Sol Campbell and Scum
Thursday, 02 October 08, 08:42 AM · Comments(0)
Whilst Emmanuel Adebayor talks about his attempt to establish a mental telepathy with Robin van Persie- according to the late Bill Hicks, Emmanuel- your best bet is probably magic mushrooms, it has come to my and, I'm sure, your attention that a certain ex player of ours was subjected to vicious and disgusting taunting as his current team beat Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon. Which, amazingly, I've seen some people try to justify!
Sol Campbell, for those of you who have been under a rock for the last decade, left his boyhood club, Tottenham Hotspur to join Arsenal in 2001. He then left Arsenal in 2006 to go and play abroad, but didn't make it past Portsmouth. He left Arsenal, as he did Spurs, without a transfer fee being received by the club he was departing and more than a few Arsenal fans were not very happy with his manner of departure.
Now, I wasn't at the game that saw his first visit to our megadome, but I was at the Watford game that season, where Arsene Wenger's 10th anniversary in charge of the club was celebrated, and a roll call of every player rang out over the club's PA system. In keeping with everyone else listed, Sol Campbell's name was clapped. Some may have booed, but overall his reception was good. And rightly so, because Sol Campbell came to Arsenal and won things, not just that, he was a huge part of the reason why we won things.
He showed tremendous mental strength and courage to get over the death of his father in 2003 as Arsenal surged towards their unbeaten season, I remember too that as Arsenal clinched the title at the Lane, Sol chose not to celebrate with the tem in front of his once adoring public. Before that, however, in 2001, he had gone and faced down the hyenas at White Hart Lane, putting in a great performance that would have seen Arsenal win had Richard Wright not committed a last minute howler. Many say that game was the making of Sol Campbell as an Arsenal player, he certainly didn't look back from there and, after nine years and one medal at Tottenham, by the end of the season had tripled his personal tally after one year with the Gunners.
And that's why he inspires such hatred, vitriol and bitterness from men who, really, are old enough to know better. They know that after giving Tottenham stellar service, I remember a game against us in 1997 where he was almost a one man army, he left at the peak of his powers to join a club who would things and did win things. Unfortunately for those guys, it happened to be the club 3 miles down the Seven Sisters Road. It's perhaps telling that his final action for Tottenham saw him depart an FA Cup Semi Final with Tottenham leading Arsenal 1-0. Arsenal equalised immediately and went on to give Tottenham a 2-1 battering. Sol's final contribution for Arsenal? The first goal and a heroic performance in the Champions League Final. He was 15 minutes away from acheiving the european club footballer's ultimate ambition. That's why he left Tottenham for Arsenal and that is why, no matter how he left Arsenal, I think Sol should be remembered fondly by us.
Seven years later, the Spurs fans can't let go. You would think that they would try and get behind a team that so obviously needs them right now, as they languish at the bottom of the table, but no, better to barrack a former player. Maybe they just can't forgive Sol for proving that it's not always "lucky for Spurs when the year ends in one".
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RocktheCasbah
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Truth, justice and the Arsenal way
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