Football's craziest transfers: How Sol Campbell ditched the Premier League for a brief, bizarre and disastrous spell in League Two with Notts County
GOALThe defender still had a lot to offer in the top-flight, but he snubbed it for League Two, though the bubble burst immediately
In the list of 'transfers you can't believe actually happened', Sol Campbell's to Notts County in 2009 should always be near the top. So much time – 15 years – has passed since the move went through that it is easy to forget just how perplexing it was.
The towering defender had been playing regularly in the Premier League for 16 years across spells at Tottenham, Arsenal and Portsmouth. He had won league titles, FA Cups, a League Cup and reached a Champions League final. He had hopes of making the England squad for the next World Cup, having already played in three and as many European Championships in a respectable international career.
Notts County, meanwhile, were stuck in League Two and had just finished 19th the previous season. Having avoided going out of business just six years prior, they had endured a long, tumultuous period.
Why, then, would Campbell leave the Premier League to sign a contract with the Magpies? It's a story of a dodgy takeover, false promises, unpaid wages, and Sven-Goran Eriksson. And, for Campbell, it was over as quickly as it began.
