Bob Campbell
Say the name Robert Campbell with regard to football and there will be a few flags raised. There was the one born in 1882 in Lugar Ayrshire. who from about 1900 played for Partick Thistle and Rangers and then went south until 1915 to Millwall Athletic and Bradford City. Then born the following year was the one from Ellon. |He over much the same period stayed north of the border at Queen's Park, briefly turned for Celtic, then made one hundred and ninety-four appearances for Rangers, before Kilmarnock and Ayr United, after which there was a bit of gap until Bobby Inglis Campbell. He first saw life in Glasgow but began his career at Falkirk just after the Second World War. Then he too crossed the border to seven years at Chelsea and on the wing for Scotland, four more seasons at Reading and twenty years in football management first back home at Dumbarton and at Bristol and Gloucester. After him came the English and Northern Irish Bobby Campbells, George and McFaul respectively, the first Liverpool-born and a player in the 60s and a manager at home and abroad, and the other who played over five hundred times in the top-flight in the 70s and 80s and picked up two caps. And he would overlap, at least chronologically, with the full-back in the 1980s at Dumbarton, Cowdenbeath, Queen of the South and Dumbarton for a second tour, the last of the last century. Whilst the final one would be born in in 1986 and move in much the same circles as his immediate predecessor his career began in 2003. Encompassing Kilmarnock, loans at Dundee and Dumbarton, stints at Queen of the South once more and East Fife with a final loan at Annan it would end in 2009.
However, none of these Campbells have made anything like the contribution to club, country and indeed to world-wide football as the Robert Campbell, who remains almost entirely unrecognised even here in Scotland, the country to which he gave service like few others. He was a Perthshire man, a Campbell of Breadalbane at least in part, born in Killen in 1872. Although his father George hailed from the north, born in Duthil on the Speywith, his father in turn a Badenoch man from Alvie between Aviemore and Kincraig, his mother, Janet, also a Campbell, came from Fortingall by Aberfeldy, her father, also Robert, an agricultural labourer.
In 1881 they were living in Perth. His father was a police sergeant. Then in 1891, with Robert now seventeen, George, still in Perth, was an insurance agent. It was the year before Robert, by now am apprentice law clerk, made his debut for St. Johnstone F.C. It was 29th October and against local rivals, Fair City, in a 1-1 draw. At the time St. Johnstone was competing in the local leagues. It had been founded in 1884 as an offshoot of the local cricket club and was formalised the following year. It first took part in the Scottish Cup in 1886, a 1-7 away defeat by local rivals Erin Rovers after a 3-3 home draw and the following year it lost in the second round. In 1888-9 it was first round defeat once more to Dunblane and in 1890 a loss in the second after, which preliminary rounds were introduced and the club did not feature in the rounds proper.
That was until 1901. That year St. Johnstone finally made its way into round one and travelled to Royal Albert. The results was an away draw, which looked promising until the replay was lost at home. Then in 1902-3 it would reach the first round proper once more only to be thumped at home 1-10 by Third Lanark, would reach the second round in 1903-4 but meet and lose to St. Mirren and the following season be overwhelmed 7-0 by Airdrieonians, after which there was a run of results so poor that a Special Meeting was called followed two weeks later by an AGM. At the Special meeting a heated debate took place about the way the club was being run, whether it should become professional or remain amateur was discussed and a new direction from the committee sought, whilst at the AGM the decision was made to pay its players and a new committee formed. Alex Wright was elected as President and Robert Campbell, now a solicitor in his mid-thirties, Honorary President.
It proved a turning-point for St. Johnstone. It was reorganised, seemingly regressing but ultimately going forward. It reached the Scottish Cup for two years more, then dropped away until 1912. Then in 1913 it reached the third round for the first time only losing to Dumbarton, and, although it would not reach the second round again due to the War years until 1922 progress had been and continued being made. It had joined Scottish League Division Two in 1911-12 and in 1922-3 finished third, missing promotion by two points but that was rectified the following year, when the club also moved into a brand new ground.
St. Johnstone would remain in the top-flight for five seasons, would drop down for two and then in 1932-33 regain its place. However, in the meantime Robert Campbell had in 1927 been elected the Scottish Football Association President. By then he as fifty-five, had married local girl, Henrietta Hampton, in 1903, had seven children, five girls and two boys, by then grown or growing up, his club had finished fourteenth of twenty in the top flight, won that year by
Bill Struth's Rangers and he had taken over Tom White of Celtic, to whom considerable praise must be given for the international performances of the Scottish national period in the period. White had takenover in 1919 and in eight years hardly a game had been drawn, never mind lost. However, one that had been was his last and against England in 1927. It had been a 1-2 home defeat having gone ahead, with a team that was with Jimmy Gibson, son of Neilly, moved from right-half to centre-half, Scottish attacking centre-half, shall we say, interesting. Gibson's man to mark, England centre-forward, Dixie Dean, scored both the goals, the second two minutes before time. And the changes made as Campbell took control were also interesting. Against Wales in October Gibson, now with Aston Villa, was retained but Davie Meiklejohn came in on his right and there were five other changes in personnel and position. The result was a draw, Wales equalising through a 76th minute Gilson own-goal. Then when Northern Ireland came in February there were six more. Meiklejohn was now centre-half, Gibson was gone, replaced by Tommy Muirhead, and Scotland lost by a single goal scored by the Irish centre-forward and at home.
