For modern football fans, there is an argument that Bobby Campbell might be the last trophy winning Chelsea manager that they haven’t heard of. From here on out, it is famous former players or well-known managers that tend to take the helm, not least thanks to the arrival of Roman Abramovich as the club’s owner. In the case of Campbell, part of the reason why his accomplishments aren’t as celebrated as they might have been is that one of the trophies he won was the Second Division title and the other was a competition that doesn’t exist any more. Silverware is silverware, though, and modern day Chelsea might not be the club they are without them.
Bobby Campbell’s Honours as Chelsea Manager
| Season | League Titles | Domestic Cups | European/International Cups |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988/89 | Second Division | – | – |
| 1989/90 | – | Full Members Cup | – |
Campbell as a Player
Robert George Campbell, known as Bobby, was born in Liverpool on the 23rd of April 1937. Perhaps somewhat unsurprisingly, given where he was born, his playing career began with Liverpool; although the club was a Second Division side at the time. He made his debut for the Merseyside club on the 15th of September 1958, playing alongside some famous names such as Ronnie Moran, Alan A’Court and Billy Liddell as the Reds slumped to a 2-0 away defeat to Sheffield United. He made 24 league appearances for Liverpool between 1958 and 1961, scoring two goals, before moving on to Wigan.
Wigan were a non-league side at the time, not yet known as Wigan Athletic, and he only stayed there for a few months before returning to the Football League by signing for Portsmouth in the Third Division. He helped them to win the league that season, playing 64 times in the league during his five years at the club, scoring two goals. He would’ve played more but for injuries, meaning a lot of his time was spent in the reserves. In 1966 he moved to Aldershot, the Fourth Division club, but he only made five league appearances before making the decision to retire, the injuries having taken their toll on him.
Moving Into Management
When Campbell found his career drawn to a close sooner than he would’ve liked because of persistent injury problems, he made a decision to turn to coaching instead. He went back to Portsmouth, signing on as an assistant coach in 1967, learning the ropes over the next four years. In 1971 he moved on, becoming the assistant coach of Gordon Jago at Queens Park Rangers. His work there was helpful in the club coming second in the Second Division and earning a promotion out of it into the top-flight. That was enough to catch the eye of Bertie Mee at Arsenal, who brought him in to replace Steve Burtenshaw when he resigned to join Sheffield Wednesday.
In the summer of 1976, having spent three years at Arsenal, Campbell join the coaching team of Alec Stock at Fulham. When Stock was sacked in the December, Campbell seemed like the obvious choice to take over as manager. Things didn’t work out quite like he’d have hoped, with a fairly disastrous time in charge resulting in under-achievement and a relegation to the Third Division at the end of the 1979-1980 season. Even then the board kept the faith, but when things didn’t improve a decision was taken to sack him in the October of 1980. He became Portsmouth manager, winning the Third Division but then being sacked at the end of the following season.
Become Chelsea Manager
Having returned to Arsenal in the assistant manager’s role, Campbell became the reserve team manager at another previous club of his, Queens Park Rangers. In 1985 he was offered the opportunity to gain some experience working abroad, going to Kuwait in order to manage Qadsia SC. In the summer of 1987, the chance to take over as the reserve team manager at Chelsea came up, with Campbell leaping at it. As the 1987-1988 season wore on, Campbell was promoted to become the assistant manager of John Hollins, with the Chelsea side in the middle of a relegation battle. Within a month, Hollins was sacked and Campbell was given the role on a caretaker basis.
In spite of his best efforts, Campbell wasn’t able to turn things around for the Blues, having only eight games to work his magic. As a result, the club was relegated to the Second Division via the play-off system that was in place at the time but didn’t last. Even so, Ken Bates decided to give him the job full-time, which proved to be an inspired decision. Chelsea romped home as Second Division champions, raking in 99 points. Back in the First Division, Campbell led Chelsea to a fifth-place finish, which was the club’s highest position in the league since 1970. At the same time, he also won the Full Members’ Cup.
The Full Members’ Cup, which had been created to give teams something to play for at a time when they were banned from Europe, saw Chelsea entered in the Second Round. They defeated AFC Bournemouth 3-2, setting up a match against West Ham United in the Third Round that they won 4-3. In the Southern Section Semi-Final, Chelsea won 3-2 against Ipswich Town, defeating Crystal Palace 2-0 in the Southern Section Final, meaning that they would face Middlesbrough in the Final. They won that game 1-0, seeing Campbell winning his second piece of silverware during his time as Chelsea manager.
Joining the Chelsea Hierarchy
When Chelsea finished 11th at the end of the 1990-1991 season, Ken Bates made the decision to relive Campbell of his managerial duties. He wasn’t kicked to the kerb entirely, however, becoming personal assistant to Bates, who was the club Chairman. He wasn’t done with management entirely, though, and he decided to return to Kuwait in order to manager the two biggest clubs in the country in the form of Al-Arabi SC and Qadsia SC. When he finally felt satiated from managing, he retired and moved out to Florida. He didn’t take to living there, instead choosing to move back to England and a house close to Stamford Bridge.
When Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea, Campbell became something of a trusted advisor to the Russian. He became part of his ‘inner circle’, offering him advice on football affairs and often seen sitting next to him on match days. He also did what he could to keep an eye on up-and-coming talent, attending Academy training games at Cobham Training Centre. Sadly, Campbell died on the sixth of November 2015, leaving behind his wife Sue, their three sons and a daughter.