Sol Campbell declares he deserves knighthood

He also claimed he should be considered one of the 'sporting greats of our country'.

The powerhouse defender was a key member of the "Invincibles" side who went unbeaten as they won the Premier League in 2004, and made 73 appearances for the Three Lions.

Campbell was one of only a handful of players to transfer between North London rivals, moving from Tottenham Hotspur to Arsenal on a free transfer in 2001.

He played at White Hart Lane for nine years and was captain of the club, guiding them to a League Cup victory over Leicester in the 1999 final.

In his five years and 195 appearances at Arsenal, Campbell won two Premier League winners medals and three FA Cup winners medals.

Now, twelve years after he retired from football, the 49-year-old has claimed that he should be spoken about as 'one of the sporting greats of our country' and deserves a knighthood.

In an interview with GB News, Campbell expressed his frustration at not yet being included in the King's Honours List.

"I think for me when it comes to honours and lists, if it comes to a popularity contest there's a lot of people who are unpopular who have Sirs, OBEs and MBEs," the ex-England international said.

"If you look at what I've done and what I've gone through playing football and the consistency over the course of two decades, under severe pressure in a football sense, I'm up with some of the sporting greats of our country.

"I'm a proud Englishman and I've done a lot for football, on and off the field, and for racism."

He continued: "Also I'm not even talking about the records I've acquired playing football for my country and domestically, for Tottenham and Arsenal - for me, I'm up with the rest for all of them.

"I don't know why I'm overlooked on these kind of occasions," he said.

"I'm not the only sporting great that has been overlooked but for me I'm seeing all these other people get these gongs and these accolades and it's special - for me it would be an honour to have a Sir, OBE or MBE for the sport I've committed to over two decades."

Campbell would join only a handful of past footballing greats who have been bestowed with the honour.

Among those illustrious few are Trevor Brooking, Matt Busby, Bobby Charlton, Alex Ferguson, Tom Finney, Geoff Hurst, Stanley Matthews, Alf Ramsey, Bobby Robson, and Walter Winterbottom.

There are 18 active players who currently hold honours. Those include Marcus Rashford, Harry Kane, Mary Earps, Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling.