Morning.
I by no means had the privilege of assembly Kevin Campbell in actual life, however I used to be a visitor on a number of episodes of the Highbury Squad podcast he did with Sophie Nicolau.
The primary time I did it, we have been ‘backstage’ earlier than recording/streaming began, and he welcomed me and spoke to me as if I used to be an previous good friend. I’ve been doing Arseblog for a very long time now, however it’s unattainable to not get just a bit bit star-struck if you meet somebody who has obtained any type of historical past with Arsenal. These guys you’ve watched play and rating and signify the crimson and white with such high quality over time, I believe it’s regular to only be slightly nervous.
However Kevin was somebody who put you relaxed immediately. He was heat, personable, charming, and even when didn’t all the time agree on all soccer matters, we might talk about them in an open and interesting approach. I don’t do a lot of Twitter lately, however my timeline yesterday was stuffed with tributes to Kevin Campbell, all of which have been so overwhelmingly optimistic about him as a participant and an individual. From all of the golf equipment he performed for, not simply Arsenal, and from folks he labored with after he had hung up his boots.
Many gamers go into media afterwards, however you don’t all the time get to know who they are surely as a result of there’s knowledgeable entrance, so to talk. Kevin Campbell was somebody who did the mainstream stuff, however as a result of he additionally obtained on the mic for podcasts, we obtained to know him slightly higher than a number of the others. We have been fortunate to share in his ardour for Arsenal and for soccer, and to have spent any time in his orbit is to have come away feeling joyful you bought to spend slightly time in his world.
His passing at simply 54 appears so merciless, it actually is not any age, and it’s a reminder to all of us that you just simply by no means know the hour or the day. It makes you do not forget that life is brief, and that the actually vital issues are to be variety, to take care of one another, to care about one another, and to try to observe the instance he set. Others have written longer tributes to a person they knew much better than I did, I believed Amy’s piece for The Athletic was great for instance, however like everybody else I used to be so unhappy to listen to of his passing yesterday.
Honest condolences to his household and his many mates. He was a top quality participant, and a top quality man.
RIP Tremendous Kev.
