sol campbell the disadvantage of being black

[lawnseed]

There must be a book or something comming out but campbell reckons he wasnt the captain of england soccer because he was black. I dont follow english soccer but this doesnt sound right. Surely a player's worth is not dictated by his colour? Is this an english thing? Paul mcgrath still can 't buy a dinner or drink here even though he hasnt played for sometime such is the level of admiration/respect for him.
Maybe campbell just isnt captain materail?

[AZOffaly]

I think that a) there is a book out and b) you're right about the reason. Ferdinand captained england for a period then, and I think Ashley cole was even there once. I don't think Campbell was ever seen as that sort of a leader.

[thewobbler]

I despair at this.

It would appear that winning every domestic honour, earning over £10m in a career, and playing 73 times for your country (at a time when they were blessed with top class players in his position), just isn't enough for some people.

[nrico2006]

Its the same with the crap you hear now that there is discrimination against black men potentially being Premier League managers.

[johnneycool]

I despair at this.

It would appear that winning every domestic honour, earning over £10m in a career, and playing 73 times for your country (at a time when they were blessed with top class players in his position), just isn't enough for some people.

Yeah, but they did make Mickey Owen captain ahead of him, that would grate on you alright as Mickey can't string dem der words together.

[bcarrier]

sickipediabot ‏@sickipediabot 52m

I should have won an oscar for '12 Years A Slave'


Sol Campbell.

[deiseach]

I despair at this.

It would appear that winning every domestic honour, earning over £10m in a career, and playing 73 times for your country (at a time when they were blessed with top class players in his position), just isn't enough for some people.

Yeah, but they did make Mickey Owen captain ahead of him, that would grate on you alright as Mickey can't string dem der words together.

For most of Campbell's time, the captain was David Beckham. Not a man noted for his Swiftian wit. And it's Beckham who makes it hard to tell whether Campbell has a point or not. Beckham showed a Robbie Keane-style enthusiasm for the role - 59 appearances as captain, according to Wiki -which effectively placed a block on everyone else around him.

[easytiger95]

I don't think the FA were racist in not giving Sol Campbell the captaincy as he seems to think. But he does have a point (having read some of the extracts) that the FA may be institutionally racist in the make up of its members and staff, which Campbell says does not in anyway reflect the diverse playing population in the UK.

As for managers, it is a fact that black coaches are woefully under represented in these positions. reminds me of the NFL from a few years ago and the myth that black players could not be quarter backs.

Just because he is wrong about the headline claim, doesn't mean the ones under the banner are wrong as well.

[bennydorano]

Read bits in the Sunday Times yesterday, i was coming down in his favour i have to say. The first few posts here would make you think that racism is a myth or something, need their public sector training on direct & indirect discrimination!

[thewobbler]

Read bits in the Sunday Times yesterday, i was coming down in his favour i have to say. The first few posts here would make you think that racism is a myth or something, need their public sector training on direct & indirect discrimination!

Racism isn't a myth.

But Campbell captained England 3 times. I've only got two words for Sol Campbell: Gary Neville.

(Gary Neville is more or less the same age, got 12 more caps, was an automatic choice for a decade, and has since proven himself to be a most popular, and unusually intelligent footballer. He captained England 0 times).


Regarding the lack of black coaches and administrators, I'd guess this will change dramatically over the next few years.  There's only been black players in the games since the late 1970s. For every black 40+ year old former pro in England who is looking for work, there's probably 20 white men in the same boat. Basic stats suggest there should be a lot more white coaches and back room people for now.

These numbers will begin evening up soon enough.

[AZOffaly]

Read bits in the Sunday Times yesterday, i was coming down in his favour i have to say. The first few posts here would make you think that racism is a myth or something, need their public sector training on direct & indirect discrimination!

Benny, that's not what I'm saying at all, and I resent it, given that I'm the second post here. I never said racism was a myth. What I said was that the reason why Sol Campbell was not captain of England was not for racist reasons in my opinion. So exclude me from the list who are implying racism is a myth please. But by looking for racism where it doesn't exist, people actually damage the anti racism agenda.

As I said, other black players have been captains in the past. Also, *The* captain was David Beckham at that time, and Beckham played a lot of games. Fair enough if you feel Beckham shouldn't have been captain, but several managers endorsed that decision by continuing with that arrangement. Sol Campbell has been called 'shy' by players who were around the squad. That doesn't sound like a lad who would be a leader in a dressing room of alpha males. When you have a situation where one man is captain for a long long time, chances are that you are not going to get many opportunities to hand it around.

For the record though, since 1992, the regular and 'stand in' captains of England have been.

                        Regular            Standin
1992–1993   Stuart Pearce   Paul Ince, David Platt
1993–1995   David Platt   Paul Ince, Tony Adams
1996           Tony Adams   Alan Shearer
1996–2000   Alan Shearer   Stuart Pearce, Paul Ince, David Seaman, Tony Adams, Sol Campbell, Martin Keown,
2000–2006   David Beckham   Michael Owen, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand
2006–2010   John Terry   Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, David Beckham
2010–2011   Rio Ferdinand   Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Gareth Barry
2011–2012   John Terry   Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Scott Parker
2012–present   Steven Gerrard   Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney, Ashley Cole

[seafoid]

Maybe it is a caste thing. England never win anything anyway so it probably wouldn't do any harm to widen the pool a bit.

[AZOffaly]

Maybe it is a caste thing. England never win anything anyway so it probably wouldn't do any harm to widen the pool a bit.

A caste thing? Ah lads Jaysus. the reason why England are not winning anything is because they are not good enough. I think if you are the right man for the job, you'd be appointed captain. Rio Ferdinand was captain for a decent spell.

There may well be institutionalised racism in the FA, it wouldn't surprise me if a bunch of old white guys had a problem appointing black managers etc, but I can't believe that men like Fabio Capello, Sven Goran Erikkson (sp), Glenn Hoddle or anyone else would have balked at a black captain.

[magpie seanie]

When I saw this I thought it was pathetic. A tenuos grip on reality it appears.

[laoislad]

Maybe it is a caste thing. England never win anything anyway so it probably wouldn't do any harm to widen the pool a bit.

A caste thing? Ah lads Jaysus. the reason why England are not winning anything is because they are not good enough. I think if you are the right man for the job, you'd be appointed captain. Rio Ferdinand was captain for a decent spell.

There may well be institutionalised racism in the FA, it wouldn't surprise me if a bunch of old white guys had a problem appointing black managers etc, but I can't believe that men like Fabio Capello, Sven Goran Erikkson (sp), Glenn Hoddle or anyone else would have balked at a black captain.

Hoddle probably thinks black people done something bad in a previous life.