Classic Arsenal Players - Part 18 - Kevin Campbell
SOUPER KEVIN CAMPBELL
IT IS 1-1 deep into the second half. Champions Arsenal have won only once in their previous 10 matches and are struggling to break down a resilient Sheffield Wednesday side. Looking for inspiration, manager George Graham turns to a young player with a knack of scoring important goals.
Kevin Campbell, then just 21, was thrown on and what happened next was probably the most incredible twenty minutes ever seen at Highbury. Scoring twice and creating panic to the Wednesday defence, a Campbell-inspired Arsenal rattled in six goals to seal a 7-1 victory.
This cameo perfectly illustrated Campbell's career. On his day he was simply unplayable but he perhaps he did not have those days often enough.
Kevin Joseph Campbell was born 4 February 1970 in Lambeth, South-East London. Following in the footsteps of other young players from his area such as Paul Davis, David Rocastle and Michael Thomas, Campbell joined boyhood club Arsenal in 1985, turning professional three years later.
Campbell, a powerfully built, speedy forward, quickly earned a reputation as a prolific goalscorer, hitting 59 goals in one season, and he won the FA Youth Cup with Arsenal in 1988, scoring a hat-trick in the final against Doncaster Rovers.
Campbell made his first team debut on the final day of the 1987/88 season, coming on for the last 10 minutes of a 2-1 away win at Everton on 7 May 1988.
But with Alan Smith and Paul Merson ahead of him in the pecking order at Highbury, he did not play at all for the first team during the title winning season of 1988/89.
Instead the club sent him on loan to fourth division Leyton Orient, where Campbell scored 9 goals in 16 appearances, helping the club reach the Play Off final against Wrexham, although he was unable to play due to his loan having expired.
Orient manager Frank Clark wanted to make the move permanent but Arsenal did not want to sell their bright young prospect.
Despite this, Campbell was still struggling to get game time in the early part of the following 1989/90 season so again he was sent out on loan, this time to second division Leicester City, where he scored five goals in 11 appearances.
With Arsenal's title defence of 1989/90 falling apart due to a lack of goals, Campbell was brought back into the squad, and he scored his first goal for the club in a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest at Highbury on 7 March 1990.
By the end of the season Campbell had made 15 appearances and scored twice.
The following 1990/91 season proved to be Campbell's break through campaign. With Arsenal chasing the league title, Campbell was thrown into the side in February in place of the injured Anders Limpar, and he scored 10 goals in 19 starts as Arsenal were crowned champions losing just one match.
Campbell had by now been called up to the England U21 squad and he made four appearances in total, scoring once. He was later capped by the England B side in 1991 and was on stand by for the senior squad in 1992, but he remains the highest scoring Premier League player never to win a senior international cap.
Despite such a great finish to the previous season, Campbell started the 1991/92 season back on the sidelines and his prospects for a recall were not helped when manager George Graham bought striker Ian Wright from Crystal Palace in September 1991 for a club record fee of £2.5 million.
But Campbell still enjoyed some great moments, such a goal away at Benfica in the European Cup in November 1991, and one in the North London derby at Highbury that December.
The turning point for Campbell came on 15 February 1992 against Sheffield Wednesday. His introduction from the bench in the final twenty minutes of that match turned a 1-1 scoreline into a 7-1 victory.
Campbell's two goals that day saw him reinstated to the staring line up, and in a similar run to that in which he had enjoyed at the end of the previous season, he scored 8 goals as Arsenal remained unbeaten in the final 17 matches of the season.
Campbell become a regular in the side in the following 1992/93 season, starting over 40 matches, although he had to play a supporting role to Wright for much of it as Arsenal reached the finals of both the League Cup and the FA Cup.
Campbell started both finals against Sheffield Wednesday as Arsenal became the first club to win both domestic cups in the same season, so Campbell had completed his full set of domestic honours while still just 23.
The following 1993/94 season would be the best of Campbell's Arsenal career as in tandem with Wright he scored 19 goals. It was a disappointing season for the club domestically but in the European Cup Winners Cup, Arsenal would go all the way to the final.
In the semi final second leg against Paris St Germain at Highbury on 12 April 1994, it was Campbell who scored the winning goal, a near post header in front of the Clock End after just five minutes to send the crowd wild.
Campbell started the final against Parma in Copenhagen as a goal from Smith secured another 1-0 victory and the fourth winners medal of Campbell's career.
That proved to be his swansong at Arsenal however. Despite scoring on the opening day of the 1994/95 season against Manchester City, Campbell was unable to hold down a regular place in the side.
