Sol Campbell has questioned whether Tottenham fans’ hatred of him is fueled by racism and says he wonders why they continue to “harp on” about his move to Arsenal.
Campbell made a stunning switch across north London in 2001 and rose 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 Yesterday Google resurfaced with a Pixel ad that rekindled its feud with Spurs fans. By mocking their relative lack of success.
In the ad, he ditches his white jumper for a red one and says “big steps pay off”.
He added: “It’s not that you’re doing anything offensive, you’re just switching to something more, better.”
Campbell was surprised by the lingering contempt
After fanning the flames of tonight’s North London derby, Campbell appeared on AFTV to ask why Spurs fans still dislike him and suggested there may be an ulterior motive behind this.
He said: “They don’t know what they do. Because if you’re still hanging on to it, you see what happens.
“(They’ve got a) new stadium, new training ground, everything is going great and you’re still talking about me. Like, what’s going on here?
“Is it a color thing, is it a color thing? Is there a color thing about it? Is there an underbelly color thing that keeps you going?
“Because there are so many other players who have made this type of move, the same move, you say to yourself is it a color thing or is it confusion?”
When it comes to big moves, there’s only one man who knows what’s what.
Switch like 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, Campbell insists
Former England defender Campbell, now 50, insists he has no regrets about the move, despite the animosity 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, it’s different again because you’re looking back. As a young person I want to win, I think I have 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’.