Former England defender Sol Campbell has been appointed as manager of Macclesfield Town, the bottom club in the English Football League.
It is the 44-year-old’s first managerial position and he has taken charge with the Silkmen five points adrift at the foot of League Two.
Campbell played 73 times for England and appeared in six major tournaments.
He also won several domestic honours, including Premier League titles with Arsenal in 2001-02 and 2003-04.
Macclesfield were National League champions last season but have struggled on their return to the EFL, winning only two of their 19 league games so far this season.
BBC Radio Manchester reported on 23 November that Campbell had held initial talks with Macclesfield, and he was pictured on Tuesday arriving at the club’s Moss Rose ground to finalise an 18-month contract.
Campbell’s chance finally comes
Since retiring as a player in 2012, Campbell has been linked with managerial jobs at Grimsby Town and Oxford United.
He once described himself as “one of the greatest minds in football” and, in 2014, claimed he would have been “England captain for more than 10 years” had he been white.
Campbell begins his managerial career four years after describing the lack of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) managers in English football as a “sad indictment” of the game.
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The former Tottenham, Portsmouth and Newcastle centre-back has a UEFA Pro Licence, the highest coaching qualification available, which is mandatory for all first-team managers wishing to work in the Premier League.
He has recently been worked alongside England Under-21 boss Aidy Boothroyd as part of a Football Association initiative to address the issue of under-representation of BAME coaches.
“The more [BAME] guys who qualify for their coaching badges at B, A and Pro, the better it is,” he told the FA website.
“The main thing is that the pathways are there and that’s key and the FA are addressing that.
“The best moment for me was when I actually got on the pitch and I was a part of the sessions.
“There’s things you have to do yourself and it’s given me the confidence to know that I’ve got the tools, but I just need to get a situation and a nice gig somewhere.”
