Sol Campbell has questioned whether Tottenham fans’ hatred of him is fuelled by racism and says he is baffled why they continue to “harp on” about his move to Arsenal.
Campbell made the stunning switch across North London in 2001 having come through the ranks at White Hart Lane to become captain and, at the time, one of the best centre-halves in world football.
He went on to win two Premier League titles and two FA Cups at Arsenal under Arsene Wenger.
Campbell largely stays out of the public eye but re-emerged yesterday in an advert for Google Pixel in which he reignited his feud with Spurs fans by mocking their relative lack of success.
In the advert, he removes his white jumper for a red one and says “big moves pay off”.
He added: “It’s not like you’re doing anything outrageous, you’re just switching to something much, much better.”
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Campbell baffled by lingering hatred
Having stoked the fires ahead of tonight’s North London derby, Campbell then appeared on AFTV to ask why Spurs fans still dislike him and suggested there may be an ulterior motive.
He said: “They know not what they do. Because if you’re still hanging up on that, you see what happens.
“[They’ve got a] new stadium, new training ground, everything’s amazing going forward and you’re still harping on about me. Like, what’s going on here?
“Is it a colour thing, is it a colour thing? Is there a colour thing about it? Is there an underbelly colour 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 colour thing or is it a confusion?”
When it comes to big moves, there’s only one man who knows what’s what.
Switch like Sol this transfer window and save big on Pixel devices in the Google Store: https://t.co/Gu32cX23Bf pic.twitter.com/EGtb3Zb4cm
— Made by Google (@madebygoogle) January 14, 2025
No regrets, insists Campbell
Former England defender Campbell, now 50, insists he has no regrets over the move despite the hostility that has followed him ever since.
He said: “Football wise, I don’t regret it. When you’re young, as a kid, I wanted to win, that’s the thing.
“As a mature thing, that’s separate again because you’re looking back. As a young guy I want to win, I’m thinking I’ve got a limited time to win something.
“I’m going to do the same thing again. At least I can look back and say ‘look at the team I played with’.”
