Christopher Peter Armstrong (born 19 June 1971) is an English former

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, rugb ...

who played professionally as a striker from 1989 to 2005. He notably played in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

for

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

. He grew up in North Wales, where he played in the amateur game for Llay Welfare before making his professional debut for

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

in 1989. After one season at

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

, he made a £1 million transfer to

of the

in 1992. In March 1995, he became the first Premier League player to receive a doping ban, testing positive for

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...

. He joined

that June for a club record £4.5 million and was part of their team that won the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

. After a one-game spell at

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pik ...

, he returned to Wrexham for the remainder of his career. Armstrong was tracked by the international teams of

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

and the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

but rejected all three. He earned one

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for

England B England B is a secondary football team run occasionally as support for the England national football team. At times they have played other nations' full teams; they have also played matches against 'B' teams from other football associations. S ...

in 1994 and was called up to the senior side in March 1999 but did not play.

Club career

Early career

Armstrong was born in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

to an Irish father and Nigerian mother, and moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

at age three. He was raised by foster parents in Wales, where he began playing as an amateur

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

in local leagues, before leaving school and giving up on football aged 16. A friend reintroduced him to the game by bringing him to Llay Welfare in the Welsh National League, while he packed burgers during the day for £30 a week. He gained the attention of local professional club

. At Wrexham, Armstrong made his professional debut as a teenager during the

1989–90 Football League The 1989– 90 season was the 91st completed season of The Football League. Liverpool overhauled a greatly improved Aston Villa side to win their 18th league championship trophy and their fifth major trophy in as many seasons under Kenny Dalg ...

season in the old Fourth Division, and managed to score three times through the course of the season. In his two-year spell at the club, he went on to play 60 games, scoring 13 times. He took part in the

1990–91 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1990–91 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup was won by Manchester United against Barcelona. The victory for United was made significant as it was the season English clubs returned to European football, after completing a five-year ban as ...

, where he scored the only goal of the first round tie against Denmark's

Lyngby Kongens Lyngby (, Danish for "the King's Heather Town"; short form Lyngby) is the seat and commercial centre of Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Lyngby Hovedgade is a busy shopping street and the site ...

before elimination by eventual champions

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

in the second round. He moved to

Bruce Rioch Bruce David Rioch (; born 6 September 1947) is a football manager and former player for the Scotland national team. His last managerial post was at AaB in the Danish Superliga in 2008. As a player, he made more than 550 appearances in the Fo ...

for £50,000 in August 1991.

Crystal Palace

After one season with Millwall, Armstrong joined

Steve Coppell Stephen James Coppell (born 9 July 1955) is an English professional football manager and former player. As a player, he was a highly regarded right winger known for his speed and work rate. He won domestic honours with Manchester United and re ...

's Crystal Palace for £1 million in 1992, ahead of the inaugural season of the

. He found a home at

Selhurst Park Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst in the London Borough of Croydon which is the home ground of Premier League side Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted international fo ...

, where he was the club's top-scorer with 23 league goals in his first campaign. In January 1995,

Kevin Keegan Joseph Kevin Keegan (born 14 February 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. A forward, he played for several professional clubs from 1968 to 1984. Having begun his career at Scunthorpe United, he moved to Liverpool in 1971 a ...

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 En ...

bid £4.7 million to sign Armstrong, but Palace rejected the offer. In March 1995, Armstrong tested positive for

, becoming the first Premier League player to fail a drug test, and was banned for four matches. ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' sports writer Glenn Moore criticised The FA for punishing Armstrong despite not taking action against

Dennis Wise Dennis Frank Wise (born 16 December 1966) is an English former professional football player and manager who played as a central midfielder. He is the president of Serie B side Como 1907. He is best known for having spent the majority of his ca ...

and

Vinnie Jones Vincent Peter Jones (born 5 January 1965) is a British actor, presenter, and former professional footballer. Jones played professionally as a defensive midfielder from 1984 to 1999, notably for Wimbledon, Leeds United, Sheffield United, Chels ...

for recent violent offences, adding that cannabis was extremely unlikely to have aided his performance. Armstrong finished the season on 18 goals, not enough to save the Eagles from relegation. His 23 Premier League goals for Palace were the club record until

Wilfried Zaha Dazet Wilfried Armel Zaha (born 10 November 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Crystal Palace and the Ivory Coast national team. Zaha advanced into the Crystal Palace first team from their academy, in 2010. In ...

surpassed him in August 2018.

Tottenham Hotspur

After interest from

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

holders Everton, Armstrong joined

for a fee of £4.5 million in June 1995, replacing

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

-bound

Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann (, born 30 July 1964) is a German professional football manager and former player. Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe including VfB Stuttgart, Inter Milan, Monaco, Tottenham Hotspur, and Bayern Munich. He ...

. With the funds coming from a new kit deal and the sales of Klinsmann, Gica Popescu and

Ilie Dumitrescu Ilie Dumitrescu (; born 6 January 1969) is a Romanian football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a winger who notably played in the Premier League with Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United, and in La Liga with S ...

