' Andy Campbell '
Fri Apr 17, 2020 1:53 pm
What happened next to Andy Campbell, the PE teacher who scored the most important goal in Cardiff City's recent history
We caught up with former Bluebirds striker Andy Campbell and chatted all things Cardiff City, that play-off final goal, how things turned sour at the club and his new career as a teacher
By Glen Williams
Friday 17th April 2020
Then and today - Andy Campbell scored one of the most iconic goals in Cardiff City's history
There are few more iconic photographs in Cardiff City's recent past than Andy Campbell, trophy in hand, screaming his lungs out to Bluebirds fans packed inside the Millennium Stadium.
Indeed, there are few more memorable goals than that sweetly-struck volley back in 2003.
It was a moment which would place Campbell in Bluebirds folklore and it is a goal which has gone down as one of the most important in the club's steeped history.
Campbell's winner in that memorable play-off final against QPR sealed promotion to the Championship and was arguably the catalyst for the incredible 17 years which have followed.
But all that might not have happened. Back in 2002, Steve McClaren had replaced Bryan Robson as Middlesbrough boss and told Campbell in no uncertain terms he was not part of the club's future.
In fact, McClaren had agreed a deal one Friday night for Campbell to move to Aberdeen on the Monday, but the striker decided at the last minute the move wasn't for him.
That's when Cardiff stepped in. And the Bluebirds' destiny changed.
Campbell was a revelation at Ninian Park, he was on fire and simply couldn't stop scoring.
The crimson-haired forward lashed home six goals, including a hat-trick against Oldham, in his first four Bluebirds appearances during that initial loan spell and it was no surprise City snapped him up on a permanent basis that summer.
We caught up with former Bluebirds striker Andy Campbell and chatted all things Cardiff City, that play-off final goal, how things turned sour at the club and his new career as a teacher
By Glen Williams
Friday 17th April 2020
Then and today - Andy Campbell scored one of the most iconic goals in Cardiff City's history
There are few more iconic photographs in Cardiff City's recent past than Andy Campbell, trophy in hand, screaming his lungs out to Bluebirds fans packed inside the Millennium Stadium.
Indeed, there are few more memorable goals than that sweetly-struck volley back in 2003.
It was a moment which would place Campbell in Bluebirds folklore and it is a goal which has gone down as one of the most important in the club's steeped history.
Campbell's winner in that memorable play-off final against QPR sealed promotion to the Championship and was arguably the catalyst for the incredible 17 years which have followed.
But all that might not have happened. Back in 2002, Steve McClaren had replaced Bryan Robson as Middlesbrough boss and told Campbell in no uncertain terms he was not part of the club's future.
In fact, McClaren had agreed a deal one Friday night for Campbell to move to Aberdeen on the Monday, but the striker decided at the last minute the move wasn't for him.
That's when Cardiff stepped in. And the Bluebirds' destiny changed.
Campbell was a revelation at Ninian Park, he was on fire and simply couldn't stop scoring.
The crimson-haired forward lashed home six goals, including a hat-trick against Oldham, in his first four Bluebirds appearances during that initial loan spell and it was no surprise City snapped him up on a permanent basis that summer.
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Re: ' Andy Campbell '
Fri Apr 17, 2020 1:54 pm
Cardiff City had, of course, just missed out on promotion that season, agonisingly losing to Stoke City in the play-off final. But there was no moping around for this special group of Cardiff stars and they were ready to mount another challenge the next season, as Campbell remembers.
"We got off to a really good start," he says. "We went to Oldham and we beat them 2-1 and I scored the first goal of the season.
"I expected myself to kick on and go forward, but, personally, for me, it didn't work out like that. The manager rested me the following game at Boston United in the League Cup and Earnie (Robert Earnshaw) played ahead of me, scored a hat-trick and the rest was history."
Campbell says he was pleased for Earnshaw and it was only fair the Wales ace kept the shirt thereafter. But it meant another frustrating campaign, lying in wait on the bench as that vaunted strike force of Earnshaw and Peter Thorne tore up the Second Division, scoring 51 goals between them.
