Iván Campo Ramos (born 21 February 1974) is a Spanish former professional

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 lea ...

. Originally a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, he featured in a defensive midfield role in the later years of his career. He played for

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

and four other teams in his country, and is also remembered for his spell in England with

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

. Campo represented

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in the 1998 World Cup.

Club career

Spain

Born in

San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

, Basque Country, Campo started his career at

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

. He stayed there for two and a half years, signing with

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

who immediately loaned him for the rest of the season to

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

, which he helped narrowly avoid relegation from

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

. Subsequently, Campo returned to Valencia only to be released, joining recently promoted team

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

. In the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

, he formed a formidable partnership with Marcelino Elena (later of

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

), as they finished fifth in 1997–98. Campo signed with

in the summer of 1998, and contributed to the 1999–2000 conquest of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

, playing the full 90 minutes in the final against former club Valencia. He often underachieved during his spell at the

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium Santiago Bernabéu Stadium (, ) is a retractable roof association football, football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a seating capacity of around 83,000 following its extensive renovation completed in late 2024, the stadium has the second-largest ...

due to pressure from the supporters and the press, which led to several situations of

anxiety disorder Anxiety disorders are a group of mental disorders characterized by significant and uncontrollable feelings of anxiety and fear such that a person's social, occupational, and personal functions are significantly impaired. Anxiety may cause phys ...

Bolton Wanderers

After falling out of favor at Real, Campo was sent to

on a one-year loan in August 2002. Following the 2002–03 campaign he was expected to return to the Spanish capital, but unexpectedly signed a three-year permanent deal with the English club, deciding he preferred living in

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

. On 19 August 2006, in the first match of the new season, Campo scored a long-range drive which caught

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

's Paul Robinson off-guard and flew into the bottom corner of the net. In a post-match interview, his boss

Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (born 19 October 1954) is an English football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football League, as well as brief spells in the North ...

admitted Bolton's goal of the season competition may have already been decided by the "wonder strike". Campo fitted in well with his side's style of play, but also topped the charts for most

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

and yellow cards received of any player in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

in 2006–07. In May 2008, he was not offered a new contract by manager Gary Megson and left the team. Shortly before the

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

tournament, Campo wrote a letter to the Bolton faithful expressing his regret at not having been able to bid the club a proper farewell, and the letter appeared on a website run by

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

presenter Guillem Balagué. He eventually played in a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

at the

Reebok Stadium The Toughsheet Community Stadium is a Association football, football stadium in Horwich near Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It is the home ground of Bolton Wanderers F.C., Bolton Wanderers Football Club, with an all-seated capacity of 28, ...

, in honour of teammate Jussi Jääskeläinen.

Later years

On 11 August 2008, Campo signed for Ipswich Town of the

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

after passing a medical. He scored his first goal against

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

in a 3–0 win, but after only featuring in roughly a third of the league's matches, the 35-year-old was released by manager

Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, former coach, and former professional player. He is best known for his career in the Premier League, in particular his captaincy of Manchester United. He is the joint most ...

at the end of the season. Campo joined

Cypriot Second Division The Cypriot Second Division () is the second highest association football, football division of the Cypriot football league system. Administered by the Cyprus Football Association, it is contested by 16 teams, with the top three teams being Prom ...

side AEK Larnaca FC in December 2009. He retired in June of the following year, having appeared in 124 Spanish top-division games in seven years and 194 competitive matches for Bolton.

International career

Campo played four times with

, his debut coming on 25 March 1998 in a 4–0 friendly victory over

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, in

Vigo Vigo (, ; ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of province of Pontevedra, Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest ...

. He was picked for the squad for the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

in France, with the national team exiting in the group stage.

Other ventures

Campo featured in a Spanish TV advert for a fruit drink. In the advert two men take off their shirts to reveal tattoos of Campo's head on their chests. An Indie band from Preston, England have named themselves ''Ivan Campo''. They featured as part of an interview given by Charlie Webster for a

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

report after the player signed for Ipswich.

Honours

Mallorca *

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

runner-up: 1997–98 Real Madrid *

: 2000–01 *

: 1999–2000, 2001–02 * Intercontinental Cup:

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Bolton Wanderers *

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

runner-up: 2003–04

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Campo, Ivan 1974 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from San Sebastián Men's association football central defenders Men's association football midfielders Men's association football utility players La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Deportivo Alavés players Valencia CF players Real Valladolid players RCD Mallorca players Real Madrid CF players Premier League players English Football League players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Cypriot Second Division players AEK Larnaca FC players UEFA Champions League–winning players Spain men's international footballers 1998 FIFA World Cup players Basque Country men's international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus