Sol Campbell has questioned whether Tottenham fans’ hatred of him is fueled by racism and says he is baffled as to why they continue to “hang on” about his move to Arsenal.
Campbell produced a stunning turnaround in north London in 2001 after coming through the ranks at White Hart Lane to become captain and, at the time, one of the best centre-halves in world football.
He won two Premier League titles and two FA Cups at Arsenal under Arsene Wenger.
Campbell mostly stays out of the public eye, but resurfaced yesterday in a Google Pixel ad in which he reignited his feud with Spurs fans by mocking their relative lack of success.
In the ad, he takes off his white sweater for a red one and says that “big moves pay off.”
He added: “It’s not like you’re doing anything outrageous, you’re just switching to something much, much better.”
Campbell confused by lingering hatred
After fanning the flames ahead of tonight’s north London derby, Campbell then appeared on AFTV to question why Spurs fans still don’t like him and suggested there may be an ulterior motive.
He said: “They don’t know what they are doing. Because if you still hang up, you’ll see what happens.
“[They’ve got a] new stadium, new training ground, everything is amazing in the future and you still talk about me. Like, what’s going on here?
“Is it a matter of color, is it a matter of color? Is there something about the color? Is there a lower belly color thing that keeps you going?
“Because there are a lot of other players who have done this type of move, similar moves, you say to yourself is it a color thing or is it a mistake?”
When it comes to big moves, there’s only one man who knows what’s what.
Switch like Sol during this transition period and save on Pixel devices at the Google Store: https://t.co/Gu32cX23Bf pic.twitter.com/EGtb3Zb4cm
— Made by Google (@madebygoogle) January 14, 2025
No regrets, Campbell insists
Former England defender Campbell, now 50, claims he has no regrets about the move despite the hostility that has followed him ever since.
He said: “Football, I have no regrets. When you were young, as a kid, I wanted to win, that’s the thing.
“As a mature thing, it’s separate again because you look back. As a young man I want to win, I think I have a limited time to win something.
“I’ll do the same again. At least I can look back and say ‘look at the team I played with’.”
