Loren Campbell, an Icon.
An icon in the North East for two decades. The Aberdeen captain has bowed out with Sunday's trip to Motherwell the last in her long career. This is her story as told by those that know her.
Aberdeen’s flying full back announced her retirement shortly after guiding the club to top flight safety. The huge sigh of relief in the North East tinged with sadness as one of, if not the, greatest player in the clubs history penned her farewell message.
We sat down for a chat with former manager Emma Hunter; former teammate and Aberdeen captain Kelly Forrest; and the Press and Journal’s finest, Sophie Goodwin, to help us tell the story of such an icon on the pitch, and incredible person off it. Each of them lit up while describing the one-club-woman, such is the influence that she has had on the Scottish game. Campbell has been synonymous with the Dons since her debut for the, then unaffiliated, Aberdeen Ladies over a decade ago.
“You would know it was coming but you just couldn’t stop her doing it”
Loren Campbell has been a symbol of Aberdeen for years, she’s one of the players that you just can’t imagine playing for any other team and you can’t imagine an Aberdeen team without her. It is very difficult to think of Aberdeen (before and after their affiliation with the men’s team) without the image of Loren Campbell charging forward from right back popping into your head. That trademark move is something Emma Hunter highlighted as a large part of what made her such a quality player “She loved the wee stepover and coming inside, and there’s not many people could stop her… she was so determined and quick with it”. It is a sight that Sophie Goodwin has also seen so often in her time covering Aberdeen “you sit in the stands and you think here we go, here we go, here's Loren bursting forward”. The excitement in her voice palpable as she recalls all the times she’s felt the atmosphere at a game shift when the Aberdeen right back took control. Goodwin continued “[she’s] that kind of modern wing back that you see more and more these days, going forward, I think she brings another dimension for Aberdeen.”
It wouldn’t be hyperbole to suggest that she is one of the best right backs to ever grace the SWPL. Although, being a great right back is more than attacking influence, which she had in abundance. You’ve got to be a top defender as well and Loren Campbell absolutely was (well, still is). A player any manager would be overjoyed to have on their team and Emma Hunter detailed the defensive aspect of her game “She’s very streetwise, and you can tell that she’s been in the game for a long time because, you know, she’s played in some leagues that are maybe a bit of the rough-and-tumble, and now playing in this league that’s more tactical based”. Hunter believed that those experiences in the lower leagues, despite Campbell already being a quality player, had added to her defensive qualities “she just had this air of aggressiveness on the pitch that sometimes is missing, and she was very clever with it as well. She knew when to use it, in 1-v-1 battles you knew that nine times out of ten Loren would win somehow, even if that player was maybe slightly better, slightly quicker, Loren would just find a way to win the battle.” Kelly Forrest spent the bulk of her (equally iconic) playing career right next to Campbell as the right sided central defender. Something that she clearly enjoyed “yeah, definitely [felt more confident knowing Campbell would perform]. She was 100% one of those players, someone that I’d say I leaned on quite a lot because of her knowledge and her consistent delivery”.
Her on the ball actions have been hugely influential but she has also had a huge influence on others with the action ongoing. “She's not often the most vocal person on the pitch, but when she is, you know. She can get quite angry because she can see when things are going wrong, her reading of the game is really good and she knows how good this team can be” states Goodwin. Emma Hunter also wanted to espouse the mental side of Campbell’s game, the former manager giving an insight into the matchday decisions that go under the radar for those not involved “[she] notic[ed] things on the pitch that as a coach sometimes you don’t notice. So, definitely someone that as you’re walking back at half time, quickly grab a word with her, get her thoughts and what she thought what was happening on the pitch”. That tactical insight extended further than just quick chats at half time. Hunter credits her for helping the squad transition to a more tactical style of play after her appointment 4 years ago “when I went in I went in quite tactically, and had to change quite a lot, and create a philosophy and how we wanted to play. A lot more tactical, and a lot more analysis, and she was someone that just... it was easy to her, she was almost- I would say at times like an assistant coach as well, because she was able to help some of the younger players, and give advice”. For Kelly Forrest it wasn’t just that she was vocal, but also how she backed it up “[she’s] one of these players that over the years has been super consistent in her game you know, really feisty player and not afraid to get stuck in and not afraid to tell you when you've messed up. What comes with that is constant delivery from her. It's not like she's one of these players that has a pop at you and doesn't deliver”. She didn’t just back up her words with performances though, Forrest is keen to credit her intelligence “Loren just oozes football knowledge….she lives and breathes it and you can tell that and just how confident she is when she's giving instruction on the pitch as well. As I say, if we ever came up against an opposing player that was particularly good or a situation within a game she was one of the first in the group to give advice on that.”