Campbell could only try and take his chance when it came and he himself scored a handful of goals during that league campaign, but there was no doubting it was the Earnshaw-Thorne show.
"Mentally, it was difficult," he admits. "I was always given an opportunity from the bench, but it wasn't as long as I had wanted.
"The first few weeks it did have an impact on me. But I just had to knuckle down because I knew I had a big part to play. I came here to get promoted, that was my main aim.
"But, if someone had offered me to start 46 games in the season and not score the goal in the play-off final, or to play as much as I did and score in the play-off final, I think anybody in the world would have picked the latter, to be the hero."
So, we get to that all-important Millennium Stadium showdown with QPR.
Earnshaw was having a once-in-a-career season and much of City's goalscoring hope lay on his shoulders. But the diminutive Welshman was kept quiet during that final.
It meant Campbell was called upon with just 10 minutes remaining in normal time, the score locked at 0-0.
The match ticked over into extra-time and, with 114 minutes on the clock, the moment came for Campbell to etch himself into Bluebirds folklore.
We let Campbell take the story up from here...
"It's iconic," he says. "With Wembley being shut, we were playing at the Millennium Stadium.
"For Cardiff to play in Cardiff... one of the last things we spoke about in the changing room was that we can't afford to lose this. It's not just a play-off final, it's the chance to go into history with Welsh football.
"We didn't play our free-flowing football, we dug it out a little bit.
"But then Clarke Carlisle gave the ball away to Gareth Whalley midway inside our half and he took a swing. He knew what my assets were, Gaz, we had a good relationship on and off the pitch.
"He played the ball over the top and I got a good five or 10 yards ahead and the ball sat up perfectly for me.
"To get it over Chris Day's fingers, inch-perfect, when you hit it, you just know it's going in. So sweet.
"The feeling, the noise, it was extraordinary. I've never witnessed anything like it.
"To be the person to cause that noise is something else."
"We got off to a really good start," he says. "We went to Oldham and we beat them 2-1 and I scored the first goal of the season.
"I expected myself to kick on and go forward, but, personally, for me, it didn't work out like that. The manager rested me the following game at Boston United in the League Cup and Earnie (Robert Earnshaw) played ahead of me, scored a hat-trick and the rest was history."
Campbell says he was pleased for Earnshaw and it was only fair the Wales ace kept the shirt thereafter. But it meant another frustrating campaign, lying in wait on the bench as that vaunted strike force of Earnshaw and Peter Thorne tore up the Second Division, scoring 51 goals between them.
Campbell could only try and take his chance when it came and he himself scored a handful of goals during that league campaign, but there was no doubting it was the Earnshaw-Thorne show.
"Mentally, it was difficult," he admits. "I was always given an opportunity from the bench, but it wasn't as long as I had wanted.
"The first few weeks it did have an impact on me. But I just had to knuckle down because I knew I had a big part to play. I came here to get promoted, that was my main aim.
"But, if someone had offered me to start 46 games in the season and not score the goal in the play-off final, or to play as much as I did and score in the play-off final, I think anybody in the world would have picked the latter, to be the hero."
So, we get to that all-important Millennium Stadium showdown with QPR.
Earnshaw was having a once-in-a-career season and much of City's goalscoring hope lay on his shoulders. But the diminutive Welshman was kept quiet during that final.
It meant Campbell was called upon with just 10 minutes remaining in normal time, the score locked at 0-0.
The match ticked over into extra-time and, with 114 minutes on the clock, the moment came for Campbell to etch himself into Bluebirds folklore.
We let Campbell take the story up from here...
"It's iconic," he says. "With Wembley being shut, we were playing at the Millennium Stadium.
"For Cardiff to play in Cardiff... one of the last things we spoke about in the changing room was that we can't afford to lose this. It's not just a play-off final, it's the chance to go into history with Welsh football.
