i noticed alan campbell's name in the charlton v derby thread. i always remember him, as a hard working, all action player and thought he was very underrated, am i right in thinking he did pick up, a few international caps but not many?
anyway i think he needs a mention, one of my all time favourite players, thanks alan.
0
Comments
Charlton's Georgie Best lookalike. Liked a tackle and no little skill either as I remember. He and Graham Moore played well together.
Remember him scoring a great individual goal to beat Millwall 1-0 at The Valley, January 1968.
Tricky enough to beat a man, neat and tidy with his passing and also had an eye for threading a killer ball.
As Len said, his best performances were inside with Graham Moore as the engine room partnership in central midfield when Eddie Firmani was manager (late 60s), but earlier games he was often played as a winger.
Cyril Davis was a very industrious winger-cum-midfielder from then non-League Yeovil about 1970, about the same time as we signed centre forward Dickie Plumb, also from Yeovil.
"Cyril, Cyril Davies, Cyril Davies on the wing", was capped by Wales at U-23 level - a terrific achievment for a former non-League player. Unfortunately for Cyril, serious injury stepped in and he missed about a year's worth of football and was never the same again.
He was a current Wales international at Charlton, with a shedload of caps.
Played many games for Chelsea and Manchester United at the top level.
We signed him at 29, a broad shouldered 6 footer with instant control of the ball and the ability to pick out a pass from long range.
He was hard in the tackle and could (and did!) absolutely hammer a strike from distance.
Goals in particular that I remember was one at home to Cardiff (W4-1), when he hit a piledriver from at least 25 yards that nearly took the net off - the keeper never moved.
And another at home to Norwich (W3-0) when after a great headed exchange with centreforward Gordon Riddick in midfield, Moore picked out an unerring diagonal ball to left winger Lucien Masiello, the cross came back low on the edge of the area - Moore met it on the run and volleyed an absolute screamer into the net. I was right behind the Covered End goal, unforgettable!
Along with Alan Campbell, he was the beating heart of Firmani's legendary 1968-69 side.
Skipper, inspiration and rock on which the team was built.
If he was playing today, he would walk into this current Charlton side.
And if you haven't guessed already, in those days Graham Moore was my HERO!
;o)
:-)
Anyway, he was signed by Manchester United, FROM Chelsea.
Both top half top division sides.
Didn't i read somewhere that he's got a boozer in the Yorkshire countryside now or did I make that up?
come on guys lets not have other players infiltrating this thread, it's meant to be alan's and alan's alone ( is that right the alone bit )
After all, Firmani's 1968-69 team (of which Campbell was an integral part) is legendary in the eyes of many of a certain age.
"Moore, now aged 69 and living in the North Yorkshire village of Burythorpe Malton next door to the Bay Horse pub he used to run ........."
Further extracts from the same article:
"Moore is the last Bluebirds player to score a goal to take Cardiff City into the top flight.
That was in 1960 when his first-time shot against Aston Villa swept Cardiff into the First Division.
Blond-haired Moore was dubbed Cardiff City’s greatest ever centre-forward discovery as a teenager – and manager Bill Jones said he would become a better player than John Charles.
He was never able to live up to that billing, but he went on to play for Chelsea under Tommy Docherty and Manchester United under Matt Busby.
Moore was keen to stay with Cardiff, but the club needed cash and Chelsea paid £35,000 to sign him.
The removal of the maximum wage also meant City could not compete with the £50-a-week offered by Chelsea.
Before he left, Moore played for Cardiff City in Division One.
They defeated Manchester United 3-0, while one of Moore’s favourites is the 3-2 home win against Spurs at Ninian Park.
Cardiff completed a fine league double against a Tottenham team which went on to win a First Division and FA Cup double the following season.
It was a match played under floodlights and Cardiff twice went a goal down before winning.
“That was a big night, a big win and I won’t forget it,” said Moore. “There must have been almost 50,000 spectators at Ninian Park and the atmosphere was electric.”
does anyone know who we got him from and did we sell because we needed the dosh or was his star beginning to wane?
I've got his autograph somewhere, along with a number of other colts of the time, as they turned up at a fete at the War Memorial Hospital on Shooters' Hill and played "PushBall" with this massive ball which was about 6' high.
I'm talking 64/65 ish.
We sold him because we got relegated to the third division I think and he was too good / expensive and Gliksten wanted the dosh.
I remember that he had an enormous bust up with Eddie Firmani after a 4-1 home defeat to Hull and the story broke in the Sunday papers. That was really the end of the road and he went to Birmingham shortly thereafter for 70K. I was gutted at the time.
A very fine player and one of our best of that era.
"Alan James Campbell (born 21 January 1948 in Arbroath) is a former Scottish professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He made 571 appearances in the Football League for Charlton Athletic, Birmingham City, Cardiff City and Carlisle United, including over 100 in the First Division for Birmingham City. He was capped for Scotland at youth and under-23 level.
He went on to play and manage in non-League football around the Birmingham area.
Campbell now spends much of his leisure time playing crown green bowls for the Baldwin Bowling Club in Hall Green, and competes on numerous days of the week during the summer season."
No chance - bowls for Baldwin.