IF THERE IS such a thing as an archetypal footballer, Sol Campbell defies just about every stereotype.
In a career which coincided with the concept of ‘soccer player as celebrity’ becoming increasingly prominent as the Premier League’s profile skyrocketed, Campbell seemed the antithesis to David Beckham and the majority of his contemporaries.
Whereas other footballers became irrevocably associated with showbiz and the so-called ‘WAGs’ (a less-than-flattering term denoting the wives and girlfriends of the England football stars, which was concocted by the British tabloids of the era), Campbell seemingly did everything to avoid such publicity. He neglected to bring girlfriends to football matches and his romantic life was enshrouded in mystique as a result.
One man who knows Campbell better than most is Simon Astaire — the novelist and author of the recently released book: Sol Campbell – The Authorised Biography.
Previously, Astaire has been a media advisor to several high-profile clients including members of the British Royal family, Nancy Dell’Olio and a number of Hollywood stars such as Oscar winner Rachel Weisz. He has also written several novels, including Private Privilege and Mr Coles, which are based loosely on his troubled experiences as a public school boy.
Nevertheless, the Campbell book is Astaire’s first venture into the world of biography. While being an avid sports fan, unusually for a footballers’ book, its author had no background in sportswriting. But then Campbell always did things differently.
Astaire explains how the book came about almost by accident — he met Campbell as the two frequented the same local Italian restaurant. After they were introduced by one of the waiters there, the pair gradually struck up a friendship, and eventually, the former England defender asked Astaire to write his book.
The 52-year-old writer admits to feeling somewhat intimidated by this prospect. Being a novelist by trade, Astaire explains how there was no “road map” when he started out, yet he was fortunate enough in one respect.
“If there was one footballer I wanted to write about, it would be Sol Campbell,” he says. “I thought he had a very layered life and he seems very removed. He didn’t seem distant. His character fascinated me on an artistic level as much as anything else.
“He’s fundamentally shy and when we meet shy people, we find them difficult to interpret. In that way, he’s different to a lot of people I know, he’s one of the shyest guys I’ve ever met. He’s a man of few words. In fact, when I started to talk to people who had played with him, they said the same — they didn’t really know who he was. And as a writer, that’s wonderful — to meet a character that I could delve into.”
Campbell’s natural reticence meant that interviewing him could initially be a somewhat painstaking process, yet Astaire insists that once he opened up, he never “resisted answering anything”.
He adds: “I decided to write about the man rather than the soccer player and let the soccer moments define him as a human being rather than a soccer player — that’s what I was trying to achieve.”
And indeed, one of the most memorable passages in the book is one in which Campbell the human being conspicuously takes precedence over Campbell the footballer.
In the latter stages of his predominantly successful Arsenal career, Campbell played a now-infamous game against West Ham. The Gunners lost 3-2 and their star defender was primarily responsible for the concession of the first two goals. At half-time, he was substituted at his own request, and mysteriously left the stadium thereafter, not even waiting for the second half to finish. As it transpired, he had promptly departed the country shortly after the West Ham game owing to issues in his personal life, as he consequently neglected to turn up for training in the ensuing days.
“I think Sol Campbell had a breakdown and should have been sent away,” Astaire says. “I think he finds it hard to admit that. There’s still a bit of him that’s in denial over certain things, but he absolutely had a breakdown. David Dein told me: ‘I said to Sol, come back when you want to, i.e. when you’re better.’ He came back four days later. If I had been the manager, I would have said it’s too early. You go away. People need guidance at those points. He should absolutely have spent even more time away. So ultimately, I think he could have been managed in a much better way.
“I think for what he went through and had to deal with in his life, he should have been told not to come back. They should have said ‘come back when we tell you to come back and you’re going to go see a doctor.’ But soccer wasn’t at that point at the time.”
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Indeed, even for such a modern, forward-thinking club as Arsenal, treatment for issues such as mental health were sorely lacking at the time. It took the tragic death of Gary Speed to raise a greater awareness of the problem within the game and thankfully, greater measures have since been put in place to address player welfare.
However, while football in general was behind the times, there is one club Astaire suspects may have handled the star’s troubles more effectively.
