Meet your Vodafone Unity Match Icons-“Sol” Campbell

Sol Campbell Will be part of the Stephen Appiah Led World XI that will face Asante Kotoko on Wednesday 8th June in Kumasi and play the Black Stars in Accra on 11th June for the Vodafone Unity Match in bid to promote peace ahead of the upcoming General Elections.

In the Special Series of reminding of the exploits of all Icons expected in Ghana next month we continue with Sulzeer Jeremiah “Sol” Campbell

Campbell was born on 18 September 1974 is a former England international footballer. A central defender, he had a 19-year career playing in the Premier League and an 11-year international career.

Born in east London to Jamaican parents, he began his career with Tottenham Hotspur in December 1992. He spent nine years at 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 on a free transfer, and as a result remained a hated figure amongst many Spurs supporters for the rest of his career. In his five years and 195 appearances at Arsenal 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 scored Arsenal’s only goal in their 2–1 defeat to Barcelona in the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. In August 2006 he joined Portsmouth on a free transfer; his three years with the club included captaining them to victory in the 2008 FA Cup Final. At the end of the 2008–09 season he made the surprise move of dropping down three levels of the English football pyramid to join League Two side Notts County on a free transfer.

He left the club by mutual consent in September 2009, having played just one game for the club. The next year he made a brief return to Arsenal, before ending his career with Newcastle United.

Having already won caps for the England under-21s and England B team, he gained his first of 73 full caps for England aged 21. In May 1998 Campbell became what was then England’s second-youngest captain, after Bobby Moore, aged 23 years 248 days.

In 2006 he become 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. 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).

In February 2015, he announced his intention to run for the Conservative Party nomination for Mayor of London in the 2016 election. He was not selected as the Conservative candidate.