Christy 'Junior' Campbell RIP

**charliesboots** · 27/03/2009, 12:52 PM

It's with a very heavy heart that I have to post that Christy Campbell, known fondly around League of Ireland circles as 'Junior', has passed away this morning at his home in Dublin.

Junior was assistant manager/coach to Stephen Kenny at Longford Town and Bohemians and has been scouting opposition for Derry over the past few years.

He played in the league himself back in the day with Drumcondra and others as did his older brother Phil, hence Christy's nickname.

His nephew Paul 'Soupy' Campbell won an FAI Cup with Galway United and numerous honours during a long career with Pats.

I've known Christy most of my life and it was a great shock to hear the news this lunchtime.

He was a true gent and a real football person who could bore you about tactics and formations for hours.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam

**Dodgysnapper** · 27/03/2009, 1:06 PM

Heard this less than an hour ago and am stunned!

I worked with Christy for 3 years at Longford and a nicer man you will never meet, I met him last week at Dalymount where he was scouting for Derry and he looked as fit as a fiddle!

RIP Christy!

**Longfordian** · 27/03/2009, 1:20 PM

I didn't know Christy myself but everyone that did said he was a true gent. Last time I saw him was at Sean Prunty's game in November and he got a good reception when his name was announced. He'll be fondly remembered in Longford. RIP.

**Macy** · 27/03/2009, 1:42 PM

Any time I spoke to him, or heard him chatting with othere, he was always a gent. RIP.

**prince20** · 27/03/2009, 1:46 PM

R.I.P.

**Massop 10** · 27/03/2009, 4:26 PM

Another true gentleman of the League of Ireland taken from us ! May he rest in peace.

**Straightstory** · 27/03/2009, 4:45 PM

I remember him with Drogheda. Did he play in the 1976 Cup Final against Bohs? I always presumed he was known as 'Junior' because of the pop star of the same name. (ex 'Marmalade' - who had a hit with 'Halleluiah Freedom').
RIP.

**sparkey** · 27/03/2009, 5:16 PM

RIP. True gent anytime I met him or spoke to him.

**Bohs Belgie** · 27/03/2009, 7:30 PM

Shocked to hear this....Although i didn't know him very well, i remember from around the Tallaght area when i was younger, always seemed to be involved in coaching kids at every club.....
My dad was involved in a lot of football in Tallaght and he knew him very well....whence, i knew most of the Campbell family and went to school with Soupy.....
Fergus, if you see any of the family, pass on my sympathy

**drummerboy** · 28/03/2009, 9:00 AM

Remember him playing for Drums. RIP

**Tallanted** · 28/03/2009, 9:14 AM

you wont meet a nicer fella. Heard the news on the way to wexford and still cant believe it. RIP Christy thanks for the memories. You will be forever remembered at de town

**Martinho II** · 28/03/2009, 6:03 PM

I too heard this on the way down.Eamon Donoghue rang sorbo the greek when we were driving down. Im stunned to say the least.He is a legend from his spell as no 2 to stephen kenny and was the brains behind us going up I belive.He will be much missed saw him at the sean prunty testimonial match. may he rest in peace and Im pretty sure that Noel "Butch" Treacey( ex program editor with is) will catch up with christy in heaven.RIP

**Martinho II** · 29/03/2009, 7:30 PM

www.ltfc.ie

Christy Campbell passed away yesterday at the age of 60. Christy was assistant manager of Longford Town FC from 1998 to 2001 and paid a huge part in the emergence of the club as a major player on the national stage. Here, some of those he worked with at the time pay tribute to a true legend of the League of Ireland and Longford Town.

Stephen O'Brien:

I heard the news yesterday and I was shocked. I rang round all the Cup final lads to tell them all and we there was just disbelief. Christy was a gentleman, aside from being a very good coach. Nothing was ever too much for him and his is a very sad loss.

