:''This article relates to the Irish footballer. For others, see John Campbell.'' John Peter Campbell (28 June 1923 – January 1968) was a

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 ...

from

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

, Northern Ireland.

Career

Campbell grew up playing

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

at school. He was also an accomplished

sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace * Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automobiles *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, a rebadged v ...

er, and an Ulster champion over 100 and 200 metres. He first played football for Foyle Harps, before being signed-up by Derry City, and from there he moved to

Belfast Celtic Belfast Celtic Football Club was an Irish football club. Founded in 1891 in Belfast, it was one of the most successful teams in Ireland until it withdrew permanently from the Irish League in 1949. The club left the league for political reaso ...

in 1945. At 'Paradise', Campbell won Irish League and

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Clearer Water Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary Association football, football single elimination, knockout cup compet ...

winner's medals, as well as representing the Irish League. Perhaps his most famous contribution to the club's history was scoring both goals in a 2–0 win over Scotland during Celtic's swansong tour of America. By the time of the US Tour, Campbell had already departed Belfast Celtic for

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

. He played in 62

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

games for Fulham before his career was ended by injury early in the 1952–53 season.FULHAM : 1946/47 - 2007/08
Newcastle Fans. During his time in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

he earned two caps, and indeed his wing-play earned praise from the maestro himself,

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English Association football, footballer who played as an Forward (association football)#Outside forward, outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the Br ...

. When his career ended, Campbell returned to

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

to work as a scout for Fulham. He died from bowel cancer at the young age of 44. Inadvertently, Campbell's death brought a brief return of football to 'Paradise', a Belfast Celtic Select playing a benefit match which raised £800 for his family.

References

External links

Post War English & Scottish Football League A - Z Player's Transfer Database profile
1923 births 1968 deaths Association footballers from Derry (city) Belfast Celtic F.C. players Derry City F.C. players English Football League players Fulham F.C. players Gaelic footballers who switched code Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Men's association football wingers NIFL Premiership players Northern Ireland men's international footballers Ulster Scots people] {{NorthernIreland-footy-bio-stub