Achille Pierre Camille Campion (born 10 March 1990) is a French former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He played youth football for

USL Dunkerque Union Sportive du Littoral de Dunkerque is a French football club based in the commune of Dunkirk. It will compete in the Championnat National in the 2022–23 season. Their kit colours are white and blue, and they play their home matches at the ...

, before playing college football in the United States for

Belhaven Blazers The Belhaven Blazers are the athletic teams that represent Belhaven University, located in Jackson, Mississippi, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the Division III level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily c ...

UC Santa Barbara Gauchos The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos are the intercollegiate athletic teams who represent the University of California, Santa Barbara. Referred to in athletic competition as ''UC Santa Barbara'' or ''UCSB'', the Gauchos participate in 19 NCAA Division I ...

Baton Rouge Capitals BRSC Capitals are an American soccer team based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. Founded in 2007, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Mid South Division of ...

, and

Ventura County Fusion Ventura County Fusion is an American soccer team based in Ventura, California, United States. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games in the stadium on the ...

. He signed with English club

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

via Swedish club

Norrby IF Norrby IF is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Borås. Founded on 27 April 1927, the club is currently competing in the Superettan. Background The club's best achievement was being promoted to Allsvenskan (to ...

in 2014. He was loaned out to

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

in November 2015, and after being released by Port Vale signed with Irish club

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí Shligigh) is an Irish professional football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 ...

in August 2016. He switched to

Cork City Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city' ...

three months later, and helped the club to win the

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Premier Division ( ga, Príomhroinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is the top level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland f ...

, the

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

, and the

President of Ireland's Cup The President of Ireland's Cup, also known simply as the President's Cup, is an association football super cup featuring clubs from the Republic of Ireland football league system. It is a one-off match between the winners of the previous season' ...

in the

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season. He joined Linfield on loan in January 2018, before transferring to

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Lúthchleas Phádraig Naofa) is a professional Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the Irish Premier Division. Founded in May 1929, they played origin ...

in August 2018.

Early life and education

Campion was born on 10 March 1990 in

Levallois-Perret Levallois-Perret () is a commune in the Hauts-de-Seine department and Île-de-France region of north-central France. It lies some from the centre of Paris in the north-western suburbs of the French capital. It is the most densely populated ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. He played in the youth sides of

from 2004 through 2010 and captained the under-18s in the

Coupe Gambardella The Coupe Gambardella is a French football cup competition held between the under-18s of the French football clubs, organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). The cup is regarded as an opportunity for young hopefuls to showcase their sk ...

. He left his native France to attend college in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Belhaven University Belhaven University (Belhaven or BU) is a private evangelical Christian university in Jackson, Mississippi. Founded in 1883, the university offers traditional majors, programs of general studies, and pre-professional programs in Christian Minis ...

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

. He was a student-athlete, playing for the

men's soccer team while on campus. In his two years there, he appeared in 36 games for the Blazers, scoring 21 goals and assisting on 5 others. Campion then enrolled at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

, where he played for the

UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer team is an NCAA Division I college soccer team composed of student-athletes attending the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Gauchos play their home matches at Harder Stadium. Like most of the ...

team for his final two years of eligibility. With the Gauchos, he appeared in 25 games, collecting 13 goals and 3 assists. After ending his playing career in 2018, he went on to further his education by studying for a master's degree in Business Administration.

Career

Amateur US clubs

Campion played with amateur

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

sides

and

while in college. While with Baton Rouge, he appeared in 15 games and scored 10 goals with 3 assists. Campion was named to the PDL's Southern Conference Team of the Year in the 2011 season. He stayed two seasons with Ventura County, but only appeared in one game without recording any points.

Norrby IF

Campion signed with Swedish Division 1 side

in 2013 after leaving UC Santa Barbara and made his debut on 21 April 2014, scoring in extra time. Despite being under contract at Norrby IF, Campion went on a number of trials in Summer 2014 with

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

, and

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

Port Vale

He was signed on-loan by

on a deal until 1 January 2015. A thigh injury caused a delay in his debut for the club, but made his first appearance with the Port Vale Reserves on 15 October 2014 in a 5–1 win over Wigan Reserves with Campion scoring twice. He made his debut in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

on 29 November, coming on for Ben Williamson 81 minutes into a 2–2 draw at Gillingham. His transfer to Port Vale from Norrby was made permanent on 2 January 2015. Manager

