In the quieter hours after the final whistle, when the adrenaline of a Premier League afternoon was slow to leave him, Fraizer Campbell turned to snus in search of calm. The former Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur striker has now described how that habit developed into a serious nicotine addiction which left him living with persistent fatigue.
Campbell, 39, first encountered the tobacco-based nicotine product during his three years at Crystal Palace, where he played from 2014 to 2017. A team-mate offered him snus, which is placed between the upper lip and gum line, and he initially used it after matches to settle down. “I felt relaxed, and it calmed me enormously,” Campbell said. “It is difficult to switch off after a game.”
What began as an occasional post-match routine gradually spread into the working week. Campbell said he started using snus before training sessions and recognised that he had become dependent on it. He avoided taking it before games, fearing that its relaxing effect might leave him too subdued for competition, but said he could use one or two portions in the morning and continue during the following hours at the training ground.
The forward, whose career also took in Hull City, Sunderland and Cardiff City, said the problem became markedly worse once he had retired. During his playing days, he did not fully appreciate the harmful side of the habit, but more free time after football increased his consumption.
Campbell has now been sober for six months after overcoming the addiction. He linked his decision to quit to the constant tiredness he had been experiencing, bringing an end to a dependency that began in the dressing-room orbit of south London and followed him beyond his playing career.
