of crime due to his strict parents.

"I became a recluse within my own house. I became insular because at home there was no space to grow or to evolve, everything was tight and there was no room to breathe. People don't realise how that affects you as a kid. I wasn't allowed to speak, so my expression was football." Campbell attended the Portway Primary School and had secondary education at Lister Community School, both in Plaistow. 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. Campbell had a short spell at West Ham United, beginning his career as a striker. He left the Youth programme at Upton Park after a coach joked to him that Campbell would be pleased to hear that the West Indies were beating England at cricket; Campbell took this to be offensive.