That leadership was rewarded in her final season as she was handed the captain’s armband, an honour that some would have expected to come sooner. Kelly Forrest offered an alternative perspective “you could argue that ‘do you need to give Loren the captain's armband?’ You know, she gave you that leadership anyway.” Speaking to Emma Hunter and Sophie Goodwin it was clear that her leadership responsibility went deeper than just an armband and a note on the teamsheet, Hunter going as far to say “there was never a doubt that she was going to be captain of Aberdeen at some point”. Forrest confirmed that she had been like that throughout her career “even when she was younger she was never afraid to kind of give an opinion and I think she does that because she speaks with confidence, and her feedback makes a lot of sense.” She continued, “leadership is just a natural quality within her.” That mental ability isn’t just helping others on the pitch and being ultra-consistent herself, Forrest came up against some fearsome players with Campbell by her side from Jess Fishlock to Denise O’Sullivan, a young Erin Cuthbert to a record goalscoring Julie Fleeting, “I've never really witnessed Loren crumble under pressure at all and that goes to show her, experience and belief in herself to to deliver when it matters.”
It’s hard to get across in words the intangible reverence in the voices of these three people who have all known Loren Campbell from different perspectives. Not just her ability kicking a ball (and attackers) around but the impact that her personality has had on them shines through.
“If it wasn't for people like Loren, there wouldn’t be Aberdeen Women now”
Emma Hunter couldn’t have put it better. When Aberdeen Ladies were relegated twice in two years and found themselves in freefall, unattached to the men’s team, with a future covered by a thick fog. It would have been easy for players of the talent that Loren Campbell, Carrie Doig, Kelly Forrest, and Natasha Bruce had to leave for a higher level. But she stayed, and not only did she stay but she helped to raise the level of so many young players who have gone on to make history by becoming some of the first players to receive professional deals from the club. Hunter gives her a lot of credit for this unsung role “without Loren Campbell, they wouldn’t be getting contracts at Aberdeen Football Club, and as much as she probably would’ve loved to have that opportunity, I think she should be really proud that she’s actually paved the way for many others to do it”. And it’s not only at Aberdeen that Hunter believes Campbell has had an impact “when people say she’s inspired so many in the north and northeast I think its beyond that, so many young women and girls now look up to people like Loren. She should hang up the boots with great pride, not just in what she’s achieved on the pitch but everything she’s achieved that she’s probably not even realised she’s done off the pitch. One of the proudest moments in my career is seeing some of the young girls asking for Loren Campbell’s autograph because she absolutely deserves that and I think if anyone else knew her and knew what she’d put into football and what she does outside of football I think the queues would be miles, miles, longer”.
The ‘what she does outside of football’ that Hunter is alluding to is her day job as an engineer (we’re sure that title barely covers what she actually does but we’re football journalists, not engineering experts). STEM has historically been a field that much like football is male-dominated. Forrest isn’t surprised with what she’s achieved in both “she's in a great career and thriving in that as well. That's plaudit to her personality. It's not just in football, it's a natural thing that Loren has. It's to lead and speak with confidence when the moment’s right” having experience being in situations where she’s been held to account by Campbell she continued “when she does speak, it's like, OK. Yeah, that makes sense. And yeah, you listen”. Hunter also believes it is another notch on the ‘what makes Loren Campbell special’ post “she’s an inspiration to any female. Whether you’re involved in football or not… actually managing to balance both and at the standard that she’s managed to have both at has been incredible” she goes on to say “she’s just instantly inspiring and I think that’s one of the pieces that is really missed, I don’t think you can underestimate how hard it has probably been for her to juggle both and to commit so much sacrifice to the game and so much into her career to be successful. It’s truly unbelievable”.
That personality has Goodwin and Hunter hoping she makes the move into coaching at some point with the Press and Journal writer saying “she's too good. Too good a player you know, the wealth of knowledge and expertise that it's just too good not to be involved in the game.” Hunter builds on that, perhaps we’ll look back on this with them a future title winning managerial duo, “I hope one day, that’s probably one of the conversations I’ll have with her when I meet for coffee, is how can she use what she’s got to empower women’s football further, because she’s smart tactically. She’s got her C license at the moment, so she did get her coaching badges” although accepting that Campbell deserves to put her feet up she goes on to add “I’ll let her take a break before I start pestering her about getting back into football, so she can have months but not years!”
Whatever Campbell decides to do in her post-playing football life, she’s had a huge impact over the last 20 years and deserves all the respect and praise in the world for her part in pushing women’s football forward and helping to create the environment we have now with clubs breaking attendance records almost monthly, players earning full time contracts in the sport, and coverage becoming increasingly prominent. Loren Campbell is, and will always be, an icon of the sport.