The signing of John Hartson in January 1995 saw Campbell's opportunities reduced even further and he did not play for the club again following a 2-0 defeat in the European Super Cup to AC Milan on 8 February 1995.
Graham was sacked a few weeks later and although Arsenal still reached the final of European Cup Winners Cup again, Campbell did not even make the bench this time as the Gunners lost 2-1 to Real Zaragoza in Paris.
The summer of 1995 saw Bruce Rioch installed as the new Arsenal manager and his first task was to sign Dennis Bergkamp from Inter Milan. That signaled the end for Campbell and he left to join Nottingham Forest for £2.5 million.
In total Campbell had made 228 appearances for the club he had grown up supporting, scoring 59 goals.
Campbell spent three seasons at the City Ground, which included relegation from the Premier League in 1997. But his 23 goals the following season in partnership with Pierre van Hoojidonk saw Forest win the Championship title and a return to the top flight.
But Campbell would not be around to see that as he was controversially transferred to Turkish side Trabzonspur in the summer of 1998 for £2.5 million.
So upset was van Hoojidonk by the sale of his mate Campbell that he famously went on strike at Forest.
Campbell had made 96 appearances at the City Ground, scoring 36 goals.
Campbell's Turkish delight did last long however. Just seven months after his arrival, and after scoring five goals in 17 appearances, he was forced to leave the club following a racist incident where club president, Mehmet Ali Yilmaz, called him a 'cannibal'.
Despite this, Campbell remained a popular figure with the club's fans and players alike.
Returning to England in March 1999, Campbell, now 29, signed for Everton, initially on loan.
The Merseysiders were in deep relegation trouble at the time but Campbell's impact was immediate. He scored six goals in his first three games for the club and ended the season with nine goals in eight appearances, almost single-handedly saving them from relegation.
The loan move became permanent over the summer of 1999 for a fee of £3 million and Campbell was top scorer in the 1999/00 season with 12 goals, including the winner in the Merseyside derby against Liverpool.
Campbell enjoyed a great relationship with the fans at Goodison Park as he finished top scorer in the 2000/01 and 2001/02 seasons, but injuries after that saw him struggle to regain his earlier form and he left the club on a free transfer to West Bromwich Albion in January 2005.
In total Campbell had made 164 appearances for Everton, scoring 51 times.
He remains the club's fourth highest Premier League goalscorer behind Romelu Lukaku, Duncan Ferguson and Tim Cahill.
In a mirror image of when Campbell had arrived at Everton, West Brom were in deep trouble but once again he was able to inspire the club to safety, the first time a club that had been bottom of the table on Christmas Day had survived relegation.
Unfortunately Campbell was unable to stop WBA suffering the drop at the end of following 2005/06 season, after which he moved to Cardiff City on a free transfer. He had appeared 49 times for WBA, scoring 6 goals.
Now 36, Campbell spent one season in the Welsh capital, failing to score in 20 appearances, before bringing down the curtain on his playing career in the summer of 2007.
In total he had made just short of 500 league appearances, scoring 172 career goals.
After retiring, Campbell became co-owner of a security company, T1 Protection, which specialises in supplying bodyguards to wealthy customers traveling abroad. He has also appeared on TEN Sports as a commentator and can be seen regularly on YouTube chatting about his beloved Arsenal.
He is also ambassador for the Bring Hope Foundation which provides aid to vulnerable groups of people around the world.
Towards the end of his playing career Campbell set up a record label, 2 Wikid, which featured the rapper Mark Morrison, who had previously had a UK No. 1 hit single with Return of the Mac in 1996.
On a personal level Campbell's son, Tyrese, aged 20, is also a professional footballer who currently plays for Stoke City in the Championship following a recent loan spell at Shrewsbury Town.
Personally I will always have fond memories of Campbell at Arsenal.
I remember back in the late 1980s when his goal-scoring exploits for the youth and reserve sides were regularly featured in the matchday programme.
I was certainly excited to see him in the first team and his first goal against Nottingham Forest certainly showed what he could do.
While he may not have always lived up to expectations after that, when on form he could be unplayable. The spell he had at the end of the 1990/91 title season was an example of that as his goals proved vital to that success.
I always felt the arrival Wrighty held him back a little. Although they get on well together, the team at that time was all about Wright's goals and Campbell definitely played second fiddle after that which seemed to effect his confidence.
My fondest memory of Big Kev has to be that semi final winner against PSG in 1994. A truly great night at Highbury and what a big goal that was.
I will also never forget the contribution he made to the 1991 title winning side, the 5-0 win over Aston Villa in particular, and that amazing game against Sheffield Wednesday when he scared the bejesus out of them.