Rob Page Robert John Page (born 3 September 1974) is a Welsh football manager and former player, who is currently the manager of the Wales national team. In an 18-year career in the Premier League and the English Football League, he made 550 competitive ...

handed him an 18-month contract and stated that he hoped to turn the player into an asset for the club. He scored his first goal in professional football at

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

on 7 February, in a 2–2 draw with

. After the game Page defended his decision to restrict Campion's playing time despite his success at reserve level, saying he did not want to "throw him in the deep end straight away". Page announced he would look to loan him out at the start of the 2015–16 season as

Uche Ikpeazu Karl Anthony Uchechukwu Mubiru Ikpeazu (born 28 February 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Konyaspor. A former Reading Academy player, he joined Watford in 2013. He spent three years with the club wit ...

Louis Dodds Louis Bartholomew Dodds (born 8 October 1986) is an English footballer who plays for side Hanley Town. He can play either as a midfielder or as a striker. After many years at the Leicester City Academy, he turned professional at the club in ...

Ebo Andoh Enoch Ebo Andoh (born 1 January 1993) is a Ghanaian footballer who plays as a winger for club St Ives Town. He began his career in his native Ghana with Hearts of Oak and King Faisal Babes, before being signed up by Portuguese club FC Porto ...

and

A-Jay Leitch-Smith Jay Leitch-Smith (born 6 March 1990), known as A-Jay Leitch-Smith, is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Hyde United. A graduate of the Academy at Crewe Alexandra, he played on loan for Halifax Town, Newcastle ...

were all preferred ahead of Campion on the opening day of the season, and JJ Hooper also joined the club two days later. He began training with

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

side

on 22 October, and agreed a one-month loan deal with the club seven days later after "Gulls" manager Kevin Nicholson was impressed by his character. After making one substitute appearance he had a chance to establish himself in the first team following a three-game suspension to Tyrone Marsh. However, he broke his nose on his second start for the club and had to be taken off early in the second half, and the injury then left him unable to feature for the rest of his loan spell. He was released by Port Vale in May 2016. Chairman

Norman Smurthwaite Norman Smurthwaite (born 8 August 1960) is an English businessman and former football club chairman. He qualified as an engineer and built a successful business career and property portfolio before retiring at the age of 50. He took over as chair ...

used

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

to express his view that Campion had been treated unfairly by former manager Page and said he hoped to bring the striker back for pre-season.

Ireland

Campion signed with

club

in August 2016. Manager Dave Robertson said that "he really fits what we're looking for" as Campion scored on his debut, in a 5–0 win over Wexford Youths on 5 August. He signed with

in November 2016, with manager John Caulfield saying that "he’ll create lot of goals and score a lot of goals, and that’s what we need". He scored two goal in 23 appearances across the

season, helping the "Rebel Army" to win both the Premier Division title and the

, though he was an unused substitute in

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

at Turners Cross. On 4 November, he entered

of the

at the

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium (also known as Lansdowne Road) is a sports stadium located in Dublin, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,700 spectators (all seated). It is built on the site of the former Lansdowne Road Stadium, which was demolished in 2007, and r ...

as a substitute in extra-time, and went on to score the equalising goal of a 1–1 draw; Cork went on to win the trophy on penalties. On 2 January 2018, Campion joined

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and colloquially as the Irish League or Irish Premiership, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northe ...

club Linfield on loan for the rest of the 2017–18 season; manager David Healy said "he's a player we know well and have seen play live several times". He scored two goals in 16 appearances for the "Blues" as they posted a fourth-place finish at the end of the 2017–18 campaign. He left Cork City on 26 July 2018. On 16 August 2018, Campion joined

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

club

on a contract to run until the end of the 2018 season.

Style of play

In September 2014, the

website described him as "a strong target man, who is good at holding up the ball, can finish well when given the opportunity, and due to his size is also an aerial threat".

Career statistics

Honours

Individual *

Southern Conference Team of the Year:

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Cork City *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Campion, Achille 1990 births Living people People from Levallois-Perret Footballers from Hauts-de-Seine French footballers French expatriate footballers Men's association football forwards Expatriate soccer players in the United States Baton Rouge Capitals players Ventura County Fusion players UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer players Expatriate footballers in Sweden Expatriate footballers in England Port Vale F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Expatriate association footballers in the Republic of Ireland Sligo Rovers F.C. players Cork City F.C. players Linfield F.C. players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players USL League Two players English Football League players National League (English football) players League of Ireland players NIFL Premiership players