Sol Campbell

by Simon Astaire

  • • •

  On 21 September 2003, Arsenal played Manchester United at Old Trafford. Sol was absent that Sunday; he was due to bury his father that week and had been given leave. He needed space. He felt he’d been watched all day of the funeral. All eyes were on him, the famous son. People whispering loudly as he stood close to the coffin. He was the only one of the family to give a eulogy. ‘I was glad to be able to mourn at the funeral. Speaking to relatives helped me get close to my dad, in another way.’ He could hear all the mutterings, not directly of course, but close enough to wherever he stood. He dreaded walking out of the church after the funeral service. Dreaded to see the world the same as when he walked in. Relieved to see the world was just the same as before he went in. He needed to escape, yes, to be on his own again, this time to deal with his grief. He kissed his mother goodbye and left the rest of the mourners; yet another escape from his street, from his family. Not an escape outside to play football, like when he was young, but to get to his house, and watch on the television a recording of his club, Arsenal, play Manchester United; the former champions playing the reigning champions.

  The outside of his home is quiet. As he approaches the front door, he hears the rustle of the trees and instantly remembers the times in West Ham Park when he used to play football and used the trees as his team-mates. He thinks of his father. Could he have joined me in the park? Could he have played with me? And then he quickly dismisses it as a wasted thought. He scolds himself, tells himself not to be so damn stupid. This is how it is. Stop even trying to create the perfect scene.

  He goes into his living room and switches on the television. He makes himself a coffee and hears the commentary, but not clearly, more like some echo from the distant past. He watches the game. He watches it unmoved, as if it’s on constant replay. It is one of those games that can go by without anyone noticing anything, until, that is, the last minute. Martin Keown pulls down Ruud van Nistelrooy. A penalty is given. Van Nistelrooy is going to take it. If he scores, that’s the game. Sol watches Van Nistelrooy pick up the ball to put on the penalty spot and, quite naturally, his mind switches to how he plays him. How, the first time they had met on the pitch, Sol had dived in too quickly and the Dutchman had taken advantage and scored. Don’t sell yourself and tackle; let him beat you. It’s now logged in his memory. Van Nistelrooy is clinical, which makes him one of the best. With him you must lock his first movement, and then you’re on the way to being okay. Be close enough so he can’t get his shot in.

  Van Nistelrooy hits the bar with his penalty. Keown leaps up, arms in the air, in front of Van Nistelrooy, as if he has just tasted his blood. It’s an iconic photograph. The game ends in a 0-0 draw. The consequence? Only at the end of the season will that be known.

  Sol thought again about other key games that season. The match at Stamford Bridge in February when Arsenal came from behind to beat their title rivals Chelsea 2-1; facing Liverpool at Highbury in April soon after their exit from the Champions League and FA Cup, down 2-1 at half-time before storming back to win 4-2; then, just two weeks later, a crucial match at White Hart Lane, of all places, and the chance to crown a remarkable campaign. ‘The Liverpool game was one of the best performances that I remember being part of with Arsenal, coming on the back of a couple of cup defeats. At half-time, when we were losing, we got together and agreed we couldn’t let this happen to us. We had to change it in the second half. Arsene was calm. “Keep true to your game,” he said. “Find the line, play forward, keep the ball.” And Thierry’s performance in the second half was truly beautiful. We all played our part but Thierry sprinkled his magic dust over Highbury. It was football as art.’

  As the season was drawing to its close, the team remained unbeaten; God’s luck, God’s choice. ‘We always thought our run could end at anytime. We never took any game for granted. We had to concentrate every moment. We all knew any team could have their day. It can just happen, without you even noticing it. You lose and you’ve forgotten how that happened. So there was no let-off. Whether you were playing the top teams, or those at the bottom.’ Sol reflected back for a moment to Old Trafford, and how the match had been a distraction, when all his senses were heightened by his father’s death. And how he watched the game on his own, feeling hopeless as his team faced defeat. What if the penalty from Van Nistelrooy had gone in? He connected with God’s will of how life can change quite suddenly, whether in sport or your everyday existence.

