Ken Armstrong (footballer, born 1924)

Born in Bradford, Armstrong served in the RAF during the Second World War. He was a versatile, tough-tackling and energetic midfielder who played mainly for Chelsea, joining the club from Bradford Rovers in 1946 for a fee of 100 guineas. Armstrong was a key member of Ted Drake's 1954–55 Championship-winning Chelsea side, making 39 appearances that season. He played in over 400 games (including a then-club record 362 league games) for the West London club and scored 30 goals.

Armstrong had a testimonial staged by Chelsea for their long-serving player and a crowd of 14,000 at Stamford Bridge were on hand to see newly-promoted Leicester City beaten 2-1 in May 1957.[1]

After leaving Chelsea in 1957, Armstrong emigrated to Gisborne, New Zealand and continued to play football there for the Eastern Union club. In early 1958, while in Gisborne, Armstrong was offered a playing contract at Melbourne Hakoah in Australia, which he declined to continue on as the New Zealand Director of Coaching.[2] Later in 1958, while still playing for Eastern Union, Armstrong was selected in the Auckland regional representative side to play touring Israeli club Maccabi Haifa[3] Armstrong then moved to Auckland, signing for North Shore United and later Eastern Suburbs, winning four Chatham Cups. He then took over as manager at Mount Wellington, winning two league titles (in 1972 and 1974) and another Chatham Cup, in 1973. He played his last game in 1971, aged almost 47. Armstrong was later appointed chief coach of the New Zealand national side.

Armstrong was a member of the England national team's 1954 FIFA World Cup squad[4] but did not travel to Switzerland, remaining in England as one of five players on reserve status.[5] He won a solitary England cap, against Scotland at Wembley in England's famous 7–2 win in the British Home Championship in April 1955.[6]

After emigrating to New Zealand in 1957, Armstrong played a significant part in developing football in his adopted country and played 13 times for the national side,[6] including nine A-internationals[7] in which he scored three goals.[8]

Armstrong played 59 first class representative matches in New Zealand and scored 18 goals. He played 16 matches in total for New Zealand, 13 against international opposition, and 3 against local sides. Armstrong played two matches for the North Island, one New Zealand trial match, three matches for Poverty Bay (scoring 3 goals), two matches for Waikato/Poverty Bay (scoring 2 goals), and thirty-five matches for Auckland (scoring 12 goals). His final representative appearance was at centre-forward for Auckland against Northern New South Wales in 1965. Armstrong continued playing in the Northern League for North Shore United AFC until 1969.[9]

In 1991, he was posthumously inducted into the New Zealand Soccer Media Association Hall of Fame.[10]

Armstrong was an initial proponent of a National League for New Zealand football. In 1959, as New Zealand Director of Coaching and captain of the national side, he urged the NZFA to investigate the implementation of a national club competition, and to begin contracting top players across the country to limit the player drain to Australia.[11]

Armstrong managed National League side Mount Wellington, and was player manager of the New Zealand national soccer team from 1958 to 1964, taking charge of 32 games in that period, winning 11, losing 19 and drawing two.[12] In 1980, he took charge of the New Zealand women's national soccer team.[13]

Armstrong's family is well represented in international football. His sons Ron and Brian also represented the All Whites, while Ron's granddaughter Bridgette Armstrong represented New Zealand at senior level and at the 2008 FIFA U-17 and FIFA U-20 Women's World Cups.[14]

Armstrong died in 1984 and his ashes were scattered at Stamford Bridge.[15]

• Ken Armstrong at Englandstats.com