I knew of him as a player with Drogheda but didn't to know until the Longford thing kicked off when he was Stephen Kenny's assistant for three years. I became very close to him in over the years because he was essentially my goalkeeping coach . We'd train in Celbridge and the Phoenix Park and after Stephen and Christy would have taken the outfield players, Christy would take me for 20mins to go through things. And even then you could see that he had been a very good player.

Christy and Stephen were an amazing double act and Christy was a great foil for Stephen as assistant manager. They were polar opposites in many ways and I think that's what made them work so well. While Stephen could be quite intense at times, Christy was the one we'd go to to have a word if we weren't in the team or whatever.

It's amazing looking back that it was just the two of them. They had Fergus McNally as kitman but when it came to coaching, it was just them. When you look at clubs nowadays they all have staffs of four or five to deal with everything, but back then it was just the two of them.

When I moved into coaching I learned a lot from Christy, not just about football but about humility. He was a very humble man. Nothing you could ask of him was ever too much. After Stephen had left and before Martin Lawlor came in, I had asked Christy to come back and give us a dig out for a game against Bohemians and he did. That was a measure of the man that he would help out with anything he was asked.

His greatest legacy was a man, and those whose lives he touched will ever forget him.

Stephen Kenny:

I lived on the same street as Christy in Tallaght and he coached me when I was a teenager so I've known him all my life really. I also know his older brother Phil very well and I played under Phil and with Christy when I was with Bluebell before I went to St Pat's.

Christy was an amazing man and a very good friend. I learned a lot about management from him at Longford. He was thorough and efficient and paid every attention to detail. He was a very calming influence as I could be a bit knee-jerk at times and a bit brash so I had a lot to learn and he was great influence.

He still did match reports for me for Derry and he was in Dalymount last week watching Shamrock Rovers for me ahead of last night's game. He was a great man and players loved him. He was affectionate and had an inner warmth that everyone was drawn to.

Christy was a family man, with five daughters and as much as he loved football they always came first. He was my assistant for three years at Longford but he had to step after the Cup final in 2001. He didn't want to but work and family commitments came first for him. But he loved the game; and still played 5-asides every week – he was still a very fit guy. He will be sorely missed.

Vinny Perth:

I never knew Christy before I signed for Longford, but I knew his brother Phil very well from my time at Bluebell. But we became very close over the years and he came to my wedding so it's big loss.

As a coach – and I don't mean to be disrespectful – he was oldschool but he was excellent. He fell out with nobody and he was the one who'd pick you up if you were dropped. He just got on with it and left the hard decisions to Stephen, though he probably had a hand in them. He had a great sense of humour and contributed as much to our success as Stephen did.

We all loved him and there'd always be a bit of slagging going on at training because he had five daughters. I was at his house last night to sympathise and I met his daughters for the first time. And while it was a very sad occasion, we shared a few jokes about the old days and told them about the craic we had and I could just picture him looking down saying “don't be slagging my daughters again!”.

He always used to slag him about his lists. When we'd meet at the Foxhunter to go training we'd have a checklist, when we'd go for something to eat he'd have a separate list for that. He was very efficient which was great, but it gave us another way to have a laugh with him.

When he left he was never really replaced, with all respect to Derek O'Neill. I think the following season would have ended much differently if Christy had still been there. He came back to help for the game against Bohs and all the players were hoping he'd be offered the job on a full-time basis. That never happened unfortunately. Things sort of fell apart for the rest of that season but if Christy had been in charge until the end of that season instead of Martin Lawlor I don't think we'd have even been involved in a play-off.

Whenever I hear the National Anthem these days I will always think of Christy. Before the Cup final in 2001 he told us all to savour and enjoy the Anthem because it's a special moment in any players career to play in a Cup final and he always thought of his appearance in the '76 final for Drogheda whenever he heard it. But funnily enough, and all the older players will tell you this too, whenever I hear it I always think of him and not the day in Tolka Park. Anytime I heard it in a bar or a niteclub since he was always in my thoughts.