Played For Both: Kevin Campbell
In March 1999, Everton signed Kevin Campbell on loan from Turkish side Trabzonspor for the remainder of the Premier League season. The Toffee’s were battling relegation and needed goals to ensure their top flight safety.
Campbell was allowed to leave on loan despite being singed the same season for 2.5 million pound. His time in Turkey was an unhappy one after a racist incident involving the clubs president. He was very popular during his time at the club with the fans but the president is quoted to saying “We bought him as a goal machine, but he turned out to be a washing machine.”
He made his debut in a 3-2 defeat at Anfield against rivals Liverpool on the 3rd of April, but scored his first goals for the club just eight days later against Coventry. He scored four more goals in the month of April, in wins against Newcastle and Charlton. He was awarded player of the month, becoming the first on loan player to be given accolade.
Everton battled off relegation and Campbell would score a hat trick in a 6-0 win against West Ham helping the club finish in 14th place, 7 points above the drop. He ended with figures of 9 goals in 8 games.
That summer, Everton would sign the striker for 3 million pound and went on to be the club’s top scorer the following season with 12 goals. He scored the winner in a 1-0 win against Liverpool on the 27th of September 1999 in a heated affair. Reds goalkeeper Sander Westerveld and midfielder Steven Gerrard was sent off and so was Toffee’s striker Francis Jeffers.
The following season he would also finish the season as the clubs top scorer on nine goals, helping his side finish in 16th place.
After only four goals in the next season, he would go on to lead the way in term of goals with 10 during the 2002/03 season. However this would prove to be Campbell’s last season as first choice striker, as he fell down the pecking order.
After just one goal in one and a half seasons, the former Arsenal striker joined West Bromwich Albion on a free transfer. He signed an eighteen month contract.
He made his debut in a 1-0 away defeat to Fulham, but he scored on his home debut on the 22nd of January 2005 against Manchester City. Albion won the game 2-0, with Ronnie Wallwork adding the second.
He would go onto score two more goals that season, against Crystal Palace and Birmingham, and played a huge part in Albion’s fight to avoid the drop.
His strength and touch would bring others into play and results picked up since his arrival. Despite just winning six games all season, the Baggies stayed up on a record low on 34 points, in a season what become known as the great escape.
Campbell stayed in the Black Country for one more season, scoring three goals in 31 games. However the club were relegated and the striker left on a free transfer at the end of the season.
After a spell at Cardiff, he retired in 2007 to peruse business interests. Campbell has the honour of being the English player who has scored the most Premier League goals without ever being capped for England.