  Sol looks up to the sky like the subject in a religious painting. ‘I hadn’t really thought about the record. We just didn’t think about losing that season. Then the papers started to write about the possibility of us going through the entire season unbeaten.

  ‘Once you start talking about records, your chances diminish,’ he says. ‘So, by the time the last few games came round, I thought we had less chance of achieving it because now everyone was talking about it. Once everyone starts talking about things, I always feel uneasy. As if it curses you.’

  Then, to the match at White Hart Lane. ‘We won the title at Tottenham.’ He pauses. The roots of coincidence. ‘It was all too much really, going back to Tottenham to win the League. I knew we’d get a point there. I just knew.’ It was never easy for Sol going back to Spurs. Never. The story was burning as strongly as when he first left, and the abuse had not receded. ‘I was so pumped up for this game. I change when I’m on the field. Not in a bad way but I’m different. Just different,’ he says, gauging and processing the metamorphic change in personality. What does it mean? Who is this other character that lives inside?

  He steps back in time. He is leaving the away dressing room on that 25 April day. He has initially zoned out. He doesn’t hear the crowd. That day they seem very separate, as if they are there but not really. He is looking at the players as if they are in a video game. Not a virtual game, but more like a matrix. His feelings are surreal. So different to his last visit.

  His fitness is good. He feels strong, he’s fully prepared. He has everything mapped out. He knows what the team is going to do before they even do it. He has intuition and that day he is in the zone. When he was in the zone, he felt free; more liberated than in any second, any minute, of his life. Flying through the air, anticipating, tackling and passing. No-one can get through him or stop him. ‘I just loved it. I felt a natural high. It was like a drug for me.’

  • • •

  Tottenham 2 Arsenal 2, White Hart Lane, 25 April 2004

  Tottenham: Keller, Kelly (Poyet 79), Gardner, King, Taricco (Bunjevcevic 90), Davies, Brown, Redknapp, Jackson (Defoe 45), Kanoute, Keane. Subs Not Used: Ricketts, Hirschfeld. Goals: Redknapp (62), Keane (pen 90).

  Arsenal: Lehmann, Lauren, Campbell, Toure, Cole, Parlour (Edu 67), Vieira, Silva, Pires, Henry, Bergkamp (Reyes 80). Subs Not Used: Keown, Clichy, Stack. Goals: Vieira (3), Pires (35).

  Att: 36,097. Ref: Mark Halsey.

  Needing only a draw to clinch the title, Arsenal began swiftly with goals from Vieira, after a lightning counter-attack, and Pires, following good work by Bergkamp and Vieira again. Spurs turn things round in the second half. Redknapp’s low shot arrows past Lehmann and in a tense finish, Pires hits the crossbar before Lehmann fouls Keane who slots the resulting penalty home to rescue a valuable point for Spurs. But Arsenal are record-breaking league champions.

  Arsenal were majestic at the start. Vieira’s goal was scored with an ease characteristic of their unbeaten season. Sol recalls the steps by which Arsene Wenger developed his team’s fluency: ‘He wanted the ball to be on the ground; he wanted the ball passed through the lines, always looking forward, always looking for the opening. Speed and accuracy, the right angles and timing were all-important. Even for me when defending. Of course, sometimes you have to put it in Row Z but even if you were under pressure, you still had to look for the next man to pass it on to, even with your head. Using that half a second, I’ve seen the player on the right side or the one in midfield. You have that instant to ignite something; to cont
rol the opposition, not the other way round.’

  Robbie Keane had a chance, which Sol headed clear, again summarising the quality of his and the Arsenal team’s season from the back line to the front. ‘I always try to head away to the sidelines when clearing. First, it is safer and second, there may be one of our players ready to start an attack. We had quick thinking guys who consistently found themselves in the right position. It made life on the field easier. With the speed and intelligence of Henry, Bergkamp, Ljungberg, Pires and Patrick [Vieira], marauding, ready to break forward and also cover the back, we could do unbelievable things. It was a privilege to be on the same field.’

  Bergkamp was the architect of the second goal, scored by Pires. ‘Dennis flourished under Arsene. It was the first time Dennis was managed by someone with real intelligence, and his play just got better and better. It was incredible to watch.’

