Sol Campbell believes he deserves knighthood and compares himself to sporting greats
Former England and Arsenal defender Sol Campbell believes he's more than deserving of a knighthood after a glittering career at the top of English football
Sol Campbell reckons he deserves a knighthood.
The former Arsenal and Tottenham defender, 49, branded himself a British sporting great, and says he's miffed about being continuously overlooked in the annual honours list. With 73 caps for England and numerous major honours under his belt, Campbell is without doubt one of the finest footballers the country has produced.
He had a particularly successful stint at Arsenal, where he scooped up two Premier League titles and two FA Cups, and was part of the club's legendary 'Invincibles' team. Yet despite his achievements on the pitch, as well as his charitable and political efforts off it, honorific recognition has been hard to come by.
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Speaking to GB News, Campbell didn't mince his words about the oversight: "I think for me when it comes to honours and lists, if it comes to a popularity contest there's a lot of people who are unpopular who have Sirs, OBEs and MBEs," he said.
"If you look at what I've done and what I've gone through playing football and the consistency over the course of two decades, under severe pressure in a football sense, I'm up with some of the sporting greats of our country.
"I'm a proud Englishman and I've done a lot for football, on and off the field, and for racism. Also I'm not even talking about the records I've acquired playing football for my country and domestically, for Tottenham and Arsenal - for me, I'm up with the rest for all of them.
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"I don't know why I'm overlooked on these kind of occasions. I'm not the only sporting great that has been overlooked but for me I'm seeing all these other people get these gongs and these accolades and it's special - for me it would be an honour to have a Sir, OBE or MBE for the sport I've committed to over two decades."
Only a select few British footballers have been knighted; Kenny Dalglish, Trevor Brooking, Matt Busby, Bobby Charlton, Alex Ferguson, Tom Finney, Geoff Hurst, Stanley Matthews, Alf Ramsey, Bobby Robson, and Walter Winterbottom.
However, several of Campbell's former team-mates have received lesser honours, including David Beckham (OBE), Frank Lampard (OBE), Rio Ferdinand (OBE), Jermain Defoe (OBE), Gareth Southgate (OBE), Tony Adams (MBE) and Steven Gerrard (MBE).
Campbell's playing career began at Tottenham in 1992, after he emerged from club's youth academy. He spent eight years in the first team before making a contentious free transfer to north London rivals Arsenal in 2001 after letting his contract expire.
He enjoyed a successful five-year stint at Highbury, bagging four major honours before moving to Portsmouth in 2006. His career later took him to Notts County and Newcastle before he retired in 2011.
Post-retirement, Campbell dabbled in politics, and even announced plans to run for Mayor of London in the 2016 election, though ultimately didn't make the shortlist. He then shifted his focus to football management, taking the reins at Macclesfield Town and Southend United for brief periods.