Kenneth Armstrong (3 June 1924 – 13 June 1984) was an English

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

er who represented both

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 b ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

at national level.

Club career

Born in Bradford, Armstrong served in the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. He was a versatile, tough-tackling and energetic

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

who played mainly for

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, joining the club from Bradford Rovers in 1946 for a

fee A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for rights or services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup. Traditionally, professionals in the United Kingdom (and previously the Republic of Ireland) receive a fee in cont ...

of 100

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...

. Armstrong was a key member of

Ted Drake Edward Joseph Drake (16 August 1912 – 30 May 1995) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he first played for Southampton but made his name playing for Arsenal in the 1930s, winning two league titles and an FA Cup, as wel ...

's 1954–55

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

-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 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 ...

beaten 2-1 in May 1957. After leaving Chelsea in 1957, Armstrong emigrated to

Gisborne, New Zealand Gisborne ( mi, Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa "Great standing place of Kiwa") is a city in northeastern New Zealand and the largest settlement in the Gisborne District (or Gisborne Region). It has a population of The district council has its headquarte ...

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 Melbourne Hakoah is a defunct Australian sports club which had a predominantly Jewish Australian supporter base, akin to Hakoah Vienna. The club's best known arm was its soccer club. History The club was founded in 1927, and within a decade wa ...

in Australia, which he declined to continue on as the New Zealand Director of Coaching. 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 Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football ...

Armstrong then moved to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, signing for

North Shore United North Shore United Association Football Club is an amateur football club based in the North Shore, Auckland. They compete in the Northern League, where they last won the competition in 2019. Their home ground is Allen Hill Stadium, which is l ...

and later Eastern Suburbs, winning four

Chatham Cup The Chatham Cup is New Zealand's premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout tournament in men's association football. It is held annually, with the final contested in September. The current champions of the Chatham Cup are 2022 winners Auck ...

s. He then took over as manager at Mount Wellington, winning two league titles (in 1972 and 1974) and another Chatham Cup, in

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

. He played his last game in 1971, aged almost 47. Armstrong was later appointed chief coach of the New Zealand national side.

International career

Armstrong was a member of the England national team's

1954 FIFA World Cup The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the fifth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzer ...

squad but did not travel to Switzerland, remaining in England as one of five players on reserve status. He won a solitary England

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 ...

, against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

in England's famous 7–2 win in the British Home Championship in April 1955. 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, including nine A-internationals in which he scored three goals. 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 Poverty Bay ( Māori: ''Tūranganui-a-Kiwa'') is the largest of several small bays on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island to the north of Hawke Bay. It stretches for from Young Nick's Head in the southwest to Tuaheni Point in the no ...

(scoring 3 goals), two matches for

Waikato Waikato () is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsul ...

/Poverty Bay (scoring 2 goals), and thirty-five matches for

(scoring 12 goals). His final representative appearance was at centre-forward for Auckland against Northern

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in 1965. Armstrong continued playing in the Northern League for North Shore United AFC until 1969. In 1991, he was posthumously inducted into the New Zealand Soccer Media Association Hall of Fame.

Managerial career

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. Armstrong managed National League side Mount Wellington, and was player manager of the

New Zealand national soccer team The New Zealand men's national football team ( mi, Tīma hoka a-motu o Aotearoa) represents New Zealand in men's international football competitions. The team is governed by the governing body for football in New Zealand, New Zealand Football ...

from 1958 to 1964, taking charge of 32 games in that period, winning 11, losing 19 and drawing two. In 1980, he took charge of the

New Zealand women's national soccer team The New Zealand women's national football team, nicknamed the Football Ferns, is governed by New Zealand Football (NZF). The New Zealand national team qualified for the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, held in China in September 2007, sending the te ...

Family

Armstrong's family is well represented in international football. His sons Ron and

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...

also represented the

All Whites The New Zealand men's national football team ( mi, Tīma hoka a-motu o Aotearoa) represents New Zealand in men's international football competitions. The team is governed by the governing body for football in New Zealand, New Zealand Footbal ...

, while Ron's granddaughter Bridgette Armstrong represented

at senior level and at the 2008 FIFA U-17 and FIFA U-20 Women's World Cups.

Death

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

Honours

Player

Chelsea * Football League First Division: 1954–55 * FA Charity Shield: 1955 North Shore United *

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

* Auckland Football Association representative: 1961 FA Trophy. Eastern Suburbs *

: 1965

Manager

Mount Wellington * National Soccer League: 1972, 1974 *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Ken 1924 births 1984 deaths Military personnel from Bradford Royal Air Force airmen Sportspeople from Gisborne, New Zealand English emigrants to New Zealand English footballers England international footballers 1954 FIFA World Cup players English Football League players Chelsea F.C. players English expatriate footballers New Zealand association footballers New Zealand international footballers Dual internationalists (football) Expatriate association footballers in New Zealand Eastern Suburbs AFC players New Zealand national football team managers Footballers from Bradford London XI players English Football League representative players Gisborne City AFC players University-Mount Wellington players Association football wingers

Ken Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer. * ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film. * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine. * Ken Masters, a main character in ...

English football managers New Zealand women's national football team managers Royal Air Force personnel of World War II