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

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 lea ...

who represented both

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

at national level.

Club career

Born in

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

, Armstrong served in the RAF during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was a versatile, tough-tackling and energetic

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

who played mainly for Chelsea, joining the club from Bradford Rovers in 1946 for a fee 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'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 sys ...

-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. After leaving Chelsea in 1957, Armstrong emigrated to

Gisborne, New Zealand Gisborne is a List of cities in New Zealand, city in northeastern New Zealand and the largest settlement in the Gisborne District (or Gisborne Region). It has a population of Gisborne District Council has its headquarters in the central city. ...

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. 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 Armstrong then moved to

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, 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 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 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

. 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 5th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June ...

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. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

, against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

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 the London Borou ...

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 The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

, one New Zealand trial match, three matches for

Poverty Bay Poverty Bay (Māori language, Māori: ''Tūranganui-a-Kiwa''), officially named Tūranganui-a-Kiwa / Poverty Bay, 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 ...

(scoring 3 goals), two matches for

Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...

/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 New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

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 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.

Family

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

Ron Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in '' Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe ...

and

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan (given name), Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish language, Irish and Breton language, Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan language, Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. ...

also represented the

All Whites The New Zealand men's national football team () 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 (NZF), which is currently a memb ...

, 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 The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

: 1954–55 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier ...

: 1955 North Shore United * Chatham Cup:

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 * Janu ...

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

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 Cove ...

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

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

Manager

Mount Wellington *

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

: 1972, 1974 * Chatham Cup:

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 men's footballers England men's international footballers 1954 FIFA World Cup players English Football League players Chelsea F.C. players English expatriate men's footballers New Zealand men's association footballers New Zealand men's international footballers Dual internationalists (men's football) Expatriate men's 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 Uni-Mount Bohemian AFC players Men's association football wingers Ken English football managers New Zealand women's national football team managers Royal Air Force personnel of World War II 20th-century English sportsmen 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen