Tyreece Campbell exclusive: ‘I’m named after 2Pac, but my idol is Ademola Lookman’ | OneFootball

The name’s Campbell. Tyreece Anthony Tupac Shakur Campbell. Yes, genuinely.

The name’s Campbell. Tyreece Anthony Tupac Shakur Campbell. Yes, genuinely.

21-year-old Campbell is making a name for himself as the outstanding young talent in Charlton’s push for Championship promotion, but it has not gone unnoticed that his name is not entirely his own.

The Southwark-born attacker is named after the influential American rapper Tupac Shakur, who was shot dead in Nevada in 1996.

There is, it seems, something in the water at Charlton. His team-mate Karoy Anderson has ‘Zidane’ as a middle name — one which again needs very little by way of explanation.

Something in the water and quite possibly something in the air, too. Before last Saturday’s surprise 3-0 defeat away to lowly Peterborough, Charlton had lost just one of 13 matches, a run that has them fourth in League One, comfortably in the play-off places and with an eye even on automatic promotion.

Tyreece Campbell battles for the ball with Peterborough’s James Dornelly

Nigel French/PA Wire

Managed by the former Luton and Southampton boss Nathan Jones, the Addicks have been making their move, with Campbell front and (sort of) centre. The winger has been a revelation since switching to a free role on the left of a front-two in Jones’s 3-5-2 system. Only three League One players have created more ‘big chances’ than Campbell’s 11 this season.

When Jones came in last February, Campbell was not handed the game-time he’d wanted and cites it as a “difficult period”. Sources say he put in overtime at the club’s Sparrows Lane training ground last summer, testing the patience of the groundsmen when they wanted to lock up. Asked whether those extra hours were a target he had set himself, Campbell replies, curtly: “I would have done it anyway.”

It's paying off. “I’ve become stronger, more powerful. As a striker, I’m in more contact with a lot of centre-backs, so I have to hold it up.” Campbell, honest with himself, says there is still “room for improvement” where end-product is concerned.

Nathan Jones is a bit hard on me sometimes, but I don’t mind, because that’s best for me. I never used to respond well to that, but now I do.

Tyreece Campbell

“There’s a possibility [of automatic promotion]. We’ll take it game by game and see what we can do.”

When asked whether he believes Charlton will be in the Championship come August, he says: “Yeah, I do.”

Of the 4,890 appearances made in the EFL last season by players who had come through their club’s academy, 33 were Campbell’s.

“I had trials at Crystal Palace and Fulham. I didn’t get into either. I joined Charlton at Under-9s,” he says. He has been there ever since.

“It’s a good academy with good coaches, good people. The coaches are really patient with you. When I was younger, I was very emotional. If things didn’t go my way, I’d get very emotional — stroppy, crying — if my team lost or something. But they kept supporting me until I was in the U18s.”

Jones is Campbell’s fifth Charlton manager at senior level already, before the forward has even turned 22. Just as these have been turbulent years for Charlton, for Campbell’s emergence, too.

“I didn’t really play under Johnnie Jackson. Ben Garner was nice. I was injured at the time when he first came. He would still speak to me and tell me how he wanted to play me. He gave me a lot of advice, put a lot of trust in me, and gave me my first start. Dean Holden was good. Towards the end of that season, Corey [Blackett-Taylor] was injured, so I was able to play a lot of games back-to-back. He told me to express myself, do what I usually do, and that was helpful.

“I wasn’t really playing that much under Michael Appleton; I was a bit low on confidence, but he would still speak to me and reassure me in training.

Charlton are mounting a promotion push to the Championship under Nathan Jones

Nigel French/PA Wire

“After that, Nathan Jones. He’s been my favourite manager so far. He shows a lot of belief in me and gives me a lot of advice. He has good communication skills and asks me personal questions about my life and my family. He does that with everyone.

“He’s a bit hard on you sometimes, but I don’t mind, because that’s best for me. I never used to respond well to that, but now I do.”

After Campbell scored in a 3-0 win over Exeter City in February, he received a comment of congratulations on social media from none other than Ademola Lookman, the Charlton academy graduate now tearing it up for Atalanta and Nigeria. Lookman came 14th in the 2024 Ballon d’Or.

Campbell is a man of few words; I learn this early on in our interview in a Sparrows Lane room decked out with quotes from Mark Twain and Winston Churchill, who had no such shortage of things to say.

“I want to play in the Premier League, the Champions League, and for my country,” Campbell asserts.

He is under contract until 2026; so what is the next step in his career? “To play for Charlton in the Championship. I think I would do well.”