“I think Manchester United at the time were very aware of that, only because I went out and asked people. They said ‘United dealt with people’s emotional turmoil better than most’. But maybe that’s Ferguson — he dealt with the personality more. From what I’ve been told, he was much more of a man manager. It was his great success tactically. He knew about people’s styles, and I don’t think that’s Wenger’s style.”
Of course, the incident was far from the only occasion in which Campbell’s personal life was put under the spotlight. Speculation surrounding the player’s sexuality was an ongoing issue throughout his career, to such an extent that it impacted his family — Campbell’s brother was jailed after physically attacking a university classmate who had suggested that the ex-England defender was gay.
It is another topic that Astaire explores in the book, explaining how Campbell’s “sensitivity is eyed with suspicion” in footballing circles.
PA Wire / Press Association Images
PA Wire / Press Association Images / Press Association Images
(Sol Campbell and his wife Fiona Barrett pictured arriving for the 2013 British Fashion Awards)
“It’s a bit like being at school. If you’re slightly different, or wear an ear-ring, people will say ‘fag’. It’s an easy slight and people will be picked upon.
“I asked him a direct question: I said ‘are you homosexual?’ He said ‘no’. Then I asked him ‘what do you think of homosexuals’ and there was a bit of me that thought he might say something like ‘I think it’s disgusting’. I thought after being accused for so long, he’d be bitter about it, but he wasn’t. He just said ‘I’m not homosexual, it’s not for me’. And that simplistic answer made me feel that he wasn’t.”
Another recurring problem for Campbell initially arose following his controversial move from Tottenham to Arsenal. The defender had established himself as a club legend during his nine years at Spurs — the one top-class player in a side that otherwise consistently struggled to challenge for honours. Yet in 2001, his move on a free transfer to Tottenham’s bitter rivals sent shockwaves across North London, prompting those fans who previously idolised the star to label him ‘Judas’.
“I think [the impact that the move would have] was underrated by every single person, including Sol Campbell,” Astaire explains. “I think Wenger understands now, but the vitriol surprised him [at the time].
“What’s important to remember about sportsmen is that they make big decisions in their lives — like Sol Campbell did. He’s a young kid and he’s making a life-changing decision. Not just for himself, but for a lot of other people as well. And it’s a very young age to make that profound decision. Sometimes they don’t have the right people around them, who don’t have the intelligence or the worldliness to see it, and I think one has to think of the age aspect of making decisions like that. I think that’s what happened to Sol Campbell – the vitriol that has followed him even through to today, with Spurs fans chanting in the manner that they do has surprised everyone. It has stayed there and it has followed him. I think it’s had a profound effect on him.
“I don’t think whatever he says is going to change the mood that’s out there. It is one of the most controversial moves in British football history. With certain people, the fans think they’re part of that person. And when that person is disloyal to them, they find it hard to forgive them. It’s as if Sol Campbell left you for your best friend’s wife. It’s difficult to forgive and they haven’t forgiven him.
“I went to the [Tottenham] stadium three weeks ago when the book was climbing up the charts and clearly Campbell was back in the consciousness. And they were chanting his name in the same revolting way that they’ve always done, and meaning it.”
PA
PA
(Sol Campbell and Arsene Wenger pose for a photo, after the defender joined Arsenal from Tottenham on a free transfer in 2001)
Despite all the success the star subsequently enjoyed at Arsenal, Astaire ultimately feels that the move was a mistake, given that there were other highly attractive offers on the table at the time.
“On a personal level, I think he should have gone to Barcelona. They were asking for him at that time and they made an offer. He should have made that decision — it would have been a good move. If it didn’t work out at Barcelona, he could have gone to Arsenal after a season — I’m not saying [the reaction from Spurs fans] would have been good, but it certainly would have been better.
“I don’t think he regrets playing for Arsenal. He thinks he played the best football of his life. He made some friends there. They had the mentality he was looking for. So I don’t think he has any regrets, even though I asked the question again and again. He found his spiritual home. They’re very serious at Arsenal. In one way, it was the perfect move for him. I think he wishes he’d stayed on at Arsenal longer.”
