Kenneth Charles Armstrong (31 January 1959 – 10 July 2022) was an English professional

footballer 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

centre half In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Playing career

Of Scottish parentage, Armstrong was born in

Bridgnorth Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the 2011 Census was 12,079. History B ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

, while his father was working in the area. Spotted while playing for Beith Juniors, he made 88 appearances and scored three goals in the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

playing for

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

, and made 94 appearances, scoring twice, in the English

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

playing for

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

and

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

. He was part of the Southampton squad that finished second to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in the 1983–84 season. He signed for

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

in February 1986 for a fee of £10,000, broke his ankle in his first training session, and nine months later, still only 27 years of age, retired from football because of the injury without ever playing for the club.

Later life

After football, Armstrong became a

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

er and held managerial position in the

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

. He was a business manager with Monklands and Bellshill Hospital NHS Trust from 1993 before moving in 1996 to The Freeman Group of Hospitals NHS Trust which became the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust in 1998 where he worked as a general manager, until 1999 when he moved to

NHS Tayside NHS Tayside is an NHS board which forms one of the fourteen regions of NHS Scotland. It provides healthcare services in Angus, the City of Dundee and Perth and Kinross. NHS Tayside is headquartered at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee; one of the lar ...

as director of operations. Armstrong died in the early hours of 10 July 2022, at the age of 63.

Honours

Southampton *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

runners-up: 1983–84

Notes

References

External links

Birmingham City F.C. match programme article
reproduced on Beith Juniors F.C. website {{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Ken 1959 births 2022 deaths People from Bridgnorth English footballers Association football central defenders Beith Juniors F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Scottish Football League players English Football League players English people of Scottish descent