Morning.
I by no means had the privilege of assembly Kevin Campbell in actual life, however I used to be a visitor on a couple of episodes of the Highbury Squad podcast he did with Sophie Nicolau.
The primary time I did it, we had been ‘backstage’ earlier than recording/streaming began, and he welcomed me and spoke to me as if I used to be an outdated buddy. I’ve been doing Arseblog for a very long time now, however it’s unimaginable 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 got watched play and rating and symbolize the pink and white with such high quality through the years, I believe it’s regular to only be a bit nervous.
However Kevin was somebody who put you relaxed right away. He was heat, personable, charming, and even when didn’t all the time agree on all soccer matters, we might focus on them in an open and fascinating means. I don’t do a lot of Twitter today, however my timeline yesterday was full of tributes to Kevin Campbell, all of which had been so overwhelmingly constructive 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 a bit higher than a few of the others. We had 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 completely happy you bought to spend a bit 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 keep in mind that life is brief, and that the actually necessary issues are to be type, to take care of one another, to care about one another, and to attempt to comply with the instance he set. Others have written longer tributes to a person they knew much better than I did, I assumed 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 associates. He was a high quality participant, and a high quality man.
RIP Tremendous Kev.
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