  Despite a second-half comeback from the home team, the final whistle sees Arsenal as champions and still unbeaten. The players run towards their fans in celebration. They are screaming their heads off, not only because they are champions again but also because they have won the title at their rival’s ground. All the team is there except Sol, who quietly walks away, back to the visitors’ dressing room. ‘I thought it best. I didn’t want to be disrespectful in front of the Spurs fans.’ When all the players return, Sol is waiting. He has spent the moments alone, not in celebration but in frustration. He turns on his goalkeeper.

  ‘I was really fucked off that we gave away that last-minute goal. I so wanted to win the game. I want to win every game. It’s the beginning and the end for me. I always gave a hundred per cent if I could, for whoever I was playing for. To see Jens throw it away like that really pissed me off. So there’s everyone enjoying themselves, and I’m having a right go at Jens.’

  The argument fades. They are in heaven. The title is theirs. The players return to the pitch to celebrate again with their fans, and this time Sol joins them. He thinks of all the hard work he’s put in to get to this place: the early mornings, the care over what he put in his body, the training sessions, his unfailing determination to improve every time he went onto the field, on the road in those crappy hotels. Fleeting thoughts when he steps on the White Hart Lane soil, but there nevertheless.

  The stadium is now empty except for the deluge of noise coming from the far corner of the Park Lane End. A banner has been displayed. ‘Why did Sol leave the Lane? Arsenal Champions! 43 Years and you’re still waiting!’ Sol looks up and sees it. He finds comfort in the word ‘Champions’ but nothing else.

  Patrick Vieira slaps Sol on the back. His captain; they had become friends. ‘He was very much our captain, a good captain but he loved me to shout at him. “Sol!” he would yell, “I like it when you shout at me! It gets me going.”’

  ‘I liked him shouting at me because there were times I could fade out of the game. He always kept me focused,’ says Vieira.

  ‘He was an intelligent man,’ Sol says. ‘So were many of that team. It helps…’

  When you look back at the history of successful sides over the years, they always had players that were intelligent on and off the field. It seemed Arsenal were overflowing with them. ‘It’s true,’ says Sol. ‘Henry, Vieira, Bergkamp, Ljungberg, Seaman, Kanu …and me, of course.’

  • • •

  Arsenal remained unbeaten for the rest of the season, finishing with a 2-1 home win over Leicester City in the last game. Their league record that season was 26 wins, 12 draws and 0 losses, over 38 games in total. ‘As a team, we loved and cared for each other. Sometimes, we didn’t have to talk and we knew how the other felt. It reflected on the way we played our football,’ says Thierry Henry.

  There wasn’t much time for Sol to celebrate his team’s remarkable achievement, as England were off to the European Championships in Portugal. Some people are said to find an excess of success as difficult, if not more difficult to handle than failure. But not Sol. He knew his success, and that of the team, was justified. His body stature, which was always naturally positive, became even more so. He walked through everyday life with an air of hyper-confidence. He may not have noticed the change but his friends did.

  Sol spent these days in silent communion, feeling justified in leaving Spurs for Arsenal, taking comfort in joining up with the England squad as a champion, and basking in the respect he got from friends and Arsenal fans. He didn’t go overboard in congratulating himself – ‘Once you start believing the plaudits, you have to believe in everything else’ – but these days were good for Sol. Sadly, the winning feeling would not last long.

  • • •

  Sol came back from Euro 2004 a disappointed man. It is painful to return to your country when your international team has been knocked out of a tournament, made even worse at that time because Sol truly believed England could have won.

  He tries to avoid switching on the television. Each time he does, there’s something going on about the Euros. Leave it, he tells himself, and takes out the plug from the wall socket. All it creates is frustration, a feeling that the team should still be out there, playing.

  He keeps to himself, not venturing out from his house, not even once. No restaurant, no shopping. It is difficult to face anyone. This is not simply about losing; it is far more. It’s dealing with the hopes and disappointment of a nation.

