July 10 - Sol-long Campbell | On This Football Day

Football fans are a funny lot. They can forgive one of their own players for almost anything, as long as they show they are committed to the cause. Even if the player in question is rubbish, as long as they are seen to have the passion and work their socks off, they will be accepted, if not worshipped.

Loyalty is another quality that fans demand. There is nothing worse than seeing your best player leave your club to join another. Not only are you losing the player, but you are also being reminded that despite the lyrics to the chant, and what you might like to believe, yours is not the greatest team the world has ever seen.

If jumping ship is bad enough, the only thing worse is jumping ship to join your arch rivals.

It was on this day in 2001 that Sol Campbell did exactly that and left Tottenham Hotspur to join north London rivals Arsenal. And just to rub salt in the wound, Spurs did not receive a penny for the move, as Campbell’s contract was up and he moved under the Bosman ruling.

In 2000 and 2001 as his contact ran down, speculation was rife as to Campbell’s plans. Sol himself said in January 2001: “I want to play for Tottenham, that’s it really. I am going nowhere.”

A host of top European clubs including Barcelona, Inter, and Bayern Munich were all vying for Campbell’s signature, as were many Premiership sides.

In May 2001 the then Spurs’ vice-chairman David Buchler, showed he is no Mystic Meg when he said: “There’s no chance of Sol leaving for Arsenal. He is a Spurs fan and there’s not a hope in hell of him playing in an Arsenal shirt.”

Campbell, who has a brief cameo role as a bouncer in the Guy Ritchie film Snatch, once said: “Being a Spurs fan as a boy and a player for so many years, it would be hard to sign for Arsenal. I don’t think the fans here would ever forgive me.”

He was right. Spurs fans have never forgiven the man they now know as ‘Judas’, and he has been subjected to a continuous torrent of abuse every time he has played at White Hart Lane since the move. On his first visit to the ground as an Arsenal player, the Gunner’s team bus was pelted with missiles and Campbell had plastic bottles thrown at him during the match.

Despite this, it seems Campbell has had the last laugh. Since moving to Arsenal, Campbell won the Premiership and the FA Cup twice, including the famous 2002/03 season when the team went the whole season unbeaten. In the same period, the number of trophies Spurs have won can be counted on one hand - by using the thumb and first finger to make an ‘0′.