Sol Campbell- the only player to play for Arsenal and Tottenham in the Premier League era
Sol Campbell will forever go down in Premier League history as the only player to controversially turn out for Arsenal and Tottenham since the competition commenced in 1992.
Campbell had started off his career at Spurs in 1989 as a youth player before making his way into the first team in 1992 where he remained for the next nine years and the rest of his career at centre-back.
In 2001 Arsene Wenger who had won The Gunners their second double in history three campaigns earlier in 1998 after the Premiership and FA Cup were clinched, saw a diamond of a defender in Campbell who had played over 200 times for the other side of North London. After being brought for nothing from Tottenham, Arsenals number one enemy, Campbell said he thought he had arrived at a “fantastic club” adjoined by a “great team manager and the set up is geared up to win. I want to be here now.”
Wenger, who was more than confident that he had secured one of the greatest defenders at the time, described him: “for me, he is the best.”
Campbell had drawn interest from top European sides at the time such as Barcelona, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich, but chose to create even more tension between the rivalry of Arsenal and Tottenham by moving to Highbury.
Within a year of signing for Arsenal he had made a strong impression on the back four bolstering it to the side’s advantage with the clubs third and final double being achieved in 2002, which saw Arsenal crowned Premier League Champions at Manchester United, and later becoming winners of the FA Cup knocking aside Chelsea 2-0 in the final.
Two years later Campbell took part in yet again another controversial historic encounter in Arsenal’s and Spurs joint folklore. After only missing a handful of games during the Invincible 2003/04 season Campbell jumped up to the rescue and helped The Gunners win the league at White Hart Lane, where he had played previously, during a 2-2 draw. This is one of the worst occasions in Spurs history and one of the best in Arsenal’s.
Campbell later declared that to win the Premiership at his old home “it’s just nuts. It’s like it was meant to be. You think about connections, places – and then imagine someone saying, ‘Where would you like to win the league?’ It’s crazy when you think about it.”
Campbell would remain at Arsenal till 2006 before leaving for Portsmouth for three years before making a freak 11 match return for The Gunners in 2010, before retiring at Newcastle United in 2011.
Since Campbell transferred from Spurs to Arsenal in 2001 no player has switched from either clubs since in Premier League footballing history.
Liam Harding
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