Red went back as Black stayed forward at Saints
Golden years
St Mirren are looking for a striker to help them move off the bottom of Scotland’s Premiership.
Manager Jim Goodwin is hoping to recruit a couple of quality players when the transfer window opens at the start of next month.
It’s still possible he might find someone within his current squad that can prosper in a new position.
However, it’s more common for forwards to move further back and cement a place in the team.
That happened for Bobby “Red” Campbell and he went on to play for St Mirren in more than 150 matches.
He broke into the Buddies’ side 60 years ago. Bobby recalled: “I started with Drumchapel Amateurs in Glasgow, but I had been around St Mirren for a couple of years and played in the reserves a few times as A.N. Other.
“I’d been down at Wolves for a while. They were the top dogs at the time, but I didn’t really fancy moving to Wolverhampton.
“I played with Sir Alex Ferguson at Drumchapel and we still exchange Christmas cards.
“St Mirren signed me as a forward, but I was moved to full-back and got into the first-team when there was an injury.
“After that, I was mostly a full-back and occasionally played in the middle of the park.
“I got a few games before St Mirren beat Aberdeen to win the Scottish Cup in 1959.
“The manager, Willie Reid, told me to stay sober in the week before the final in case something happened to Davie Lapsley or John Wilson.
“They both made it, so I was at Hampden Park as a spectator.”
It was the time when St Mirren had two Bobby Campbells, who became known as “Red” and “Black”.
Sadly, “Black” Campbell passed away earlier this year.
Bobby reckons the nicknames came about because he was Bobby and his team-mate was Robert.The R and B became Red and Black.
“As far as I was concerned, I was Red because I had red hair,” says Bobby. “As simple as that.”
“He stayed as a forward and went on to do well with Morton and Motherwell.”
Red’s chance to play for St Mirren in a Scottish Cup Final arrived in 1962.
He said: “We beat Celtic 3-1 in the semi-final and really deserved to win the game. There was a crowd of 128,000 for the Final against Rangers.
“They won 2-0 and I have to admit they were the better side.”
There was a reunion with the other Campbell when Bobby joined Morton in 1965.
He admitted: “I went there because they offered me good money.
“I think I got three or four thousand pounds and that seemed like a fortune at the time.
“But I only stayed for one season. They had good players at Morton, but it seemed like a twobob team to me after being with St Mirren.
“I went to South Africa to play for Durban City in 1966.
“Former Aberdeen and St Mirren forward, Willie Allan, was playing there and they really loved him.
“Northern Ireland winger Bobby Braithwaite then persuaded me to move to Bloemfontein.”
Bobby stayed overseas for quite some time before returning to the UK.
He explained: “My wife is Spanish. I met her in Majorca and we’ve been married for 53 years.
“We went to Spain after I gave up football but I found it hard to get a job.
“I can speak a bit of Spanish but I found it hard to understand when people spoke quickly.
“A former Scottish footballer, Johnny Grant, knew people in the pub trade and that led to me becoming a publican in London for 23 years.”
In 1993 he survived being shot while in a pub, the bullet entering at his collar bone and travelling 23 inches to hit his hip.
Now 79, Bobby lives in retirement in Greater London.