"We didn't play our free-flowing football, we dug it out a little bit.
"But then Clarke Carlisle gave the ball away to Gareth Whalley midway inside our half and he took a swing. He knew what my assets were, Gaz, we had a good relationship on and off the pitch.
"He played the ball over the top and I got a good five or 10 yards ahead and the ball sat up perfectly for me.
"To get it over Chris Day's fingers, inch-perfect, when you hit it, you just know it's going in. So sweet.
"The feeling, the noise, it was extraordinary. I've never witnessed anything like it.
"To be the person to cause that noise is something else."
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Re: ' Andy Campbell '
Fri Apr 17, 2020 1:56 pm
The best goal of his career?
"Without a doubt," he replies swiftly.
"I don't think you can replicate the timing of it, the importance of it, being the end where Cardiff fans were, it was just written in the stars.
"It was probably four or five days later it sunk in. Doing interviews and people stopping me in the street to tell me how much of a legend I was!
"The people in Cardiff don't forget. You think in five years or 10 years, they will forget. But it's been 17 years now, they don't.
"I am absolutely gobsmacked. Every time I go back it's the first thing they say. It's gone down in history."
Andy Campbell's 2003 play-off final goal sent Cardiff City into the Championship
Campbell celebrates with the trophy
It felt like a real watershed moment for the Bluebirds.
Under Lennie Lawrence, there was a lovely blend of terrific Football League players and budding Welsh talent shooting through the system.
The likes of Danny Gabbidon, James Collins and Robert Earnshaw were all up-and-coming Welsh stars destined for big things in the game.
Similarly the quality of Graham Kavanagh and Peter Thorne were unlikely to hang around in the third tier for too much longer.
So that promotion, Campbell says, came at the most crucial time.
"I've spoken to Kavs about it, Willie (Boland), Thorney, Gabs and Earnie, if we hadn't have got out of that division that year, who knows where the club would be," he says.
"I don't believe all the Welsh lads would have stayed there. Earnie, Gabbidon, James Collins, Graham Kavanagh, Peter Thorne, they certainly wouldn't have stayed there.
"I'm just thankful we got out of the trap door that year, because I would have worried for individuals and the club."
"Without a doubt," he replies swiftly.
"I don't think you can replicate the timing of it, the importance of it, being the end where Cardiff fans were, it was just written in the stars.
"It was probably four or five days later it sunk in. Doing interviews and people stopping me in the street to tell me how much of a legend I was!
"The people in Cardiff don't forget. You think in five years or 10 years, they will forget. But it's been 17 years now, they don't.
"I am absolutely gobsmacked. Every time I go back it's the first thing they say. It's gone down in history."
Andy Campbell's 2003 play-off final goal sent Cardiff City into the Championship
Campbell celebrates with the trophy
It felt like a real watershed moment for the Bluebirds.
Under Lennie Lawrence, there was a lovely blend of terrific Football League players and budding Welsh talent shooting through the system.
The likes of Danny Gabbidon, James Collins and Robert Earnshaw were all up-and-coming Welsh stars destined for big things in the game.
Similarly the quality of Graham Kavanagh and Peter Thorne were unlikely to hang around in the third tier for too much longer.
So that promotion, Campbell says, came at the most crucial time.
"I've spoken to Kavs about it, Willie (Boland), Thorney, Gabs and Earnie, if we hadn't have got out of that division that year, who knows where the club would be," he says.
"I don't believe all the Welsh lads would have stayed there. Earnie, Gabbidon, James Collins, Graham Kavanagh, Peter Thorne, they certainly wouldn't have stayed there.
"I'm just thankful we got out of the trap door that year, because I would have worried for individuals and the club."
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Re: ' Andy Campbell '
Fri Apr 17, 2020 2:05 pm
Lennie Lawrence celebrates a famous play-off win with Andy Campbell and Sam Hammam
The foundations were put in place for a decade-long stay in the First Division, then renamed the Championship, before the club's first promotion to the Premier League.
