Cliff Almond was a former Australian professional

soccer player A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He was an international player for the

Australia national soccer team Australia national soccer team may refer to: * Australia men's national soccer team ** Australia men's national under-23 soccer team ** Australia men's national under-20 soccer team ** Australia men's national under-17 soccer team ** Australia ...

. His 24-year career included three spells at Cessnock, a brief stint at North Shore and played with Scottish club

Stirling Albion Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in Scottish League Two as a member of the ...

playing eight league games. He reportedly played 464 games at club level, with more than 400 appearances at Cessnock.

Early life

Cliff Almond was born in 1930. Growing up, he was a local colliery clerk until he changed to playing soccer.

Club career

1946–54: Cessnock and North Shore stint

Almond progressed from the Aberdare Rangers youth team in 1946, where he signed for Cessnock as a right winger. He first played for Cessnock at age 15 in the 1946 Gardiner Cup with big impressions from spectators. He made a brief stint at Sydney club North Shore for a year in 1947.

1954–69: English trials and third Cessnock spell

During mid-1954, Cliff Almond was set to travel to England to trial with English clubs

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and

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

. He then played for Scottish club

on 31 December 1954 and played eight league games in the 1954–55 season. He returned to Cessnock in 1955, where he moved to a defensive position and began his international career with the NSW state representative team and the

. Almond played his final match for Cessnock in the Northern NSW top division at age 38.

International career

Almond was selected as part of Australia's five-test match series against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and played three games as captain. He was also selected for the NSW state representative side against South Africa in August 1955.

Death

Cliff Almond died on 4 November 2018 at age 88 in his hometown Cessnock, Australia. His obituary was featured on 9 November 2018.

Career statistics

International

Honours

; Cessnock * Northern NSW Division One Premiership: 1954, 1955, 1956, 1960 * Northern NSW Division One Championship: 1960

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Almond, Cliff Australian men's soccer players Men's association football defenders Men's association football forwards Australia men's international soccer players People from Cessnock, New South Wales Sportsmen from New South Wales Soccer players from New South Wales