  He needs to get out of the country, away from the news, the constant murmur of disappointment from…Everyone. He feels fatigued. Mentally exhausted. He arranges a ten-day break in Italy on the Amalfi coast. He rents a boat and spends his days finding a peace. He wakes up early and goes up on deck. He spends the early hours looking out at the blueness, the sea and sky appearing to converge into one. It’s the first time he has the space in his mind to reflect on the death of his father the previous summer. He had been too busy concentrating on the present, not the past; winning the Premiership and then playing for England in the Euros. Now he feels completely alone. He paces the deck, wondering what on earth he’s doing there. It’s as if he’s received permission from God to avoid thoughts about certain things. But what about his father’s death? He tried to understand his character. Looking at his life as a whole, not just parts. Not to struggle with it, but to surrender. ‘Although he never recognised how hard I worked to get to the top and also to stay there, I tried during that period to see it his way. His upbringing, his family, how nothing was given to him. So to succeed, you would naturally have to work hard. So why should he notice me? It was something he expected.’ Although Sol tries to live for the present, he was looking to come to terms with what was behind him.

  • • •

  Sol missed the opening games of the 2004-05 season. He had a knee injury and was still tired. ‘It isn’t surprising that I was susceptible to injury. On reflection, I was exhausted. I learned when I went to Lilleshall, how to look after my body. I had to work hard to maintain my fitness. I saw that. I knew then I had to get the best out of my body to compete at the very highest level. I remember having a physical. It was a series of tests: 3,000 metre runs, sprints, jumps, circuits. The first time the results were announced, I was fourth from bottom. I even think the goalkeeper beat me. I promised myself this would not happen again. Never. So the next time we were tested, I finished fourth from top. From then, I’ve always maintained my fitness as best as I could. Fourteen years old is a very good age for a footballer to address that side of his game. It then becomes natural. Part of your everyday routine.’

  Arsenal won the Community Shield 3-1 against Manchester United and continued their unbeaten run in the Premier League. They equalled the unbeaten League record by beating Middlesbrough 5-3 at Highbury, after coming back from two goals down at the start of the second half, which is described by many Gunners fans as the most intense twenty minutes of football they ever witnessed. Three days later, they surpassed the previous record of 42 games held by Nottingham Forest, by beating Blackburn 3-0.

  • • •

  Manc
hester United 2 Arsenal 0, Premier League, Old Trafford, 24 October 2004

  Manchester Utd: Carroll, Gary Neville, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Heinze, Ronaldo (Smith 85), Phil Neville, Scholes, Giggs, Rooney, Van Nistelrooy (Saha 90). Subs Not Used: Howard, Brown, Miller. Goals: Van Nistelrooy 73 pen, Rooney 90.

  Arsenal: Lehmann, Lauren, Campbell, Toure, Cole, Ljungberg, Vieira, Edu, Reyes (Pires 70), Bergkamp, Henry. Subs Not Used: Van Persie, Taylor, Fabregas, Cygan.

  Att: 67,862. Ref: Mike Riley.

  Arsenal’s 49-game unbeaten run in the Premier League finally comes to an end at title rivals Manchester United. In a match that threatened to boil over in the first half, a controversial penalty decision against Campbell gives Van Nistelrooy the chance to open the scoring in the second period. The visitors fail to make all their late pressure count, and in the final minute Rooney bags United’s second from close range to send the Old Trafford faithful home happy.

  Sol had returned to action a few games previously. The first and all-important goal featured Sol. ‘It was a terrible decision. He dived, as simple as that,’ he says about the penalty awarded against him after Rooney went down like a skater on melting ice. ‘He knew, I knew, and by the end of the game everyone watching on television also knew.’ Rooney then doubled the score late on. ‘I refused to shake his hand at the end. He cheated,’ Sol says.

  Back in the dressing room, Sol was removing his boots when he heard a scuffle going on outside. In the papers the following day, the incident became known as ‘Pizzagate’. The dressing room door flew open and Sol saw players and staff from both sides pushing and shoving each other, like trapped cattle in a pen. A slice of pizza, allegedly a margherita, was hurled by an Arsenal player and hit the Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Sol recalls the incident as if squinting at a faded photograph. ‘The area outside the dressing room is very narrow and tight. Something was bound to happen. I didn’t really see the incident with my own eyes. In the end, no-one came forward but it wasn’t taken that seriously by the club. It sort of brought the team even closer together. Us against the rest of the world stuff.’