Cod Almighty | Article

by Mat Hare

12 November 2003

Stuart Campbell, or Camby, as he gets called, is one of the few signings Lennie Lawrence made that didn't turn out to be an utter pile of steaming dogshit. The former used car salesman brought Campbell to Blundell Park on a season-long loan from Leicester City near the start of the 2000-01 season. He was brought in to bolster the midfield, and though he prefers to play more centrally Camby was used out on the left flank. Typical Lennie.

Scottish under-21 international Stuart Campbell started life on 9 December 1977 in Corby, Northants. Admittedly that's not generally recognised as Scotland, but maybe his maternity ward was still under Scottish rule after Bannockburn. He grew up to be 5' 10" and joined his nearest major football club, Leicester City. Stuart made his debut for the Foxes against Scarborough in the League Cup in 1996. Leicester went on to win the cup that year and although Campbell played only in the second-leg ties, he did pick up a winner's medal. His league debut came two months later against Manchester United at Old Trafford. In the next couple of seasons the enigmatic midfielder made a number of appearances in the league and cups. He was even in the side when the cup holders lost 3-1 to Grimsby in 1997. 

After not getting a consistent run in the team in the 1999-00 season, Campbell was loaned to Birmingham, where he made two appearances, both as substitute. At the start of the following season, Lennie went to Filbert Street and brought Campbell back with him. Stu went on to start the majority of Town's games that season and even bagged a couple of goals along the way, his first being Town's only goal against Nottingham Forest away. In May 2001 the Mariners lashed out £200,000 and lured Campbell away from Leicester on a permanent basis. Some Leicester fans seem to think they were robbed. Some Grimsby fans feel the same.

Since arriving at Blundell Park, Stuart Campbell has proved that on his day he can be a matchwinner. Though not a prolific goalscorer with 12 goals from his 133 appearances for Town, the lad has the skills and the talent to be outstanding, when he can be arsed. And that's the problem: he will drift in and out of games. On a number of occasions I have forgotten he was even on the field until he did something to bring himself to my attention. But he does seem to be a regular in the side. In fact in the 2002-03 season he was second only to Danny Coyne in time on the pitch. I will say this for him though: he is consistent in his inconsistency. He can have good halves and bad halves and does so often. But it seems that Stuart Campbell is here to stay, for now at least. In a squad that is rather heavy with midfielders he seems to have made one of the berths his own and at least when he plays you know what you're going to get - the unpredictable.

If the internet is to be believed, and why shouldn't it, then Stuart Campbell also has several interests outside of football. He is a member of the Spring Tides poetry group, a freelance journo dealing mainly with videogames and a lecturer in music at the University of Glasgow. Gets about a bit, doesn't he? There are also claims that he is a gynaecologist but I think this is just a line he uses to pull girls at the Pier.