In the book, he writes: ”I believe that if I was white I would have been England captain for 10 years.
“Michael Owen was made captain ahead of me and I thought, “What’s going on here?” I think the FA didn’t want me to have a voice.
“Owen was a fantastic forward but nowhere near being a captain. I’ve asked myself many times why I wasn’t [named captain]. I keep coming up with the same answer. It was the colour of my skin.”
Yet while several high-profile black players, including Paul Ince, have since dismissed the star’s claims, Astaire supports their sentiments.
“I took his quote direct. When he said it, I didn’t believe it. I thought it was important and he repeated it to me, not once but a number of times. This was how he felt.
“So I wrote the direct quote down and I then decided to just leave it like that. I thought it was wrong for me to define what he meant, because I thought it was much better for the debate to come out from what he’d said. What I thought he meant was that he thought, because of his skin colour, the powers that be had an intrinsic sense that he didn’t fit the role of captain. And he felt it was fundamentally because of his skin colour that he was not the captain. I don’t think it’s him saying ‘I should have been captain for 10 years’. It’s much more layered, like a lot of things he says. And he feels that because he was a black person, he was not captain as often as if he would have been if he was not. And I think he believes that.”
And while Astaire concedes the ’10 years’ comment may have been somewhat misinterpreted, he is adamant that there is truth in what Campbell says.
“I don’t think he would have been captain for 10 years, I think it’s much more layered than that. But fundamentally, there’s an intrinsic piece of racism that’s involved in it, yes.”
Campbell’s cynical viewpoint in this regard, and his suspicion of authority in general, was undoubtedly borne from an early life that was marked by hardship and struggle, and in particular, a distant relationship with his father.
Consequently, the star made the most of his early talent despite, and perhaps partially because of, his difficult upbringing.
“Some players, you think because they become internationals, they would have to be noticed. The thing about Campbell is that no one said he was the most talented footballer they had seen. But what he did more than anyone else was that he worked harder than anyone else. And I heard that again and again from his upbringing.
“Whether he worked hard to get out of where he was, I would suggest that maybe that’s the case. I think that’s the key to life in a way — if you work hard, whatever you’re doing, you’re going to make it. There were people he said were more talented than him, but he made it because he always wanted to better himself.”
Sol Campbell – The Authorised Biography is available now. More details here.
‘Sol had a breakdown… Arsenal shouldn't have let him come back to training 4 days later’
IF THERE IS such a thing as an archetypal footballer, Sol Campbell defies just about every stereotype.
In a career which coincided with the concept of ‘soccer player as celebrity’ becoming increasingly prominent as the Premier League’s profile skyrocketed, Campbell seemed the antithesis to David Beckham and the majority of his contemporaries.
Whereas other footballers became irrevocably associated with showbiz and the so-called ‘WAGs’ (a less-than-flattering term denoting the wives and girlfriends of the England football stars, which was concocted by the British tabloids of the era), Campbell seemingly did everything to avoid such publicity. He neglected to bring girlfriends to football matches and his romantic life was enshrouded in mystique as a result.
One man who knows Campbell better than most is Simon Astaire — the novelist and author of the recently released book: Sol Campbell – The Authorised Biography.
Previously, Astaire has been a media advisor to several high-profile clients including members of the British Royal family, Nancy Dell’Olio and a number of Hollywood stars such as Oscar winner Rachel Weisz. He has also written several novels, including Private Privilege and Mr Coles, which are based loosely on his troubled experiences as a public school boy.
Nevertheless, the Campbell book is Astaire’s first venture into the world of biography. While being an avid sports fan, unusually for a footballers’ book, its author had no background in sportswriting. But then Campbell always did things differently.
Astaire explains how the book came about almost by accident — he met Campbell as the two frequented the same local Italian restaurant. After they were introduced by one of the waiters there, the pair gradually struck up a friendship, and eventually, the former England defender asked Astaire to write his book.
The 52-year-old writer admits to feeling somewhat intimidated by this prospect. Being a novelist by trade, Astaire explains how there was no “road map” when he started out, yet he was fortunate enough in one respect.
