Meeting An Invincible! Sol Campbell Launches #FansOfTheSeason

Thanks to being a writer for this wonderful site, I’ve been able to meet some of my Arsenal heroes. Men who performed wonders on the Highbury pitch and immediately daubed their own markings upon my memory banks. I was lucky enough to meet and question Ray Parlour and Nigel Winterburn last season. These men will be forever scarred by my no holds barred approach and fanboy-esque fawnings but no one can take away my memories of speaking directly to these icons who I placed on a pedestal. Not even the Court with their troublesome restraining orders.

On Sunday, the same day Arsenal travelled to Carrow Road for a match versus Norwich, I was invited to an event at The Emirates. Joining me were the colourful and erudite Goonersphere Podcast members; @TheDanielCowan, @JamesRaulStokes, @GreeneBantern and @SimplyEnigmatic. This event, organised and hosted by Europcar, Arsenal's official car and van rental partner, gave a selection of ordinary supporters the opportunity to watch the game, enjoy some food and drink, and, far more excitingly, to grill an Invincible - Sol Campbell.

The Diamond Lounge Entrance was the gateway to the 49ers Bar which was the location for this shindig and we all set up camp and waited impatiently for the big defender to turn up. We discussed the game at large and potential lineups before Sol entered the scene and a crackle of silence blanketed the room. Sol then took to a stool in the informal interview area to weather the unrelenting assault of questions from overawed commoners savouring the glory of one on one conversation with a bona fide footballing hero.

All of us watched as Campbell batted these queries aside with the ease of trained orator. The man was as unflappable off the pitch as he was on it. Seeing as he plans to forge a career in politics, he’ll need every drop of this icy cool composure.

Soon enough, it was James, Daniel and my turn to throw a few questions the Sol Man’s way. I nervously kicked off, with a rather ubiquitous question, but seeing as I had a rather testing poser lined up for later, I thought of it as a warm up act. I asked him who which striker gave him his sternest test during his entire career. Seeing as he had a lengthy career in the Premier League and for England, he had a raft of attacking dangermen who he could have chosen.

Sol instead went for the diplomatic route. Not exactly the candid reveal I was hoping for, but he explained that each game must be viewed as separate and as a defender, you must adapt to each situation. Be it a rapid player, or a more physical variety, he used the examples of Emile Heskey and Duncan Ferguson, then as a central defender, you must prepare your game beforehand and adapt as well as you can. I then questioned whether he would ever really struggle with the physical aspect to which he again offered the explanation that any player can challenge you physically, but it is all down to adaptation and approach.

Diplomatic and a good answer, but not particularly juicy. Perhaps the incisiveness of Daniel Cowan would hit paydirt?

Daniel asked about the opinion surrounding Per Mertesacker and his apparent aversion to players armed with pace, seeing as the big German doesn’t have any himself. Would Campbell have liked to have played alongside Mertesacker?

Sol offered a little more, stating that throughout his Arsenal career, he more or less always had a partner in defence that could rapidly cover turf when required. Martin Keown and Kolo Toure, he explained, were pretty rapid, and Rio Ferdinand for England also. He then said that he and whatever respective colleague he was alongside would work together to make sure that any weaknesses they had, they would attempt to cover so that exposure was minimal. He said that you had to make up for any weaknesses the other had. Maybe that is why Koscielny and Mertesacker work so well together.

James was up next, and his question was about the talk surrounding central defenders converting to the holding role in midfield - much like what Arsene Wenger had spoke of recently regarding Calum Chambers - and did he think he would have prospered in this position?

Sol started off by saying it depended on the type of game, but said that in his early career, at roughly 21 or 22 years old, he would have been able to play in the defensive midfield position, but at 29 and 30, he was more than happy at centre half, he had found his strength there. James then added that it was because Calum was strong on the ball and that is why it is surmised he could be a success there, to which Sol said that he didn’t see Chambers in that position and saw him holding down a centre back slot. He stated that he wanted Chambers to concentrate on one position and be wary of not specialising in one space, it could maybe disrupt his development.

We were just starting to get into our flow and had more questions lined up but we were then informed it was time for Sol’s Q&A session which opened up to the floor. I was gutted to not be able to ask the more pertinent of my posers, but was still happy to have been able to partly grill Campbell. I sat on the front row as did the others as Sol was asked about his Spurs past mainly, and he dealt with such difficult questioning, batting each away with aplomb but also being careful not to stray too far from the fence.

One question in particular left it ridiculously open to mocking our neighbours down from the Seven Sisters Road, but instead he chose to sidestep. Quite a bizarre option in my humble opinion, seeing as it was a partizan crowd and a sly dig at that lot would have went down a storm. It wasn’t an awful answer, none of his ripostes were as Sol always seems well prepared, but he could have lit up the atmosphere somewhat if he had just revealed his Arsenal affiliations, he could have had the crowd lapping it up. He did wax lyrical about one subject though, which was the European Cup final in 2006. You could see he truly regretted how that game panned out and rued the lack of preparation he and his colleagues had put in to stifle the man who came on to change the game in Barcelona’s favour - Henrik Larsson. It seemed as if something that will always rankle with the big man.

After about five or six questions, the match against Norwich had begun. The crowd began to filter to the plethora of monitors showing the game, and the Goonersphere boys saw our chance to get a signature from another Arsenal luminary.

We didn’t give him a chance to leave the area before we thrust a sharpie pen and various jerseys and photos for him to sign. Campbell then showed what a gracious man he is by signing each one and then posing for an untold amount of photos. In each one, he is positively beaming - almost as if he was pleased to have finally met the men who comprise the mighty Goonersphere podcast - to be honest, we are kind of a big deal. It wasn’t just myself and my friends who were lining up to get the Invincible to put his mark on an object or pose for a snap.

It took a while for everyone to finally get their signatures and photos, but not once did Sol Campbell’s smile slip. He was a genuinely amiable fellow and nothing was too much trouble.

The match was now in full flow and we settled down to watch the game. Sol had other commitments that eve so left the area to a hearty applause.

We enjoyed the hospitality offered to us by Europcar but unfortunately, the result did not match our overall experience. I have to thank Europcar for such a fantastic opportunity and everything that was laid on for us, especially Sol Campbell. It was truly memorable and I cannot wait for the next event if I’m lucky enough to attend.

The fact that I had such great company with me who were as enthusiastic as I was really made the day though. Much like Sol Campbell, my smile will take a while to fade. 

Sol was speaking at the Europcar Fans Of The Season launch event. Go to https://www.europcar.co.uk/arsenal-fan-of-the-season for your chance to win five tickets to Arsenal vs Chelsea plus more great prizes.

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