Gerard "Gerry" Joseph Armstrong (born 23 May 1954 in Fintona) is a Northern Irish former footballer. He spent the majority of his career in England, as well as having a spell in Spain. He represented the Northern Ireland national football team and won acclaim at the 1982 FIFA World Cup, where he was the highest scoring British player. He presently works as a football analyst.

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Domestic career

Armstrong, who supported English club Leeds United as a boy,^[3] began his career in Northern Ireland with St Paul's Swifts.^[4] He only started to play soccer as a teenager when serving a ban from Gaelic football, and feels that his late start in the game was a significant disadvantage.^[5]

He subsequently moved on to play for Cromac Albion and Bangor.^[4]

In November 1975 Armstrong moved to England, signing with Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £25,000.^[4] He made his Spurs debut in a 3–1 defeat at Ipswich Town on 21 August 1976, aged 22. Spurs were relegated from the First Division at the end of the 1976–77 season, with Armstrong scoring three goals in 21 appearances for the club. The following season the club was promoted, with Armstrong scoring two in 19 appearances.

In November 1980 he was signed by Second Division side Watford for £250,000.^[4] Watford were promoted to the First Division in the 1981–82 season, and Armstrong scored the club's first ever goal in the top flight.^[4]

In August 1983 he moved to Spain with RCD Mallorca for £200,000.^[4] Following the goal he scored against Spain in the 1982 World Cup, he was the subject of abuse from opposition fans.

Armstrong returned to England in August 1985, signing for West Bromwich Albion on a free transfer.^[4] In January 1986 he was loaned to Chesterfield, whom he joined permanently in March 1986.^[4] He signed for Brighton & Hove Albion on a free transfer in August 1986.^[4] In January 1987 he was loaned to Millwall.^[4]

By 1988 Armstrong had become a player-coach at Brighton, but left the club after an altercation with a fan.^[4] In February 1989 he took up the same position at Crawley Town, before leaving in March 1990 after another confrontation with a fan.^[4] He joined Glenavon as a player the same month, and by April 1990 he was also playing midweek games for Bromley.^[4]

[edit] International career

In April 1976, during his first season in English football, Armstrong made his debut for the Northern Ireland national team. He played alongside George Best in a 5–0 friendly defeat to West Germany.

Six years later, Armstrong was selected for the Northern Ireland squad for the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain. After a 0–0 draw in their opening match against Yugoslavia, Armstrong scored the opening goal in the 1–1 draw against Honduras. With Northern Ireland requiring a win to progress to the next stage, Armstrong scored a 47th minute goal against hosts Spain in Valencia. Northern Ireland even had Mal Donaghy sent off, but held on to win 1–0.

In the next stage, also a group round, they could only manage a draw in their two matches, with Armstrong scoring in the 4–1 loss to France.

For his exploits in Spain, Armstrong won a golden boot award for being the best British player in the competition - England and Scotland also took part. Armstrong was 4th top scorer at the tournament behind Paolo Rossi, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Zico.

Armstrong played for Northern Ireland at the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico but did not score during the tournament. Northern Ireland drew with Algeria before a loss to Spain. A 3–0 defeat to Brazil represented the end of Armstrong's international career.

[edit] Coaching

In November 1991 Armstrong was appointed manager of non-league club Worthing,^[4] leading them to promotion in 1993. In 1994 he became assistant manager of the Northern Ireland national team, under his former national team-mate Bryan Hamilton.^[4] In 1995 he left Worthing, and in March 1996 he has been appointed a Surrey FA youth coach.^[4]

In 2004 he reprised his role as Northern Ireland assistant manager under Lawrie Sanchez, having been considered for the top job at the time.^{[citation needed]} He left the position in August 2006 to concentrate on other commitments, as it was revealed that he and his wife Debby were expecting a child.^[7]

[edit] Football media

Armstrong had combined his coaching positions with employment in football journalism - in television, in radio and in print. He works as a co-commentator for Sky Sports' coverage of La Liga and also works as an analyst for the English Premier League coverage of ESPN Star Sports ^[8]. He is an outspoken critic of the amount of diving in the modern game.^[9]

He covered the FIFA World Cup 2006 for Asia-based ESPN Star Sports with anchor Harsha Bhogle and fellow expert commentators Steve McMahon & Noel Da Lima Leitao.

In September 2006, Armstrong became co-commentator for BBC Northern Ireland's TV coverage of Northern Ireland's Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, alongside Jackie Fullerton.

[edit] External links

• Gerry Armstrong FIFA competition record
• Photographs and Statistics at sporting-heroes.net
• Armstrong's personal site.

[edit] Notes

v • d • e Northern Ireland squad – 1982 FIFA World Cup 1 Jennings • 2 J. Nicholl • 3 Donaghy • 4 McCreery • 5 C. Nicholl • 6 J. O'Neill • 7 Brotherston • 8 M. O'Neill • 9 Armstrong • 10 McIlroy • 11 Hamilton • 12 McClelland • 13 Nelson • 14 Cassidy • 15 Finney • 16 Whiteside • 17 Platt • 18 Jameson • 19 Healy • 20 Cleary • 21 Campbell • 22 Dunlop • Coach: Bingham

v • d • e Northern Ireland squad – 1986 FIFA World Cup 1 Jennings • 2 Nicholl • 3 Donaghy • 4 O'Neill • 5 McDonald • 6 McCreery • 7 Penney • 8 McIlroy • 9 Quinn • 10 Whiteside • 11 Stewart • 12 Platt • 13 Hughes • 14 Armstrong • 15 Worthington • 16 Ramsey • 17 Clarke • 18 McClelland • 19 Hamilton • 20 McNally • 21 Campbell • 22 Caughey • Coach: Bingham