How Stefan Campbell changed himself as a player

WHEN the Armagh team takes to the field for Sunday’s Ulster Championship quarter-final against Derry at Celtic Park, the metamorphosis of Stefan Campbell will be complete.

For the first time in championship football, ‘Soupy’ will lead his county out and that is going to be a proud moment in the Clan na Gael man’s career. Especially if he can mark the occasion with victory.

Perhaps unfairly, the thought of Campbell having this honour when he joined the panel midway through the 2011 season appeared fanciful.

Since the Millennium and until his arrival on Paddy O’Rourke’s squad, Armagh had four championship captains – Kieran McGeeney, Paul McGrane, Stevie McDonnell and Ciaran McKeever.

That quartet shared the same traits – desire, hunger, grit, determination and the constant ability to be big players in big moments.

Again perhaps unfairly, the perception of Campbell differed from that when he arrived on the scene, and for some years after.

Like many who carried the ‘Soupy’ nickname at the Francis Street club, the player possessed immense talent. But he was viewed as a flair player, someone who could kick the best of scores when things were going well, but would maybe go absent when the hard yards needed to be put in.

A harsh assessment, maybe, but Campbell freely admits that he is a different player now than he was for the first few years of his county career.

“When I broke in, I broke in as an inside forward and probably at the time I wouldn’t have had the high work-rate that was required under Paddy O’Rourke,” Campbell said. “Ultimately that’s probably why I never made the breakthrough.

“I was happy enough to stay close to goals, moving laterally, passing men on when defenders were pulling out the field.

“It’s just something you learn from experience. Physically too, physically I have developed a lot over the years and I’m able to hold my own.

“The only question mark people basically had against me was my work-rate and that probably came with the flair, the perception that ‘he can only work with the ball.’”

That perception has long vanished and Campbell is a bona fide leader now, both in his approach to the game and what he does on the pitch.

Two men who have undoubtedly helped chisel those qualities are his managers – Kieran McGeeney with Armagh and Diarmaid Marsden with the Clans, with the latter guiding the Lurgan club to the Intermediate Championship this season.

“Growing up I idolised both of them, obviously I witnessed the only All-Ireland that Armagh won,” Campbell continued.

“Having Diarmaid close to home there, and being manager for the last two years…you talk to most county players and they’ll tell you they’re confident players but there is confidence and then there is actually believing that you can achieve something.

“Diarmaid the last two years there, he’s instilled serious belief in the club side. We’ve always had the talent in Francis Street, and we were always there or thereabouts, but I would say that was Diarmaid’s big thing. He instilled that belief in myself also.

“In terms of ‘Geezer’, we have become a lot closer over the last two or three years. I took a year out (2018) and I came back and I have just been real open and honest with him.

“I just put the head down and I haven’t taken anything for granted. It’s probably paid off for me and I’ve ended up captain.

“I have been around a long time and I suppose the real difference has been my mindset. Sometimes when you have that jersey for four or five or six years you can get a little bit complacent.

“The work-rate can’t drop though. ‘Geezer’ has instilled that in me, making sure I’m the hardest working player on the field without the ball.”

Two less obvious people have also had a huge impact on the player that will line out at Celtic Park this weekend.

Julie Davies has been Armagh’s high performance officer since October 2013, while Tony McAleavey is an online fitness coach from Newry. Throughout lockdown, Campbell worked closely with both to shred 6kg off the scales whilst much of his body fat was converted to muscle.

“There was no clarity, we didn’t know how long this (lockdown) was going to last for,” said the player.

“I was chatting to Julie at the start of lockdown and said I wanted to lose a few pound basically. I had an online coach that I was training with.

“Me and Julie would have spoken three or four days a week, I got a programme and then I worked with Tony McAleavey who would have specialised in fat loss. He’s somebody who I’d speak very highly of.

“It was just the diet. Sometimes you think you know it all but all it takes is somebody with a different perspective on nutrition. I just saw an opportunity, I expected lockdown to last two or three months and I used those few months to my advantage.

“It’s something I was looking to do for a long time but with our season it was hard to squeeze that in.

“I spoke to Tony and I just gave him a target that I wanted to hit, and I hit it that quick, and I was still obviously working with Julie, that we decided to go a wee bit further.

“Once Armagh got back I wanted to see the benefit. It’s alright losing the weight but the way I play I require a lot of strength. I felt really good when I came back. I put an extra couple of pounds on just in case there were a few boys throwing me about!”

And on Derry, no big proclamations, no big head after Armagh’s return to Division One. A simple message from Campbell.

“There aren’t two divisions between the teams.”

Truly spoken like a player tuned in, a player aware of the task at hand. A player who now wants to lead.

n.mccoy@gaeliclife.com