I’m an ex-Premier League star, I played in a country where fans were so passionate we got RATINGS for training sessions

KEVIN CAMPBELL has revealed he was given ratings for training sessions whilst playing for Trabzonspor.

The ex-Premier League star spent a season in Turkey, where he saw a different level of passion amongst the supporters.

Kevin Campbell was given ratings in training during his time at Trabzonspor

Campbell joined Trabzonspor from Nottingham Forest in 1998 and went on to score five goals in 18 appearances for the club.

Recalling his time in Turkey, he told Ladbrokes Fanzone, via the Daily Star: “You’d get marked for your performances in training, in five-a-side games, and they’d end up in the newspaper; that’s how close the press were to everything.

“If we played any practice games, you’d get marked; there’d be a double-page spread on the game.‌

“In the papers, the team got five pages a day! So they had to fill them with something! If you did great in a five-a-side game, there’d be this massive headline in the paper the next day!

“It’s amazing, the coverage out there… It’s amazing. It was always funny to me because I’d never seen anything like it.

“To those guys out there, it was normal to make the headlines after a good training session.”

During Campbell’s season with the club, Trabzonspor finished fourth in the Turkish Super Lig and were knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Wisla Krakow.

However, he would leave on loan before the end of the campaign, joining Everton before making the move permanent in the summer.

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During his career, the striker scored 83 goals in 325 Premier League appearances across spells with Arsenal, West Brom, Nottingham Forest and the Toffees.

He also won the Cup Winners’ Cup and Community Shield with Arsenal.