The fact he was loved by the fans and players at all the clubs he subsequently played for speaks volumes about him as a player and also a man.
As a lifelong Arsenal fan it is great to hear him talk about the club now and hearing the pride he has that he was able to live out all our dreams and score goals for The Arsenal. Cheers, Kev.
Coming up next time I look back on that amazing European Cup Winners Cup semi final from 1994, probably Campbell's greatest moment in an Arsenal shirt. Watch out for that coming soon.
IT IS 1-1 deep into the second half. Champions Arsenal have won only once in their previous 10 matches and are struggling to break down a resilient Sheffield Wednesday side. Looking for inspiration, manager George Graham turns to a young player with a knack of scoring important goals.
Kevin Campbell, then just 21, was thrown on and what happened next was probably the most incredible twenty minutes ever seen at Highbury. Scoring twice and creating panic to the Wednesday defence, a Campbell-inspired Arsenal rattled in six goals to seal a 7-1 victory.
This cameo perfectly illustrated Campbell's career. On his day he was simply unplayable but he perhaps he did not have those days often enough.
Kevin Joseph Campbell was born 4 February 1970 in Lambeth, South-East London. Following in the footsteps of other young players from his area such as Paul Davis, David Rocastle and Michael Thomas, Campbell joined boyhood club Arsenal in 1985, turning professional three years later.
Campbell, a powerfully built, speedy forward, quickly earned a reputation as a prolific goalscorer, hitting 59 goals in one season, and he won the FA Youth Cup with Arsenal in 1988, scoring a hat-trick in the final against Doncaster Rovers.
But with Alan Smith and Paul Merson ahead of him in the pecking order at Highbury, he did not play at all for the first team during the title winning season of 1988/89.
Instead the club sent him on loan to fourth division Leyton Orient, where Campbell scored 9 goals in 16 appearances, helping the club reach the Play Off final against Wrexham, although he was unable to play due to his loan having expired.
Orient manager Frank Clark wanted to make the move permanent but Arsenal did not want to sell their bright young prospect.
Despite this, Campbell was still struggling to get game time in the early part of the following 1989/90 season so again he was sent out on loan, this time to second division Leicester City, where he scored five goals in 11 appearances.
With Arsenal's title defence of 1989/90 falling apart due to a lack of goals, Campbell was brought back into the squad, and he scored his first goal for the club in a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest at Highbury on 7 March 1990.
By the end of the season Campbell had made 15 appearances and scored twice.
The following 1990/91 season proved to be Campbell's break through campaign. With Arsenal chasing the league title, Campbell was thrown into the side in February in place of the injured Anders Limpar, and he scored 10 goals in 19 starts as Arsenal were crowned champions losing just one match.
Campbell had by now been called up to the England U21 squad and he made four appearances in total, scoring once. He was later capped by the England B side in 1991 and was on stand by for the senior squad in 1992, but he remains the highest scoring Premier League player never to win a senior international cap.
Despite such a great finish to the previous season, Campbell started the 1991/92 season back on the sidelines and his prospects for a recall were not helped when manager George Graham bought striker Ian Wright from Crystal Palace in September 1991 for a club record fee of £2.5 million.
The turning point for Campbell came on 15 February 1992 against Sheffield Wednesday. His introduction from the bench in the final twenty minutes of that match turned a 1-1 scoreline into a 7-1 victory.
Campbell's two goals that day saw him reinstated to the staring line up, and in a similar run to that in which he had enjoyed at the end of the previous season, he scored 8 goals as Arsenal remained unbeaten in the final 17 matches of the season.
Campbell become a regular in the side in the following 1992/93 season, starting over 40 matches, although he had to play a supporting role to Wright for much of it as Arsenal reached the finals of both the League Cup and the FA Cup.
Campbell started both finals against Sheffield Wednesday as Arsenal became the first club to win both domestic cups in the same season, so Campbell had completed his full set of domestic honours while still just 23.
The following 1993/94 season would be the best of Campbell's Arsenal career as in tandem with Wright he scored 19 goals. It was a disappointing season for the club domestically but in the European Cup Winners Cup, Arsenal would go all the way to the final.
Campbell started the final against Parma in Copenhagen as a goal from Smith secured another 1-0 victory and the fourth winners medal of Campbell's career.
That proved to be his swansong at Arsenal however. Despite scoring on the opening day of the 1994/95 season against Manchester City, Campbell was unable to hold down a regular place in the side.
The signing of John Hartson in January 1995 saw Campbell's opportunities reduced even further and he did not play for the club again following a 2-0 defeat in the European Super Cup to AC Milan on 8 February 1995.