The club went up and up, but, sadly, Campbell's career subsequently stalled.
With promotion came cash and the Bluebirds sought to bolster their ranks and build from a position of strength. Lawrence recruited Alan Lee from Rotherham United and Richard Langley from QPR, both of whom had an impact on Campbell's playing time.
He tried to be as positive as he could and desperately tried to contribute when called upon, but from those dizzying heights of being crowned Cardiff City's promotion hero, it gradually came crumbling down once again for him.
The final nail in the coffin was when Lawrence left the club, with Dave Jones then taking the reins. It was almost like Groundhog Day back up at Middlesbrough.
"They weren't the nicest conversations," he says of his interactions with Jones.
"They were quite stern conversations. I wasn't his kind of player, he didn't want me at his football club.
"He wanted to bring in Steve Thompson and the only way that could happen was if I left. So I had a week to get that deal sorted and to get myself out of the club.
"I didn't take it great, I must be honest, I lost a lot of respect for the man.
"He had been a very successful manager before he came to Cardiff and was obviously really successful for Cardiff, which is fantastic and I'm really pleased because I have a history with Cardiff and want them to do well.
"But it ended really sourly for me, which wasn't great. I was passionate and wanted to play.
"I'm quite fiery and told him how I felt and how much I wanted to play for that football club. My family were settled there, too.
"I didn't agree with the decision but there was only going to be one winner. My days were numbered and I had to go sooner rather than later."
It's certainly a sad end to Campbell's Bluebirds story. He left in 2005 after being forced to train on his own.
"It was heartbreaking," he says.
Campbell insists that he wanted to leave a hero. He didn't want to allow it to get ugly, sitting on his money and running down his contract, playing for the reserves.
He is a proud man and it was that pride that made him want to find that enjoyment again.
He moved on to Dunfermline and admits he didn't really find his spark there, but when he dropped down the leagues it came back once again.
When you think of where Campbell was just five years before this point, it almost feels like a shame that his potential wasn't completely realised in the higher divisions.
He was schooled at Middlesbrough, learning from Fabrizio Ravanelli, Alan Boksic, Juninho, Paul Merson and Hamilton Ricard.
There is a photo of the England Under-21 side which beat Yugoslavia in a play-off to seal qualification to Euro 2020, Campbell scored the first and set up Lee Hendrie for the third and the team was teeming with top talent.
The others in the starting XI were Richard Wright, Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Gareth Barry, Emile Heskey, Kieron Dyer, Seth Johnson and Lee Hendrie.
England Under-21s vs Yugoslavia, March 2000: (Back row L-R) Richard Wright, Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand, Gareth Barry, Emile Heskey, Andy Campbell, (Front row) Seth Johnson, Frank Lampard, Jamie Carragher, Kieron Dyer, Lee Hendrie
But fast-forward five years and Campbell's career trajectory had seen him end up at Halifax Town. He later moved on to other lower league clubs before hanging his boots up all together in 2012.
The 40-year-old went on to have two stints as manager of non-League Norton and Stockton Ancients and West Auckland Town, both up in the North East, but hasn't managed since 2015.
Does he think about going back into it?
"I got my fingers burnt a couple of times," he says. "I've had a bit of time out and it's something I want to get back into.
"I'm at an age where I'm a lot more experienced now. I thought there would be an easy progression, but there's no easy progression, you've got have an education. Sometimes you think you can run before you can walk.
"I will get back into it, ground myself again and get the same people around me who I'm happy to work with and trust.
"I want to give it a go and not have a regret that I'm not good enough."
Campbell during his time coaching Norton and Stockton Ancients
Campbell admits that he didn't try as hard as he could have in school. Once he got his YTS with Middlesbrough there was only one thing on his mind and that was becoming a professional footballer.
So, when he finished football in 2012, he went back to school to get his GCSE qualifications. Then he studied for a foundation degree in fitness instruction and sports massage before getting a sports science honours degree.