, this made him both Tottenham's most expensive signing, until

Les Ferdinand Leslie Ferdinand MBE (born 8 December 1966) is an English football coach, former professional footballer and television pundit, who is currently the director of football at Queens Park Rangers. A striker, his playing career included notable sp ...

for £6 million in 1997. It was also Palace's most expensive sale, until

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a De ...

joined Everton for £8.6 million in 2006. Armstrong made his Spurs debut on 19 August in a 1–1 draw at

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, and scored his first goals in the form of a brace on 20 September in a 4–0 win over Chester City in the second round of the League Cup. He totalled 22 goals (15 league) in his first season, including the winner in the

North London derby The North London derby is the meeting of the association football clubs Arsenal F.C. and Tottenham Hotspur F.C., both of which are based in North London, England. Fans of both clubs consider the other to be their main rivals, and the derby is co ...

against Arsenal on 18 November at

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater it had a capacity of 36,284 before demolition. ...

. At the start of the season, he was criticised by tabloids for a slow start, and was seen as an inadequate replacement for Klinsmann and inferior to Arsenal's new striker

Dennis Bergkamp Dennis Nicolaas Maria Bergkamp (; born 10 May 1969) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. Originally a wide midfielder, Bergkamp was moved to main striker and then to second striker, where he remained throughout his playin ...

. However, he built up a prolific partnership with

Teddy Sheringham Edward Paul "Teddy" Sheringham, MBE (born 2 April 1966) is an English football manager and former player. He played as a forward, mostly as a second striker, in a 24-year professional career. Sheringham began his career at Millwall, where ...

; Armstrong's two goals in a 4–1 win over

on 1 January 1996 brought their combined total to 23 goals. On 28 December 1998, Armstrong scored a late hat-trick in a 4–1 home win over Everton, and when he was substituted at the end of the game his teammate

David Ginola David Ginola-Ceze (born 25 January 1967) is a French former professional footballer who has also worked as an actor, model and football pundit. A former forward, Ginola played football for ten seasons in France before moving from Paris Saint-G ...

got in his way to bow down to him. He scored five times in their League Cup run that season, including two in a 3–1 win over Manchester United in the quarter-finals, but was unused in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

at Wembley Stadium which Spurs won over

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. Armstrong's 2000–01 season was disrupted by frequent groin injuries. Two ankle operations meant he missed the entirety of the following season.

Final years

On 28 August 2002, Armstrong signed for

in a deal that would see him earn a low wage until his first-team debut, estimated at two months away due to fitness. His only appearance came on 2 October, in a 1–0 home defeat to Bury in the second round of the League Cup, lasting just 53 minutes before being substituted for

Henrik Pedersen Henrik Pedersen (born 10 June 1975) is a retired Danish footballer who played as a striker for Silkeborg IF, Bolton Wanderers and Hull City. He played three games for the Danish national team. Career Silkeborg Born in Kjellerup, Denmark, Pe ...

. Armstrong returned to Wrexham aged 32 on 4 July 2003, signing a three-year deal ahead of their return to the Second Division.

International career

Towards the start of his professional career, Armstrong was tracked by

, and was called up by

ahead of the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

, but turned them down in hope of representing England.

managers

Jack Charlton John Charlton (8 May 193510 July 2020) was an English footballer and manager who played as a defender. He was part of the England national team that won the 1966 World Cup and managed the Republic of Ireland national team from 1986 to 199 ...

and

Mick McCarthy Michael Joseph McCarthy (born 7 February 1959) is a professional football manager, pundit, and former player. He was last in charge of EFL Championship club Cardiff City. McCarthy began his playing career at Barnsley in 1977, and he later had ...

also tried to enlist Armstrong in the late 1990s; he later revealed that his Tottenham contract said that he could only play for England as to avoid limits on foreign players in European fixtures. Armstrong played his only international match on 10 May 1994, a 3–2 friendly win for

over Northern Ireland at Hillsborough. He came on as a 65th-minute substitute for

Chris Sutton Christopher Roy Sutton (born 10 March 1973) is an English former professional football player and manager. He later became a pundit and commentator for BT Sport, regularly working on their coverage of Scottish football. He is now also a pundit ...

. He received a call up to the

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

squad by

to play

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

in March 1999, but was ultimately never capped for the senior side.

Personal life

In July 2016, Armstrong was arrested for possession of cannabis,

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Am ...

and ecstasy after a raid in West Kensington. He pleaded guilty to possession of Class A and Class B drugs at Hammersmith Magistrates' Court and was fined £375. He denied having a drug problem. In July 2021, Armstrong caused £2,000 of criminal damage and assaulted staff at a

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues an ...

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...

. The staff had refused to open for him to buy cigarettes. He admitted to the offences at

Westminster Magistrates' Court Westminster Magistrates' Court is a magistrates' court at 181 Marylebone Road, London. The Chief Magistrate of England and Wales, who is the Senior District Judge of England and Wales, sits at the court, and all extradition and terrorism-rela ...

the following January. In March, he received an 18-month community order and treatment for his drug and alcohol problems, as well as court costs of £180.

Honours

;Crystal Palace * First Division: 1993–94 ;Tottenham Hotspur *

: 1998–99

Career statistics

:Source:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Chris 1971 births Association football forwards Black British sportspeople Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Doping cases in association football English footballers English people convicted of assault English people convicted of drug offences English people of Irish descent English sportspeople of Nigerian descent English sportspeople in doping cases English Football League players England B international footballers Living people Millwall F.C. players Premier League players Footballers from Newcastle upon Tyne Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Llay Welfare F.C. players