John Campbell remembers John Ferguson

John Ferguson’s funeral is scheduled for Friday in Canada, and Hall of Fame driver John Campbell told harnessracing.com he has fond memories of the former professional hockey player who gained fame in the harness sport as a breeder, owner and racetrack executive.

Campbell has driven three Little Brown Jug winners, but what may have been forgotten is that he was also the trainer of Merger, who he won his first pacing classic with in 1982. Merger was bred by Ferguson, and it was because of that pacer the two Hall of Famers in their respective sports first became acquainted—although Campbell says he knew greatly of the hockey player’s reputation on the ice.

“John bred Merger and that was certainly a special horse for me,” remembered Campbell. “I got to know ‘Fergie’ and became friends with him after we bought Merger. You just realize what a fine man he was. He was such a fun guy to be around and you always looked forward to when you could spend time with him.”

Growing up in London, Ont., Campbell was a huge Toronto Maple Leaf fan, which in turn made him a huge Montreal Canadian hater—the team Ferguson played for. Campbell noted with a laugh the irony of becoming friends with an athlete who starred for the Maple Leaf’s arch rival.

“I knew of John when I was a kid playing hockey and being a big hockey fan,” said Campbell. “I was a big Toronto Maple Leaf fan and he played for Montreal, and it was a huge rivalry for everybody in Canada. You were either a Toronto or a Montreal fan. And being a Toronto fan, you despised anybody who played for Montreal.

“Fergie was the toughest guy in the league by far for a period of time. I remember one time there was a brawl between Montreal and Toronto, and Fergie challenged the whole Toronto bench, and there wasn’t one guy who even put his pinkie up. That was so demoralizing for me. But as you get older and understand, nobody wanted to go out there and get a beating. That’s what that amounted to.

“He was a real throw-back type of hockey player and a character guy. I have nothing but fond memories for John Ferguson.”

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