Kevin Campbell (footballer)

Early life

Campbell was born in south London, the sixth of seven children in a family of Jamaican origin. He was raised by his single mother.

Club career

Arsenal

Campbell began his career as a trainee with Arsenal, joining the club on schoolboy forms in 1985. He was prolific for Arsenal's Academy, scoring 59 goals in one season. Campbell also won the FA Youth Cup of 1988 with Arsenal. He went on to make his first-team debut against Everton on 7 May 1988, although the club's forward positions at the time were usually taken by Paul Merson and Alan Smith.

Campbell came to prominence during a loan spell at Leyton Orient in 1989 when he scored nine goals in 16 games. Campbell helped see the club to promotion during that season but did not play in their victorious playoff final against Wrexham as his loan spell had just ended. Orient manager Frank Clark wanted to make the move permanent but Arsenal refused to sell. At the start of the 1989–90 season, he was again loaned out, this time to Leicester City. The following season, he established himself in the Arsenal team, scoring eight times in ten matches during the run-in to the club's First Division title win.

Despite Arsenal signing Ian Wright in September 1991, Campbell continued to feature in the team. He scored for Arsenal against Millwall and Derby County in Arsenal's victorious 1992–93 campaigns in the FA Cup and League Cup. In the 1993–94 season, he scored 19 goals, his best for the Gunners. He also featured in the victorious 1993–94 European Cup Winners' Cup campaign, scoring four goals, including one in the semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain. His form for the club waned in 1994–95, and the arrivals of forwards John Hartson and Chris Kiwomya saw his playing time reduced. Campbell played 224 times for Arsenal, scoring 60 goals.

Nottingham Forest

In the summer of 1995, Campbell was sold to Nottingham Forest, for an initial fee of £2.5million, where he spent three seasons. He was part of the team that was relegated in 1997, but his 23 goals the following season helped see the Reds win the Division One title in 1998.

Trabzonspor

Campbell controversially left Forest at the end of the 1997–98 season, against the will of their manager, Dave Bassett, to join Turkish side Trabzonspor for £2.5million, a move which caused Forest teammate Pierre van Hooijdonk to go "on strike". His time in Trabzon saw him leave the club after seven months after a racist incident which involved club president Mehmet Ali Yılmaz calling him a "cannibal". Campbell and his teammates also had not been paid, something which he demanded they rectify. To show solidarity with Campbell, the two club captains, Ogün Temizkanoğlu and Abdullah Ercan, were at his side during a press conference in which he stated his reasons for leaving the club.

Everton

Everton, who were battling against relegation from the Premier League, signed Campbell on loan in March 1999. His impact on the side was immediate as he scored nine goals in his first eight games. These feats made him Everton's top goalscorer both at home and away from Goodison Park for that season. His six goals, which were scored in his first three games, earned him Everton's player of the month award for April, making him the first loanee to be bestowed with the title.

Campbell's move to Everton was made permanent in the summer of 1999 for a fee of £3million. In the 1999–2000 season, he scored Everton's winning goal in the Merseyside derby against Liverpool at Anfield, which was Everton's last win at Anfield before 2021, when Everton defeated Liverpool 2–0. He ended the season as the club's top scorer, with 12 goals scored altogether.

Campbell was Everton's leading goalscorer in 2000–01, but scored just four times during the 2001–02 campaign and returned to the top in 2002–03.

Campbell is Everton's fifth-highest Premier League goalscorer, behind Romelu Lukaku, Duncan Ferguson, Tim Cahill and Dominic Calvert-Lewin. He was also Everton's first black captain.

West Bromwich Albion

Campbell moved to West Bromwich Albion in January 2005 on a free transfer and helped the club retain its Premiership status. This endeavour marked the first time that a club that had been at the bottom of the top division on Christmas Day had gone on to avoid relegation.

Cardiff City

In May 2006, after West Brom were relegated to the Championship, Campbell was released by the club. He signed for Cardiff City on a free transfer on 2 August 2006. He scored in an FAW Premier Cup quarter-final match away at Carmarthen Town for Cardiff, on 13 February 2007. He was then released by the club in May 2007, thus bringing to an end his career.

