Sol Campbell

About

Strong and imposing defender who played at the highest level. Since retiring from football, Sol has become known for his insightful, straight-talking approach to politics.

Sulzeer (Sol) Jeremiah Campbell was born in Newham, East London, the youngest of 12 children and expressed himself through football during his teen years, training at the FA’s School of Excellence at Lilleshall. From there he went on to play for some of the world’s greatest football clubs, including Portsmouth, Newcastle, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal.

Beginning his career at White Hart Lane, Sol spent nine years with Spurs, scoring 10 goals in 255 appearances, and captaining the team to victory in the 1999 Football League Cup Final against Leicester City.

In 2001 he joined Tottenham’s North London rivals Arsenal. In his five years and 195 appearances with the Gunners he won two Premier League winners medals and two FA Cup winners medals, encompassing the 2001–02 league and FA Cup double, and being part of the team that became known as The Invincibles for their undefeated 2003–04 Premier League campaign.

He won 73 caps at a senior level for England and represented the side at six major tournaments between 1996 and 2004 including the greatest honour and privilege of his career as Captain of England, becomming what was then England’s second-youngest captain, after Bobby Moore.

He was named in the Teams of the Tournament for the 2002 World Cup and 2004 European Championship. Other honours in the game include being in the PFA Team of the Year three times (1999, 2003, and 2004).

The success enjoyed by Sol on the football pitch has been equalled by his passionate belief in equality, social justice and opportunity. Throughout his playing career, he campaigned hard for racial equality and was also recently proud to have been involved with the Operation Black Vote Campaign to encourage black Britons to vote at the last General Election.

Since retiring from football, Sol has become increasingly vocal about British politics and, in February 2015, confirmed his intention to run for the Conservative Party nomination for Mayor of London in the 2016 election. 

Sol has also launched his own charity “Kids go live” which allows inner city children to see a variety of live sporting events such as Wimbledon, the Olympic Games and rugby internationals.

Sol was also featured in EA Sports’ FIFA video game series and was the cover star for the International edition of FIFA 2000.

Sol is proud of his roots. He is a Londoner through and through, he played by the rules and worked hard, and this gritty background makes for a true speaker, one who connects with everyone.