It’s been 24 years since Sol Campbell caused uproar among Tottenham supporters by moving to their fierce rivals Arsenal, but the animosity lingers on.
The former Spurs club captain, a product of White Hart Lane’s youth academy, accrued over 250 appearances in his nine seasons with the club.
Yet, he provoked outrage from fans when he left to don the red of Arsenal in 2001 without a transfer fee. During his illustrious stint with Arsene Wenger’s side, Campbell secured two Premier League titles and three FA Cups, yet he remained a pariah to Tottenham followers who bombarded him with abhorrent chants for the rest of his playing days.
Striking back, the ex-England star recently featured in a cheeky advert for Google Pixel, mocking Tottenham almost a quarter century after the infamous switch.
In the video, viewers witness Campbell swapping a white jumper for a red one amidst a display of his Arsenal accolades.
He boldly asserts: “It’s that time of year again, the time where people start to wonder if the grass might be greener. Whether they should switch sides and change allegiances. Take it from me, big moves pay off. Sure people will have opinions, but who cares what people think?
“Of course you could stay with them for another year, but is anything really going to change? It certainly doesn’t look like it to me. If you’re thinking about a transfer this January, I say go for it.
“It’s not like you’re doing anything outrageous, you’re just switching to something much, much better.”
Campbell then flops onto his sofa and fires up his Google Pixel phone, casually asking: “What were we just talking about?”
The phone replies: “We were talking about separating delicate whites from strong colours like red in your laundry,” prompting Campbell to smirk and respond “yeah that was it.”
Judas shirts were directed at Campbell and Spurs fans were punished for disgraceful chants and death threats towards their former player.
Yet, as Campbell publicly makes clear, he came out the winner of the whole affair. He looked back at his glittering trophy cabinet, amassed as one of the world’s top defenders during his time at Arsenal.
In the nine years he spent on the red side of north London, Spurs picked up just one League Cup, while Campbell also went on to win the FA Cup with Portsmouth in 2009 after leaving Arsenal.
