Tom Campbell

Thomas Campbell’s involvement in football lasted nearly 50 years as a player, referee, and administrator. He played his first game for Blackburn Rovers at Preston on 26 March 1881, and at the age of 15 years 317 days became the club’s youngest debutant and, in netting one of Rovers’ 16 goals, he also became their youngest ever goalscorer. Campbell never played for Blackburn in the Football League. After suffering a knee injury while on holiday he was forced to give up playing, and he took up refereeing.

Campbell’s early games were in charge of schoolboy matches in the Blackburn area, before moving up the ladder via the Lancashire Combination to the Football League where he made his début on the same day as another Olympic referee, John Howcroft. Campbell spent 16 years on the League list. The highlight of his career was in refereeing the 1908 FA Cup Final between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Newcastle United in front of nearly 75,000 spectators at Crystal Palace. Campbell also officiated in one match at that year’s London Olympics, but what a memorable match it was. He was in charge of the Denmark v France “A” game, which Denmark won 17-1, and it remains the highest scoring match in Olympic history. Only one other side has scored 17 goals in an Olympic qualifying match, China, against Maldives, in qualifying for the 1992 Games.

Campbell also took charge of the Wales and Scotland match in 1909 and Belgium v Netherlands in 1911 before retiring from refereeing and then dovetailing his Blackburn hardware business with his role as legislator and administrator with many football organisations. He was chairman of the Lancashire FA and Blackburn Referees Association, as well as serving on the committees of various local leagues in Lancashire, including the Lancashire Combination, of which he was a one-time chairman and president. Campbell served with the Lancashire Volunteer Regiment in World War I. He was keen cricketer, and played for East Lancashire CC in the Lancashire League, and as a youngster was the single and doubles tennis champion of Blackburn.