International career

Campbell earned four caps for the England U-21s and one for England B. He holds the record of being the English player who has scored the most goals in the Premier League without earning a senior cap for his country. In September 1992 he was on stand-by for a friendly against Spain, but this was the nearest he got to being in the senior squad.{{cite news |access-date=12 December 2017 |archive-date=13 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213011144/http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-pearce-promoted-to-head-a-familiar-cast-1548931.html |url-status=live

Media career

Campbell was featured on the Sky Sports series Where are They Now? in 2008, when he was the co-owner of security company T1 Protection, specialising in supplying bodyguards to celebrities and other wealthy customers whilst travelling abroad. He also worked with Asia-based Sony TEN as a commentator for their Premier League and Champions League coverage.

Campbell ran a record label, 2 Wikid, first signing rapper Mark Morrison, who had previously topped the charts with "Return of the Mack" in 1996. In December 2004, he obtained a court injunction against rival label Jet Star to prevent it from releasing Morrison's album, Innocent Man. The injunction was lifted shortly afterward. The first single released by 2 Wikid was that of Panjabi MC's tune "Backstabbers", a remix of Morrison's original song, which had been released in 2004.

Personal life and death

Campbell's elder son Tyrese is also a professional footballer. His younger son Kyle played in non-league football.

Campbell became ill in early 2024 and was admitted to hospital a number of times. He was admitted to Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) in May and died there on 15 June. An interim coroner's report attributed Campbell's death to infective endocarditis leading to multiple organ failure. The hospital is conducting an internal investigation over concerns about Campbell's treatment at MRI. In April 2025, the coroner recorded a death by natural causes, and concluded that the late diagnosis of infective endocarditis "did not more than minimally contribute" to his death.

On Campbell's death, Everton called him "not just a true Goodison Park hero and icon of the English game, but an incredible person as well".

Career statistics

Honours

Arsenal Youth

• FA Youth Cup: 1987–88

Arsenal

• Football League First Division: 1990–91
• FA Cup: 1992–93
• Football League Cup: 1992–93
• FA Charity Shield: 1991 (shared)
• European Cup Winners' Cup: 1993–94

Nottingham Forest

• Football League First Division: 1997–98

Individual

• Premier League Player of the Month: April 1999

References

References

1. (2006). "Sky Sports Football Yearbook: 2006–2007". Headline Publishing Group.
2. (15 April 2025). "Kevin Campbell: Wayne Rooney, Andy Cole and more discuss ex-Arsenal and Everton striker's life and death".
3. McNulty, Phil. (15 June 2024). "Campbell mixed finesse and power with big personality". BBC Sport.
4. Sessions, George. (12 December 2018). "Clark reminisces about the time Orient signed Arsenal's Campbell".
5. (25 January 2002). "Kev's debt to Orient".
6. (15 June 2024). "Kevin Campbell, former Everton and Arsenal forward, dies aged 54". [[The Times]].
7. Clarke, Lee. (11 October 2019). "Kevin Campbell explains fond memories of playing for Nottingham Forest".
8. Simon Kuper. (5 May 2002). "Fans hand it to proud Pi-Air". [[The Observer]].
9. (25 February 1999). "Campbell fury over 'cannibal' attack". The Guardian.
10. (15 June 2024). "Kevin Campbell, legend of the early Premier League, mixed goals with versatility". The Guardian.
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20. (2 August 2006). "Bluebirds secure Campbell signing". BBC Sport.
21. (16 May 2007). "Thompson heads Cardiff clear-out". BBC Sport.
22. (20 February 2007). "West Brom 1–0 Cardiff". [[BBC]].
23. (18 August 2004). "Which uncapped player has scored the most Premiership goals?". The Guardian.
24. "Football round the clock".
25. (1 October 2003). "Campbell has a Wicked time". BBC Sport.
26. (13 December 2004). "Court halts Mark Morrison album". BBC News.
27. (22 December 2004). "R&B star wins court album battle". BBC News.
28. (20 March 2004). "Kevin Campbell: Striking a balance between rhythm and the Blues at Goodison".
29. Smith, Peter. (23 October 2017). "Tyrese Campbell ordered to be more selfish after two-goal burst". Stoke Sentinel.
30. Rumeana Jahangir. (4 July 2024). "Major safety incident linked to Kevin Campbell death".
31. (15 June 2024). "Kevin Campbell: 1970–2024".
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