Sol Campbell " if I was white I would have been captain "

Sol Campbell makes England captaincy race allegation

Sol Campbell has claimed he would have been "England captain for more than 10 years" had he been born white.
The former England defender makes the claims in an authorised biography serialised by the Sunday Times.
"I believe if I was white, I would have been England captain for more than 10 years - it's as simple as that," said the 39-year-old, who won 73 full caps, including three as captain.

Sol Campbell's life in football
Born: 18 September 1974
Tottenham: Sept 1992 - Jul 2001, 315 games
Arsenal: Jul 2001 - Aug 2006, 197 games
Portsmouth: Aug 2006 - Jul 2009, 111 games
Notts County: Jul-Sep 2009, 1 game
Arsenal: Jan 2010 - Jul 2010, 14 games
Newcastle: Jul 2010 - May 2011, 8 games
England: May 1996 - Nov 2007, 73 games

The Football Association is aware of the claims but declined to comment.
Campbell, who made 646 senior appearances for Tottenham, Arsenal, Portsmouth, Notts County and Newcastle United before retiring in 2012, claimed: "I think the FA wished I was white. I had the credibility, performance-wise, to be captain.
"I was consistently in the heart of the defence and I was a club captain early in my career."
He added: "I don't think it will change because they don't want it to and probably the majority of fans don't want it either.
"It's alright to have black captains and mixed race in the Under-18s and Under-21s but not for the full national side - there is a ceiling and although no-one has ever said it, I believe it's made of glass."

Campbell's three games as England captain were in three friendlies - against Belgium and the Czech Republic in 1998 under Glenn Hoddle's management, and against the United States in 2005 when Sven-Goran Eriksson was in charge.
The England captains during the centre-back's international career were David Platt, Tony Adams, Alan Shearer, Paul Ince, Stuart Pearce, David Seaman, Martin Keown, David Beckham, Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard and John Terry.
"Owen was a fantastic forward but nowhere near being a captain," said Campbell. "It was embarrassing. I kept asking myself, 'what have I done?'
"I've asked myself many times why I wasn't [made captain]. I keep coming up with the same answer. It was the colour of my skin."
The various managers, both permanently and on a temporary basis, in charge of England during Campbell's playing days for the national team between May 1996 and November 2007 were Terry Venables, Glenn Hoddle, Howard Wilkinson, Kevin Keegan, Peter Taylor, Eriksson and Steve McClaren.

Former FA executive director David Davies says the responsibility of selecting the England captain lay with the manager of the team at the time, rather than English football's governing body.
"I was a great fan of Sol Campbell as a player and a person. He made a huge contribution to the England team," Davies told BBC Radio 5 live's Sportsweek programme.
"I am perplexed by this because the reality is the England coach in my time selected the captain.
"He clearly is upset about that time and perhaps feels he should have been more seriously considered.
"The reality is Tony Adams was made captain by Terry Venables when most people expected David Platt to be captain.
"I wasn't surprised when Tony Adams was made captain or when David Beckham was made captain first by Peter Taylor, and then Sven-Goran Eriksson."

Tony Adams left him standing when it comes to being captain.

I think he's full of shit.

Paul Ince and Rio Ferdinand were made England captains. Maybe the likes of Shearer, Owen and Beckham were better candidates?

I don't agree with pandering to certain groups just because they're under represented. Yes, if a LGBT/black/ethnic etc candidate matches the criteria for the role then by all means appoint them on merit. But to do so just because of the group they represent? Stupid. What if they're not good enough for the job?

Utter bollocks.

It's an odd one, national captains invariably seem to be club captains too. During his time at Arsenal Adams and then Viera were captain so you can't really argue against that.

During his peak international career it was David Beckham's era. To which you can see his point that Beckham's wasn't team captain and the whole thing seemed to be about the brand than the player. But then most under that era speak glowingly about his captaincy.

So he has some sort of point I'd say. But then at the same time the FA is obviously institutionally racist so there is that.

Tough one this one as he clearly has a point, what strips the statements of most if any credibility however is that he did not raise this any sooner and only now with a book to sell....

Unfortunately it's another black person trying to play the race card. Load of crap and sol wasn't that good anyway...there were plenty of other players who didn't make captain yet don't search for a non existent reason as to why they weren't chosen.

Black or white , he's a wanker. I hate people playing the race card !

Insecure black people feel so victimised and paranoid.

Its pittyful.
take a look around immigrants have a whale of a time over here.
Its like holiday camp 24/7

Black people are widely accepted so widely accepted that racism is only a black thing in this country

Talking rubbish!

Playing the race card to sell more books. Laughable.

He captained England 3 times, albeit friendlies, so makes his point redundant.

Tough one this one as he clearly has a point, what strips the statements of most if any credibility however is that he did not raise this any sooner and only now with a book to sell....

How does he clearly have a point?

Beckham and Shearer were captains throughout majority of his era both far better candidates than Campbell who is an introverted weirdo

Campbell also said he suffered from depression during his career, now is that the type of player you want as captain? He is using the race card like the rest of the black people who are just run of the mill types thinking they are something special. Paul Ince claimed he would be getting all sorts of jobs if he was white even when his record is absolutely shite especially at Blackburn.

Campbell is also forgetting that Vieira was his captain at Arsenal, I know that's not the national team but surely the fact he wasn't captain at his club played a factor in him not being captain for the national side, ironically it was a black man that stopped him.

I think he has a valid point in that black players rarely or never get into the positions in football that their white counterparts of equal ability and status do. Be it club captaincy or more notably managing. I'm not saying Campbell's right and never liked him myself, but neither have I most of the captains of England mentioned, in particular Adams .

If he was white he would get done for making such racist statements, the guy is up his own ass, didn't he make similar comments about being a Manager ?

It's a stupid statement to make, but making Michael Owen captain is equally as stupid

I think he has a valid point in that black players rarely or never get into the positions in football that their white counterparts of equal ability and status do. Be it club captaincy or more notably managing. I'm not saying Campbell's right and never liked him myself, but neither have I most of the captains of England mentioned, in particular Adams .

Oh come on Tony Adams is one of the strongest leaders and captains the english game has seen in the last half century

True, great captain who made the most of what he had, he was no Baresi, but never liked him, just me. Personal opinion based on drink driving but then I don't expect everyone to feel the same.

Racism was a cancer in football as the likes of Cyrille regis and Laurie Cunningham battled to reach the top. Campbells generation are (thankfully) in a different era, he captained his country - the ultimate honour. He is whining to make a splash and add to his book sales - sad.

interesting documentary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3r3yO_zrp8
Racism in football - from approx 25 minutes it shows a team Carlisle describes as "100 asian kids" in Luton that apparently are very successful. The manager bemoans the fact his players dont get 'pro' opportunities because of "prejudicial discrimination". The documentary doesn't ask if that club actively excludes white kids ..it really should have explored that angle, Id hate to think that its not open to white (or black) kids

sol campbell Been off a while.Has Carlton Palmer had any thing to say about this statement

Whether you agree with sol doesn't matter majority of people on this thread claiming race card are white

If he had been born white - Mr Campbell (his "Father) would have had a few words with Mrs Campbell

Him and Paul Ince both winge and use the race card all the time. Both full of shit.

Sol Campbell playing the old race card shocker again. The guy is so just full of shite.

He has always had a chip on his shoulder and always played the race card.Im no racist but im sick of hearing them go on about how they have been hard done by, like they are the only ones who suffered, the working class of this country were treated like slaves up to the 1930s for christ sake.

if i was purple i could have been a tele tubbie.........SOL....grow up....