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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 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."

"[Michael] Owen was a fantastic forward but nowhere near being a captain."

Sol Campbell

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."

What a dick.

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It's stupid comments like this that make people racist. Did it ever occur to him that he simply wasn't good enough?

Its always the same with coloured people. You only need to look at coloured comedians, most of their jokes are centred around the colour of their skin. It makes me raging!

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It's stupid comments like this that make people racist. Did it ever occur to him that he simply wasn't good enough?

Its always the same with coloured people. You only need to look at coloured comedians, most of their jokes are centred around the colour of their skin. It makes me raging!

:lol:
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It strange that he never mentioned it at the time but has mentioned it in a new book he is trying to promote. It's being talked about on all the football shows so job done.

For my captain id want someone to be loyal, mentally strong and of good character. Sorry sol you fail with all these qualities. using the rasist card to sell your book is a disgrace to all victims of racism. Get lost

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The arrogance of top proffesional footballers knows no bounds. Sol Campbell and Rio Ferdinand are two arrogant, out of touch with reality footballers, who seem determined to put any case of coloured players being treated unfairly back for years. Incredibly bad role models as well, yet lauded by the FA and the press.

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He's talking shite and especially when he says England fans wouldn't of accepted it (a black captain presumably) sour grapes from a man who committed the ultimate betrayal in moving from Spurs to their rivals Arsenal, hardly the actions of a man who values loyalty in any form.

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