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Sulzeer Jeremiah тАЬSolтАЭ Campbell is a retired English footballer, best known for his position as central defender and Captaining the England Squad. Sol has played for Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Portsmouth and Newcastle United, and represented his country in the sport.
At the age of 18 for FA Premier League club, Tottenham Hotspur, Sol Campbell played, and scored, in his professional debut against Chelsea in December 1992. Sol made 255 appearances for Tottenham. In the 1999 season he captained Spurs to a Football League Cup Final victory against Premier League side Leicester City, and scored 10 goals during that season.
In 2001 he controversially joined Arsenal, TottenhamтАЩs North London rivals, which was the first high profile free transfer within the Premier League under the Bosman ruling. In his five years at Arsenal he won two Premier League winners medals and four FA Cup winners medals, encompassing the 2001тАУ02 League and FA Cup double, and being part of the team that became known as The Invincibles for their undefeated 2003тАУ04 Premier League campaign.
Sol Campbell was also part of the side that lost 2тАУ1 to Barcelona in the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final, in which he scored the only goal for Arsenal. In August 2006 he joined Premier League side Portsmouth on a free transfer; his three years with the club included captaining them to success in the 2008 FA Cup Final against Championship side Cardiff City.
Sol Campbell gained his first full cap for the England national football team aged 21. In May 1998, aged 23 years 248 days, Campbell became what was then EnglandтАЩs second-youngest captain, after Bobby Moore. CampbellтАЩs first goal for England came in the 2002 World Cup in the opening group game against Sweden.
In 2006 Campbell became the only player to have represented England in six consecutive major tournaments, playing in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 European Championships, and the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups, and he has a career total of 73 England caps. He was named in the official Teams of the Tournament for the 1998 and 2002 World Cups and 2004 European Championship. He is also one of only a select few who have played over 500 Premier League games.
Sol CampbellтАЩs other honours in the game include being in the Professional FootballersтАЩ Association Team of the Year three times, in 1999, 2003 and 2004.