Graham was sacked a few weeks later and although Arsenal still reached the final of European Cup Winners Cup again, Campbell did not even make the bench this time as the Gunners lost 2-1 to Real Zaragoza in Paris.
The summer of 1995 saw Bruce Rioch installed as the new Arsenal manager and his first task was to sign Dennis Bergkamp from Inter Milan. That signaled the end for Campbell and he left to join Nottingham Forest for £2.5 million.
In total Campbell had made 228 appearances for the club he had grown up supporting, scoring 59 goals.
Campbell spent three seasons at the City Ground, which included relegation from the Premier League in 1997. But his 23 goals the following season in partnership with Pierre van Hoojidonk saw Forest win the Championship title and a return to the top flight.
So upset was van Hoojidonk by the sale of his mate Campbell that he famously went on strike at Forest.
Campbell had made 96 appearances at the City Ground, scoring 36 goals.
Campbell's Turkish delight did last long however. Just seven months after his arrival, and after scoring five goals in 17 appearances, he was forced to leave the club following a racist incident where club president, Mehmet Ali Yilmaz, called him a 'cannibal'.
Despite this, Campbell remained a popular figure with the club's fans and players alike.
Returning to England in March 1999, Campbell, now 29, signed for Everton, initially on loan.
The Merseysiders were in deep relegation trouble at the time but Campbell's impact was immediate. He scored six goals in his first three games for the club and ended the season with nine goals in eight appearances, almost single-handedly saving them from relegation.
The loan move became permanent over the summer of 1999 for a fee of £3 million and Campbell was top scorer in the 1999/00 season with 12 goals, including the winner in the Merseyside derby against Liverpool.
Campbell enjoyed a great relationship with the fans at Goodison Park as he finished top scorer in the 2000/01 and 2001/02 seasons, but injuries after that saw him struggle to regain his earlier form and he left the club on a free transfer to West Bromwich Albion in January 2005.
He remains the club's fourth highest Premier League goalscorer behind Romelu Lukaku, Duncan Ferguson and Tim Cahill.
In a mirror image of when Campbell had arrived at Everton, West Brom were in deep trouble but once again he was able to inspire the club to safety, the first time a club that had been bottom of the table on Christmas Day had survived relegation.
Unfortunately Campbell was unable to stop WBA suffering the drop at the end of following 2005/06 season, after which he moved to Cardiff City on a free transfer. He had appeared 49 times for WBA, scoring 6 goals.
Now 36, Campbell spent one season in the Welsh capital, failing to score in 20 appearances, before bringing down the curtain on his playing career in the summer of 2007.
In total he had made just short of 500 league appearances, scoring 172 career goals.
After retiring, Campbell became co-owner of a security company, T1 Protection, which specialises in supplying bodyguards to wealthy customers traveling abroad. He has also appeared on TEN Sports as a commentator and can be seen regularly on YouTube chatting about his beloved Arsenal.
He is also ambassador for the Bring Hope Foundation which provides aid to vulnerable groups of people around the world.
Towards the end of his playing career Campbell set up a record label, 2 Wikid, which featured the rapper Mark Morrison, who had previously had a UK No. 1 hit single with Return of the Mac in 1996.
On a personal level Campbell's son, Tyrese, aged 20, is also a professional footballer who currently plays for Stoke City in the Championship following a recent loan spell at Shrewsbury Town.
I remember back in the late 1980s when his goal-scoring exploits for the youth and reserve sides were regularly featured in the matchday programme.
I was certainly excited to see him in the first team and his first goal against Nottingham Forest certainly showed what he could do.
While he may not have always lived up to expectations after that, when on form he could be unplayable. The spell he had at the end of the 1990/91 title season was an example of that as his goals proved vital to that success.
I always felt the arrival Wrighty held him back a little. Although they get on well together, the team at that time was all about Wright's goals and Campbell definitely played second fiddle after that which seemed to effect his confidence.
My fondest memory of Big Kev has to be that semi final winner against PSG in 1994. A truly great night at Highbury and what a big goal that was.
I will also never forget the contribution he made to the 1991 title winning side, the 5-0 win over Aston Villa in particular, and that amazing game against Sheffield Wednesday when he scared the bejesus out of them.
The fact he was loved by the fans and players at all the clubs he subsequently played for speaks volumes about him as a player and also a man.
As a lifelong Arsenal fan it is great to hear him talk about the club now and hearing the pride he has that he was able to live out all our dreams and score goals for The Arsenal. Cheers, Kev.
Coming up next time I look back on that amazing European Cup Winners Cup semi final from 1994, probably Campbell's greatest moment in an Arsenal shirt. Watch out for that coming soon.
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