"It's something I thought I could never do," he says. "I left school with nothing, no GCSEs, so to have to start again at 32 and give it everything I've got... if I can do it, anyone can."
Campbell is now a PE teacher at Dormanstown Primary Academy in Redcar, near his home in Middlesbrough.
"There are so many different challenges, but it's so enjoyable and you get so much back," he says..
"You walk into a room and you get so many happy faces."
His job affords him the opportunity to pass on his knowledge to the aspiring sports stars of tomorrow.
He scaled the heights, played alongside the best the Premier League and England has had to offer and became an idol for one stunning, left-footed moment which rocked the Millennium Stadium.
He has seen the ugly side, too, at Middlesbrough, Cardiff and in the lower leagues, but he doesn't seem like a man who harbours any regrets about what life has thrown at him so far.
"It's all positive," he says when he thinks about his time in the Welsh capital.
"However I look back at how I left, the positives outweigh the negatives 100 per cent.
"My loan spell, the Oldham hat-trick, the following season, the promotion, the ecstasy at the Millennium Stadium, hearing the plans for the football club and moving to a new stadium. I played my part in that.
"When I saw Cardiff in the Premier League under Malky Mackay, people reminded me their club wouldn't be there if it wasn't for my goal.
"I played my part, as did others, but if it wasn't for that season, we wouldn't be where we are. Thankfully, the football club has an opportunity to succeed because of that era."
The foundations were put in place for a decade-long stay in the First Division, then renamed the Championship, before the club's first promotion to the Premier League.
The club went up and up, but, sadly, Campbell's career subsequently stalled.
With promotion came cash and the Bluebirds sought to bolster their ranks and build from a position of strength. Lawrence recruited Alan Lee from Rotherham United and Richard Langley from QPR, both of whom had an impact on Campbell's playing time.
He tried to be as positive as he could and desperately tried to contribute when called upon, but from those dizzying heights of being crowned Cardiff City's promotion hero, it gradually came crumbling down once again for him.
The final nail in the coffin was when Lawrence left the club, with Dave Jones then taking the reins. It was almost like Groundhog Day back up at Middlesbrough.
"They weren't the nicest conversations," he says of his interactions with Jones.
"They were quite stern conversations. I wasn't his kind of player, he didn't want me at his football club.
"He wanted to bring in Steve Thompson and the only way that could happen was if I left. So I had a week to get that deal sorted and to get myself out of the club.
"I didn't take it great, I must be honest, I lost a lot of respect for the man.
"He had been a very successful manager before he came to Cardiff and was obviously really successful for Cardiff, which is fantastic and I'm really pleased because I have a history with Cardiff and want them to do well.
"But it ended really sourly for me, which wasn't great. I was passionate and wanted to play.
"I'm quite fiery and told him how I felt and how much I wanted to play for that football club. My family were settled there, too.
"I didn't agree with the decision but there was only going to be one winner. My days were numbered and I had to go sooner rather than later."
It's certainly a sad end to Campbell's Bluebirds story. He left in 2005 after being forced to train on his own.
"It was heartbreaking," he says.
Campbell insists that he wanted to leave a hero. He didn't want to allow it to get ugly, sitting on his money and running down his contract, playing for the reserves.
He is a proud man and it was that pride that made him want to find that enjoyment again.
He moved on to Dunfermline and admits he didn't really find his spark there, but when he dropped down the leagues it came back once again.
When you think of where Campbell was just five years before this point, it almost feels like a shame that his potential wasn't completely realised in the higher divisions.
He was schooled at Middlesbrough, learning from Fabrizio Ravanelli, Alan Boksic, Juninho, Paul Merson and Hamilton Ricard.
There is a photo of the England Under-21 side which beat Yugoslavia in a play-off to seal qualification to Euro 2020, Campbell scored the first and set up Lee Hendrie for the third and the team was teeming with top talent.
The others in the starting XI were Richard Wright, Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Gareth Barry, Emile Heskey, Kieron Dyer, Seth Johnson and Lee Hendrie.
