Campbell proud to turn Arbroath into Scotland’s best part-time team
THE rise of Arbroath has been one of the most remarkable stories in Scottish football over the last few years. In the space of four seasons, Dick Campbell has dragged the Angus club from League Two to the Championship, securing two titles in that time.
Many tipped the Red Lichties to go straight back down to League One this season and Campbell and his charges have made the naysayers look very foolish indeed. Not only have the part-time club comfortably survived this season, finishing the campaign in fifth, but had the campaign continued, they could have even ended up in the playoffs and gained a shot at a place in the Premiership. In the end, they finished four points behind Ayr United in fourth with a game in hand – but Campbell is insistent that he had far simpler targets to attain this year.
“We had completed both the goals that we set at the start of the season,” he explained. “First, to stay in the league. And the second one – it’s a personal one really – was to try and become the best part-time team in Scotland.
“That’s no disrespect to Alloa whatsoever but we achieved these goals. It could have went either way to be honest. It didn’t make any difference to us, closing the season when they did, because we were never going to get into relegation trouble in the end.
“It was disappointing not to get the opportunity to get into the play-offs but I don’t get in front of myself. The play-offs had nothing at all to do with Arbroath, we didn’t get too far in front of ourselves. The problem we have now is to achieve that again. I think we’ve equalled the highest-ever position that Arbroath has achieved.”
As a manager with a vast amount of experience in the Scottish game, it is perhaps a surprise that Campbell finds himself working part-time. But the former Dunfermline manager insists that is part of the joy of working at a club like Arbroath; getting the opportunity to go up against full-time sides and leaving them with a bloody nose.
“The important thing for me is that I’m happy where I am, I’m enthusiastic,” he said. “We’ve got targets to reach all the time. What we achieved last season – out of all the 10 promotions we’ve won – last year is up there amongst them all because there were 10 teams in the league and eight of them are full-time.
“There has always been that situation in Scotland [of parttime teams playing against full-time clubs]. That makes it very interesting for me. I like that challenge; going to new grounds, new teams, new expectation levels. I like competing against the big boys. I hope we can repeat what we did this year – I hope it gets recognised, finishing fifth in a full-time league. It’s a phenomenal season to have.”
A crucial weapon in Arbroath’s arsenal is, of course, their home stadium. Situated right on the coast of the North Sea, Gayfield is a somewhat unique venue for a professional football match.
“You have to adapt to it and I think we have,” he said. “It’s always a windy day at Gayfield – Jesus Christ, it’s been like that forever! We’re the closest club to the sea in Britain. You can see the waves splashing up the back of the f ***** g goals!
“But we’ve adapted to playing with that. There is a way of playing with the wind and against it. Arbroath don’t play a defensive game though – we go and have a go at people.”