Sol Campbell insists he deserves knighthood and says 'I'm up with our sporting greats'

Former England, Arsenal and Tottenham star Sol Campbell insists he deserves to be knighted, having lauded himself as one of the country's greatest sporting figures

Sol Campbell insists he's one of the UK's "sporting greats" and claims he deserves a knighthood.

The former Premier League defender, 49, spent the best part of 20 years playing at the highest level of football, with memorable stints at Arsenal and Tottenham. He also played 73 times for England and represented the Three Lions at five major tournaments.

He's widely regarded as one of the finest centre backs in English football history, and has the accolades to prove it. Not only has he won two Premier League titles, two FA Cups and one League Cup, he was also part of Arsenal's iconic Invincibles team, who went undefeated in the league en route to the 2003/04 title.

Away from football, Campbell has been active both politically and charitably, but his achievements are yet to receive formal recognition. Speaking to GB News, Campbell expressed frustration at being constantly overlooked in the annual honours list and insisted his accomplishments dwarfed those of several Sirs.

"I think for me when it comes to honours and lists, if it comes to a popularity contest there's a lot of people who are unpopular who have Sirs, OBEs and MBEs," he said. "If you look at what I've done and what I've gone through playing football and the consistency over the course of two decades, under severe pressure in a football sense, I'm up with some of the sporting greats of our country.

"I'm a proud Englishman and I've done a lot for football, on and off the field, and for racism. Also I'm not even talking about the records I've acquired playing football for my country and domestically, for Tottenham and Arsenal - for me, I'm up with the rest for all of them.

"I don't know why I'm overlooked on these kind of occasions. I'm not the only sporting great that has been overlooked but for me I'm seeing all these other people get these gongs and these accolades and it's special - for me it would be an honour to have a Sir, OBE or MBE for the sport I've committed to over two decades."

Only a handful of British footballers have received knighthoods; Kenny Dalglish, Trevor Brooking, Matt Busby, Bobby Charlton, Alex Ferguson, Tom Finney, Geoff Hurst, Stanley Matthews, Alf Ramsey, Bobby Robson, and Walter Winterbottom.

Image: Arsenal FC via Getty Images) Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

However, a number of Campbell's former team-mates have received lesser honours, including David Beckham (OBE), Frank Lampard (OBE), Rio Ferdinand (OBE), Jermain Defoe (OBE), Gareth Southgate (OBE), Tony Adams (MBE) and Steven Gerrard (MBE).

Campbell began his career at Tottenham in 1992, after emerging from the club's youth academy. He spent eight years in the first team before sealing a controversial free transfer to north London rivals Arsenal in 2001 after letting his contract run down.

He spent five years at Highbury, winning four major honours, before joining Portsmouth in 2006. He later played for Notts County and Newcastle before hanging up his boots in 2011.

After retirement Campbell flirted with politics, and announced an intention to run for Mayor of London in the 2016 election, though ultimately wasn't shortlisted. He later turned to football management, and had short stints in charge of Macclesfield Town and Southend United. He's been out of work since quitting his job at the latter in 2020.

Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.

Click here to read article