ANDY CAMPBELL was one of the youngest players ever to play in the Premier League back in 1996 – but his big day at Anfield only happened thanks to a fan giving him a shirt.
The former striker made his bow in the big-time off the bench for boyhood club Middlesbrough aged just 16 years 11 months and 18 days in a 3-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday on 5 April, 1996.
That made the now 43-year-old the Premier League’s third youngest-ever player at the time.
A fortnight later Campbell was thrust into the spotlight after then player-manager Bryan Robson decided to hand him a first-team debut at Anfield against Liverpool.
However, the Manchester United and England legend only made the decision to name the teenager in his team at the last-minute and created a major problem – he did not have a shirt.
Robson received special permission from the Premier League that allowed the forward to play the game without a number on his back.
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But that still left one major issue – they still needed to get their hands on a jersey for him.
That led to Boro’s physio frantically trying to find an away fan outside of Anfield and offer a unique swap, trading Robson’s shirt with a supporter’s blank one.
Recalling the remarkable set of events, Campbell told Teesside Live: “I was in the squad when I was 16 and Bryan Robson told the kit man at the time to not put a shirt in for me because I wasn’t going to play.
“I ended up having to play and make my debut at Liverpool, which was also the same day as Ian Rush’s last match for them, but I didn’t have a shirt.
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“The club had to get special permission from the Premier League to get a blank shirt from the crowd, and swapped it with a ‘Robson 16’ shirt because he wasn’t playing that day either, I was given the shirt and that was it.
“We lost 1-0 but it was such a special occasion for me and my family, I just never tracked down who gave me that shirt that day.”
Campbell, who later earned legendary status at Cardiff City after his League One play-off final winner in 2003 and also played for Sheffield United, Bolton, Doncaster and Oxford, went 27 years without knowing who made his debut possible.
But the now Boro Women’s manager has finally tracked down Graham Walker, the man responsible, through the power of Twitter after his step-daughter Kelsey saw the appeal.
And the 62-year-old, who is also from Middlesbrough, even still had Robson’s shirt that he received in the exchange.
“I put it on Twitter a couple of years ago to find out who it was but nobody ever came forward and honestly I’d given up on it. But then Kelsey got in touch completely out of the blue and told us that it was her stepdad who gave over the shirt – the power of social media!
“I’ve still got the shirt and it’s framed in my house, it was such a special moment for me in my career and I’ve still got my debut recorded on VHS. It’s 27 years ago since I made my debut, it feels like a lifetime ago!”
Walker added: “I remember it well! I was asked outside of Anfield by Boro’s physio Bob Ward if they could have the shirt I was wearing, I asked why and they said to give to Andy Campbell because he was making his debut and they didn’t have a shirt for him.
“I was then led into Anfield and into Boro’s changing room. All the players were there as well as Bryan Robson and Viv Anderson. I got Bryan Robson’s shirt in return for handing mine over and I still have it today!”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