In retrospect the three games, two losses and a draw might be put down to experimentation. But equally they could simply have been error compounded by error. Whatever the truth just over a month later Scotland was due to play England and away and there were again nine changes. However, seven were restorations, including Gibson at right-half, just two were new caps and, furthermore its was tactically innovative. For the first time Scotland played a sort of centre-back, a big, defensive centre-half, Bishopton and Bury'sTom Bradshaw, playing between and behind the half-backs in a defensive X. The result was spectacular. The team that had been given virtually no chance, now lauded as the Wembley Wizards, won by five goals to one, that one scored in the penultimate minute.
It was the beginning of a run of games that matched, perhaps even arguably exceeded that of Scotland's Golden Era of the 1880s and of its renaissance as the 19th Century became the 20th. Of the next eleven games ten were won, just one lost. It was against England back at Wembley when centre-forward Watson got past Meiklejohn twice in the first half-an-hour and Crooks, England's right-wing turned left-back Law inside out three times resulting in two more goals within the next five minutes. Law never played for Scotland again. However, already by that time Campbell was having to cope with events that would hamstring the Scottish international team. They began with a request by Arsenal wanting internationals only to be played in mid-week. It was rejected but with the result that it by 1931 had morphed into a unilateral decision by English league clubs not to release any of their players for international duty, which was soon adjusted to non-release of non-English players. The other Home Nations associations had no recourse. A complaint was sent via the FA in London but since it was not affected and in any case had no power to force a change of decision nothing came of it. Moreover, with Scotland not a member of FIFA, nor did that organisation have any interest or at least no way to intervene.
It would take Bob Campbell on behalf of the SFA a year of negotiation to reverse the English League's position. In the meantime until October 1932 only players from Scottish clubs were capped. It was almost pre-1896 once more and, although Scotland continued to win, it was only half the time. And the situation must have had its effect. Bob Campbell had turned sixty and clearly considered that was enough. In 1933 he stepped down as SFA President and went back to working solely for St. Johnstone where in the interim he had been instrumental in the appointment in 1919 of its first manager, John Grant, then former player John Buchan, and from 1924 to 1931, David Taylor, who would do well at first and then take the club down. He would also clearly have a great input into the replacement of Taylor. There the man turned to as he had retired from a playing career that had lasted sixteen years, included almost two hundred and eighty games in two stays at Rangers and eight caps for Scotland, was none other than Tommy Muirhead. He would be the one get the club back into the First Division, achieving a best finishing place of fifth, and staying until 1936, when he would be persuaded south to Preston. St. Johnstone, reverting to no manager but with Campbell's expertise to call on, would then dip a little but remain in the top-flight until the outbreak of the War and the league's suspension. But by then Bob Campbell was dead. After several months' illness he had as the season drew to a close his team safely in mid-table on equal points with Aberdeen and Partick passed away on 6th April 1938 aged just 66.
That Robert Campbell was pivotal to the St. Johnstone we know today is without doubt and is widely recognised. As chairman for nearly 40 years he was its guiding light, the real power behind virtually everything the club achieved up to his death. The Campbell Suite within the current stadium is named in his honour. It is also recognised he was extremely well respected throughout the Scottish game. What appears not to have been understood was how important he was Scotland's third "Golden", international era and what he had to cope with. There was not only the English league decision on its contracted non-English players but previously the English FA's havering about FIFA. Having been persuaded, as were all the other Home Nations, to leave the international organisation in 1919 over Germany and Austria Scotland was by the time of Campbell's SFA presidency on its way back. The SFA minutes record that its membership seems de facto in the process of restoration until in 1928 the English FA pulled the plug again, this time on the question of amateurism at the Olympics. If there is any criticism of Campbell it is that in that moment he towed the English line instead of acting sufficiently independently, for which can be read, nationally. It is something of a surprise as he was well aware of football beyond these shores. In August of 1907, Mr and Mrs A. Bennett of Calgary in Canada had presented a shield to be awarded to the champion team of Alberta. It was first competed for in 1908 and won by, who else but the Calgary Caledonians. The Callies went on to win it again in 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, and 1923. The shield continued to be awarded until 1929 when it was replaced by a trophy called the Campbell Cup, donated by none other than Robert Campbell, not just the incumbent president of the Scottish Football Association but also past player and obviously committed fan.