It was a few years ago that Kevin Campbell was reminiscing about his famous winner at Anfield for Everton.
“I remember seeing the Blues in the Kop end celebrating the goal,” said the former Toffees striker. “I will take that memory to my grave.”
It is with great sadness that day has come all too soon for ‘Super Kev’ but it is one of the great memories that will also stay with Blues fans forever, too. He has left a lot with them and every club he played for will remember him with great fondness.
The news that the ex-Arsenal and Everton front man passed away at the age of just 54 stunned football. It had emerged recently that he was seriously ill but it still hit hard when his death was confirmed by the clubs he had starred for.
It was a career which began at Arsenal. The Lambeth-born goalscorer had made his name at youth level with the Gunners due to his strike rate.
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He would make his first-team debut in 1988 and scored eight goals in Arsenal’s run to the league title in the 1990-91 season under George Graham before claiming a League Cup, FA Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup for the Gunners. When he left North London in 1995, he had amassed 55 goals in 210 appearances alongside the likes of Alan Smith, Paul Merson and the prolific Ian Wright.
Campbell moved to Forest where he suffered relegation but led them back to the top flight the following season with 23 goals. He then took the bold move to go to Turkey and play for Trabzonspor in 1998.
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Campbell's distinguished career saw him win silverware with Arsenal (Getty Images)It was a horrible time where he was racially abused by the club chairman, Mehmet Ali Yilmaz. But it opened the door to a return to England on an initial loan to Everton in March 1999. It began a love affair with the Blues that remained until he passed away.
He helped them move away from a relegation battle with nine goals in his first eight games under Walter Smith and his move was made permanent that summer. Then came that moment in September 1999 when he scored an early goal in a heated derby which gave Everton a rare Anfield victory. It would be the last winning goal at their rivals’ home until 2021.
Years later, Campbell revealed a meeting in a city centre night spot’s toilet later that evening with Steven Gerrard, who had been sent off for a nasty lunge on the Everton striker hours earlier in the game. Gerrard thought he was in bother. Campbell dropped his trousers to show the 19-year-old Liverpool man the stud mark he’d left on his leg but he laughed it off.
Campbell played his part in a number of Merseyside Derby matches (Daily Mirror)“I wished him well, I was just happy we got the win and you leave those things on the pitch,” he said in an interview in 2021. It was a mark of the man that there was no confrontation. He went on to become Everton’s first black captain. They’ll never forget him on the blue half of Merseyside as he left with 51 goals after six years.
Campbell, whose son Tyrese played with Stoke City until this summer, also had spells at West Brom, who he also helped survive relegation, and Cardiff where he retired in 2007. A career as a TV pundit followed along with a short stint running a record label but he was warmly welcomed back at every stadium he visited.
Described by many as effervescent and a gentleman as tributes poured in after his death, he was known for being warm and humble which came across in his punditry. ‘Super Kev’ really was a super man as well as a fine footballer.
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