Sol Campbell’s former agent, Sky Andrew, has hit out at Tottenham for not inviting Sol to their White Hart Lane parade.

  • Campbell was at Spurs for over a decade
  • Has been left out of White Hart Lane parade because of Arsenal connection
  • Former agent disagrees with decision
  • Claims move wasn’t Sol’s fault

Tottenham are set to have a parade after the clash against Manchester United to mark the last ever match at White Hart Lane on Sunday 14 May. Former players and managers have been invited, except for Sol Campbell and George Graham, as they both have obvious Arsenal connections.

Sky Andrew strongly disagrees with the decision and doesn’t believe that most of the controversy that surrounded the defender’s move from Spurs to Arsenal in 2001 is in fact his former client’s fault.

“I would like to see him invited. Spurs are a fantastic club – they’re doing great – they’ve probably got the best [starting] 11 in the world,” Andrew told talkSPORT.

“It would be great for him to be there for the last game at the Lane and for everybody to finish on a good note.”

“Sol Campbell did absolutely nothing wrong,” Andrew said.

“You cannot castigate a player for honouring his contract. I know people say things like: Sol Campbell did it on purpose.

“How can he do it on purpose? How could a player with two or three years left on his contract think: I’m going to see my contract out.

“Too many things happen – you break your leg, you lose form – I just want to make it clear that Sol Campbell did absolutely nothing wrong.

“It was his responsibility to play football and it was the club’s responsibility to offer players contracts, and to offer them the right contract at the right time.

“He wasn’t offered a contract early, but I have a lot of respect for the people who were in control of the club at the time.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for Alan Sugar – and I know a lot fans criticise him – but Alan Sugar is a very straight person, who tries to do things straight.

“But all that happened – and this happens at a lot of clubs – you’ve got a player that absolutely fulfils his potential at a club. And then there’s a problem if the club isn’t fulfilling its potential as well.

“But I can tell you, it was such a difficult decision for Sol. He refused to speak to any club. We were in January, February, March – he refused to speak to any club.

“No club in Europe can say that Sol Campbell agreed to speak to them, because he wanted to sort out the situation with Spurs.

“At that time, he was only thinking about staying with Spurs. In the end, he maybe saw his aspirations elsewhere, but I’m telling you now – that was very late in the day.”

The agent also said, “You cannot place all the responsibility on the player. The other side have to dance to the tune as well and negotiate something.

“It’s impossible for a player to see out his contract, or it should be. You cannot blame the player. No-one should look at Sol.”

Sol spent three years of this youth career at Tottenham and nine years in the first team, making 255 league appearances. It wasn’t just a short spell, it was an era in his career, which has been overshadowed by his move to Arsenal.

It’s therefore understandable that he would want to go to the parade and even feel hurt that he’d been snubbed.