Ivan Campo reminisces about his Bolton Wanderers spell

Bolton Wanderers legend Ivan Campo took a trip down memory lane this week in an interview with Spanish publication Marca.

The cult hero, who spent six years with Wanderers after joining the club from Real Madrid, was interviewed as part of a feature looking back at teams that may have been forgotten.

“I have very good memories of those years, we were a family club who were suddenly playing the UEFA Cup, competing against Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and signing household names,” Campo told Marca.

“Allardyce liked to sign players who were not very expensive and with my arrival, Okocha’s and Djorkaeff’s, he began to build ‘his’ team.

“Then came Salva, [Fernando] Hierro, [Hidetoshi] Nakata, [Vincent] Candela, Javi Moreno... Sensational footballers who helped Bolton start to earn some respect.

“In that team, anyone could play well, the dressing room didn’t understand names, the star was the team.”

Campo was also full of praise for his Spanish compatriot Fernando Hierro, who of course spent his last season of professional football with Wanderers before retiring in 2005.

“Fernando gave us that quality, that temperance and that competitiveness that has made him one of the best.”

“He played at a spectacular level. I told him: ‘Don’t retire’. Physically he was fine, he could have gone on for another one or two years.”

Campo held special praise for the Wanderers fans, stating:

“One day, 8,000 people went to Blackburn!

“In Europe, I remember that in 2007/08 we beat Atletico in the last 16 after a spectacular tie, beating a team of that calibre put Bolton on the map.”

“It was a gift for everyone, especially the very special fans who followed the team everywhere we went.”

You can read the full feature and interview with Campo by clicking here.