“He’s fundamentally shy and when we meet shy people, we find them difficult to interpret. In that way, he’s different to a lot of people I know, he’s one of the shyest guys I’ve ever met. He’s a man of few words. In fact, when I started to talk to people who had played with him, they said the same — they didn’t really know who he was. And as a writer, that’s wonderful — to meet a character that I could delve into.”
Campbell’s natural reticence meant that interviewing him could initially be a somewhat painstaking process, yet Astaire insists that once he opened up, he never “resisted answering anything”.
He adds: “I decided to write about the man rather than the soccer player and let the soccer moments define him as a human being rather than a soccer player — that’s what I was trying to achieve.”
And indeed, one of the most memorable passages in the book is one in which Campbell the human being conspicuously takes precedence over Campbell the footballer.
In the latter stages of his predominantly successful Arsenal career, Campbell played a now-infamous game against West Ham. The Gunners lost 3-2 and their star defender was primarily responsible for the concession of the first two goals. At half-time, he was substituted at his own request, and mysteriously left the stadium thereafter, not even waiting for the second half to finish. As it transpired, he had promptly departed the country shortly after the West Ham game owing to issues in his personal life, as he consequently neglected to turn up for training in the ensuing days.
“I think Sol Campbell had a breakdown and should have been sent away,” Astaire says. “I think he finds it hard to admit that. There’s still a bit of him that’s in denial over certain things, but he absolutely had a breakdown. David Dein told me: ‘I said to Sol, come back when you want to, i.e. when you’re better.’ He came back four days later. If I had been the manager, I would have said it’s too early. You go away. People need guidance at those points. He should absolutely have spent even more time away. So ultimately, I think he could have been managed in a much better way.
Indeed, even for such a modern, forward-thinking club as Arsenal, treatment for issues such as mental health were sorely lacking at the time. It took the tragic death of Gary Speed to raise a greater awareness of the problem within the game and thankfully, greater measures have since been put in place to address player welfare.
However, while football in general was behind the times, there is one club Astaire suspects may have handled the star’s troubles more effectively.
“I think Manchester United at the time were very aware of that, only because I went out and asked people. They said ‘United dealt with people’s emotional turmoil better than most’. But maybe that’s Ferguson — he dealt with the personality more. From what I’ve been told, he was much more of a man manager. It was his great success tactically. He knew about people’s styles, and I don’t think that’s Wenger’s style.”
Of course, the incident was far from the only occasion in which Campbell’s personal life was put under the spotlight. Speculation surrounding the player’s sexuality was an ongoing issue throughout his career, to such an extent that it impacted his family — Campbell’s brother was jailed after physically attacking a university classmate who had suggested that the ex-England defender was gay.
It is another topic that Astaire explores in the book, explaining how Campbell’s “sensitivity is eyed with suspicion” in footballing circles.
(Sol Campbell and his wife Fiona Barrett pictured arriving for the 2013 British Fashion Awards)
“It’s a bit like being at school. If you’re slightly different, or wear an ear-ring, people will say ‘fag’. It’s an easy slight and people will be picked upon.
“I asked him a direct question: I said ‘are you homosexual?’ He said ‘no’. Then I asked him ‘what do you think of homosexuals’ and there was a bit of me that thought he might say something like ‘I think it’s disgusting’. I thought after being accused for so long, he’d be bitter about it, but he wasn’t. He just said ‘I’m not homosexual, it’s not for me’. And that simplistic answer made me feel that he wasn’t.”
Another recurring problem for Campbell initially arose following his controversial move from Tottenham to Arsenal. The defender had established himself as a club legend during his nine years at Spurs — the one top-class player in a side that otherwise consistently struggled to challenge for honours. Yet in 2001, his move on a free transfer to Tottenham’s bitter rivals sent shockwaves across North London, prompting those fans who previously idolised the star to label him ‘Judas’.
“What’s important to remember about sportsmen is that they make big decisions in their lives — like Sol Campbell did. He’s a young kid and he’s making a life-changing decision. Not just for himself, but for a lot of other people as well. And it’s a very young age to make that profound decision. Sometimes they don’t have the right people around them, who don’t have the intelligence or the worldliness to see it, and I think one has to think of the age aspect of making decisions like that. I think that’s what happened to Sol Campbell – the vitriol that has followed him even through to today, with Spurs fans chanting in the manner that they do has surprised everyone. It has stayed there and it has followed him. I think it’s had a profound effect on him.
