Birmingham City & Leicester City never got what Blackpool did with striker - Tangerines hit the jackpot | OneFootball

DJ Campbell found his home at Blackpool after expensive moves elsewhere

DJ Campbell's professional career reads like a cautionary tale of missed opportunities and unfulfilled potential at some clubs, contrasted with a fairytale at others.

While Birmingham City and Leicester City invested significant sums in the striker during his prime years, it was Blackpool who ultimately extracted the best from Campbell, turning a modest investment into Premier League gold.

Campbell's circuitous route to the top flight began in non-league football with Yeading, where he scored 83 goals in 109 appearances.

This prolific form earned him a move to Brentford in 2005, but it was his FA Cup heroics against Sunderland that caught Birmingham's attention, prompting a transfer in January 2006.

Birmingham City and Leicester City's expensive experiments with DJ Campbell

At Birmingham, Campbell's impact was minimal despite the club's faith in his potential.

Arriving during a relegation season, he managed just 11 appearances without finding the net as the Blues dropped into the Championship.

Though he contributed goals the following season to help secure promotion back to the Premier League, his overall Blues return of nine goals across 43 league starts suggested a player struggling to adapt to the demands of top flight football.

Leicester City's pursuit proved even more costly. The Foxes paid an initial £1.6 million for Campbell's services in July 2007, with the fee potentially rising to £2.1 million.

Ian Holloway, then writing a column for BBC Sport, described the transfer as "absolute madness", noting that Campbell had "only played in Birmingham City's reserves and Brentford's first team".

Holloway's assessment proved prescient. Campbell managed just four league goals in 32 appearances as Leicester suffered relegation to League One.

A three-month injury lay-off further disrupted his progress, and by 2009, he was struggling to secure a regular first-team place, eventually being stripped of his squad number.

Campbell's transformation began with his first loan spell at Blackpool in January 2009. Under Tony Parkes and Steve Thompson's guidance, he rediscovered his scoring touch, netting nine goals in 20 appearances to help the Seasiders avoid relegation.

More importantly, he found an environment where his attributes were appreciated and maximised.

His second loan spell in February 2010, ironically under Holloway's management, proved even more significant. Initially struggling, Campbell exploded into form during the final stretch of the season, scoring six goals in his last six league games and becoming instrumental in Blackpool's unlikely play-off push.

The pinnacle came in the Championship play-off semi-final second leg against Nottingham Forest. With the Tangerines trailing 3-2 on aggregate, Campbell scored a stunning hat-trick in 25 minutes to secure a 6-4 aggregate victory and a Wembley final appearance.

His overall contribution of 11 goals in 18 appearances during that second loan spell demonstrated the player Birmingham and Leicester had failed to unlock.

Blackpool's permanent acquisition of Campbell in August 2010 represented exceptional value. In the Premier League, he delivered his career-best campaign, scoring 13 goals in the top flight. It was more than he had managed in his entire spells at Birmingham and Leicester combined.

His goals included memorable strikes against Newcastle United, Liverpool, and Manchester United, helping Blackpool punch above their weight for much of the season.

Though the Tangerines were ultimately relegated, Campbell's 13 Premier League goals placed him joint-sixth in the division's scoring charts, ahead of Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba.

The contrast is stark: across 57 appearances for Birmingham and Leicester, Campbell scored 16 goals. In 69 appearances for Blackpool across three spells, he netted 33 times.

While his previous clubs saw him as a gamble that didn't pay off, Blackpool recognised his qualities and built their attacking play around maximising his strengths.

Campbell's Blackpool story demonstrates that sometimes the right environment matters more than the size of the transfer fee or the prestige of the club.