England Under-21s vs Yugoslavia, March 2000: (Back row L-R) Richard Wright, Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand, Gareth Barry, Emile Heskey, Andy Campbell, (Front row) Seth Johnson, Frank Lampard, Jamie Carragher, Kieron Dyer, Lee Hendrie
But fast-forward five years and Campbell's career trajectory had seen him end up at Halifax Town. He later moved on to other lower league clubs before hanging his boots up all together in 2012.
The 40-year-old went on to have two stints as manager of non-League Norton and Stockton Ancients and West Auckland Town, both up in the North East, but hasn't managed since 2015.
Does he think about going back into it?
"I got my fingers burnt a couple of times," he says. "I've had a bit of time out and it's something I want to get back into.
"I'm at an age where I'm a lot more experienced now. I thought there would be an easy progression, but there's no easy progression, you've got have an education. Sometimes you think you can run before you can walk.
"I will get back into it, ground myself again and get the same people around me who I'm happy to work with and trust.
"I want to give it a go and not have a regret that I'm not good enough."
Campbell during his time coaching Norton and Stockton Ancients
Campbell admits that he didn't try as hard as he could have in school. Once he got his YTS with Middlesbrough there was only one thing on his mind and that was becoming a professional footballer.
So, when he finished football in 2012, he went back to school to get his GCSE qualifications. Then he studied for a foundation degree in fitness instruction and sports massage before getting a sports science honours degree.
"It's something I thought I could never do," he says. "I left school with nothing, no GCSEs, so to have to start again at 32 and give it everything I've got... if I can do it, anyone can."
Campbell is now a PE teacher at Dormanstown Primary Academy in Redcar, near his home in Middlesbrough.
"There are so many different challenges, but it's so enjoyable and you get so much back," he says..
"You walk into a room and you get so many happy faces."
His job affords him the opportunity to pass on his knowledge to the aspiring sports stars of tomorrow.
He scaled the heights, played alongside the best the Premier League and England has had to offer and became an idol for one stunning, left-footed moment which rocked the Millennium Stadium.
He has seen the ugly side, too, at Middlesbrough, Cardiff and in the lower leagues, but he doesn't seem like a man who harbours any regrets about what life has thrown at him so far.
"It's all positive," he says when he thinks about his time in the Welsh capital.
"However I look back at how I left, the positives outweigh the negatives 100 per cent.
"My loan spell, the Oldham hat-trick, the following season, the promotion, the ecstasy at the Millennium Stadium, hearing the plans for the football club and moving to a new stadium. I played my part in that.
"When I saw Cardiff in the Premier League under Malky Mackay, people reminded me their club wouldn't be there if it wasn't for my goal.
"I played my part, as did others, but if it wasn't for that season, we wouldn't be where we are. Thankfully, the football club has an opportunity to succeed because of that era."
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Re: ' Andy Campbell '
Sat Apr 18, 2020 2:28 pm
Remember his keep your chin up celebration as well great day great GOAL
Re: ' Andy Campbell '
Sat Apr 18, 2020 2:32 pm
pengamblue wrote:Remember his keep your chin up celebration as well great day great GOAL
Yea I remember him doing that.
The Mill Stadium game was better than the 4 trips to Wembley. It was a boiling hot day some pubs opened early
and I had the best pub crawl ever from Canton to the stadium. It was so surreal as was Campbell's goal which seemed to take half an hour to hit the back of the net!
Re: ' Andy Campbell '
Sat Apr 18, 2020 3:34 pm
Brilliant day all round.
Capped off after the game when 6 QPR fans passed by commenting how Cardiff was a crap place, jumped in their hired limo and slowly crawled away...
All whilst we p*ssed ourselves laughing like drains at them
Capped off after the game when 6 QPR fans passed by commenting how Cardiff was a crap place, jumped in their hired limo and slowly crawled away...
All whilst we p*ssed ourselves laughing like drains at them