“I don’t think whatever he says is going to change the mood that’s out there. It is one of the most controversial moves in British football history. With certain people, the fans think they’re part of that person. And when that person is disloyal to them, they find it hard to forgive them. It’s as if Sol Campbell left you for your best friend’s wife. It’s difficult to forgive and they haven’t forgiven him.
“I went to the [Tottenham] stadium three weeks ago when the book was climbing up the charts and clearly Campbell was back in the consciousness. And they were chanting his name in the same revolting way that they’ve always done, and meaning it.”
(Sol Campbell and Arsene Wenger pose for a photo, after the defender joined Arsenal from Tottenham on a free transfer in 2001)
Despite all the success the star subsequently enjoyed at Arsenal, Astaire ultimately feels that the move was a mistake, given that there were other highly attractive offers on the table at the time.
“On a personal level, I think he should have gone to Barcelona. They were asking for him at that time and they made an offer. He should have made that decision — it would have been a good move. If it didn’t work out at Barcelona, he could have gone to Arsenal after a season — I’m not saying [the reaction from Spurs fans] would have been good, but it certainly would have been better.
“I don’t think he regrets playing for Arsenal. He thinks he played the best football of his life. He made some friends there. They had the mentality he was looking for. So I don’t think he has any regrets, even though I asked the question again and again. He found his spiritual home. They’re very serious at Arsenal. In one way, it was the perfect move for him. I think he wishes he’d stayed on at Arsenal longer.”
Astaire, who is now working on a second biography, focusing on the life of Diego Maradona, has enjoyed considerable success with this book. One widespread controversy that has undoubtedly helped sales to rocket was Campbell’s claim that racism played a part in the supposed reluctance to make him England captain for a sustained period.
In the book, he writes: ”I believe that if I was white I would have been England captain for 10 years.
“Owen was a fantastic forward but nowhere near being a captain. I’ve asked myself many times why I wasn’t [named captain]. I keep coming up with the same answer. It was the colour of my skin.”
Yet while several high-profile black players, including Paul Ince, have since dismissed the star’s claims, Astaire supports their sentiments.
“I took his quote direct. When he said it, I didn’t believe it. I thought it was important and he repeated it to me, not once but a number of times. This was how he felt.
“So I wrote the direct quote down and I then decided to just leave it like that. I thought it was wrong for me to define what he meant, because I thought it was much better for the debate to come out from what he’d said. What I thought he meant was that he thought, because of his skin colour, the powers that be had an intrinsic sense that he didn’t fit the role of captain. And he felt it was fundamentally because of his skin colour that he was not the captain. I don’t think it’s him saying ‘I should have been captain for 10 years’. It’s much more layered, like a lot of things he says. And he feels that because he was a black person, he was not captain as often as if he would have been if he was not. And I think he believes that.”
And while Astaire concedes the ’10 years’ comment may have been somewhat misinterpreted, he is adamant that there is truth in what Campbell says.
“I don’t think he would have been captain for 10 years, I think it’s much more layered than that. But fundamentally, there’s an intrinsic piece of racism that’s involved in it, yes.”
Campbell’s cynical viewpoint in this regard, and his suspicion of authority in general, was undoubtedly borne from an early life that was marked by hardship and struggle, and in particular, a distant relationship with his father.
Consequently, the star made the most of his early talent despite, and perhaps partially because of, his difficult upbringing.
“Some players, you think because they become internationals, they would have to be noticed. The thing about Campbell is that no one said he was the most talented footballer they had seen. But what he did more than anyone else was that he worked harder than anyone else. And I heard that again and again from his upbringing.
“Whether he worked hard to get out of where he was, I would suggest that maybe that’s the case. I think that’s the key to life in a way — if you work hard, whatever you’re doing, you’re going to make it. There were people he said were more talented than him, but he made it because he always wanted to better himself.”
Sol Campbell – The Authorised Biography is available now. More details here.
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