This interview is taken from issue 205 of HeedLines, sold at the pre-season friendly against Newcastle United on Saturday, July 15.
Almost 11 years on from his Newcastle United debut, Adam Campbell has become a fan favourite in black and white with a league title and a Wembley final appearance under his belt.
Though the colours remain the same, the Tyneside team for whom he has achieved those accolades may not be who he thought they’d be with as a youngster.
Campbell spent his early life as a season ticket holder at St. James’ Park before joining The Magpies’ academy at under-9 level, where his ability would see him rapidly progress through the club’s age groups.
It was then when the forward was handed the Most Valuable Player award at the 2010 Nike Cup – joining previous winners such as Andres Iniesta, Carlos Tevez and Fernando Torres – that he felt his career was about to take off.
“You see the names that have won Player of the Tournament before and you start to think that there’s a chance that you could be on that list as well,” said Campbell.
“I’d made my debut for the under-18’s when I was 14, and they’re based over at the first team training ground so that’s when I started meeting the first team players.
“When you’re seeing players like Yohan Cabaye and Hatem Ben Arfa walking down the corridor, you do get a bit starstruck.
Campbell in action against Atromitos in 2012.
“After a couple of months or so they start to get to know you a little bit more, and even though most of them were French speaking, they were very welcoming.
“There was still quite a strong English-speaking contingent which helped me massively as well – people Mike Williamson, Rob Elliot, Ryan Taylor and Dan Gosling.
“Then when I was 15, I played for the reserves and started doing alright there, so I just stayed with them from that point.”
Campbell’s football went from strength to strength, leading to a first team debut in the Europa League away to Greek side Atromitos in August 2012 aged just 17 – making him the youngest Newcastle player to feature in European competition.
The hype around the forward was only building as he made his Premier League debut seven months later – one of three he would go on to make – and it seemed the only way was up when then-manager Alan Pardew publicly stated that the 2013/14 season would be ‘a big year’ for him.
“There was a lot [of hype], which is probably more damaging now than it was back then,” he said.
“At the time you’re doing well and it only adds to your fuel to kick on and make it, but once you realise you’re not going to play at that level and you have to start working your way down, things like that come back to haunt you a little bit.
“Breaking in at such an early age, you expect that you’re going to kick on and play in the Premier League every week, so when you drop down to League Two people use it as a stick to beat you with.
“Knowing how football works now having been in the game for a while, I would have handled it a lot differently and probably been a lot more level headed, but at the time you do get caught up in it.
“I never really had any setbacks until I was 18, I didn’t have any injuries, I was always scoring and moving through age groups, so once it started going the other way was probably when I needed a little more guidance.”
Campbell’s departure from his boyhood club in 2015 led to a successful two seasons with fellow Magpies Notts County, before two ‘really bad years’ at Morecambe left him questioning his future in the game before a move to National League North side Darlington brought him back home in 2019.
Campbell appearing for Notts County in 2017.
His transition to part-time football opened the door for an opportunity to work with Life After Professional Sport, offering the advice and guidance to academy players that he feels was perhaps missing when he needed it most.
“Going part time gave me my opportunity to work for LAPS, which I still do now,” he added.
“It’s given me something else to focus on and it’s something I really enjoy doing – it takes a lot of the pressure off my game.
“I’m one of those people that gets really conscious about letting people down through not playing well, so I find having that alternative focus has really helped my career.
“When I was at Newcastle, everything was going really well and I thought I was going to be playing in the Premier League every week, but then life happens, football happens and you realise you’re not good enough to play at that level.
“With the work I do now, I go and speak to lads week in and week out at academies and they don’t understand how difficult it is to make a living in the game.
“A lot of people expect that they can drop out of a Premier League academy and come straight into a Football League club, but it doesn’t work like that.
“Now, I think since moving to Darlington and Gateshead, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been – including when I was involved in Newcastle’s first team.
“The level sometimes gets laughed at by other people, but to have a career at any level in the game is massive, and I love being here.”
