Ken Armstrong (soccer player, 1924)

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Ken Armstrong
Ken Armstrong (1947) .png
Personnel
Surname Kenneth Armstrong
birthday June 3, 1924
place of birth Bradford ,  England
date of death June 13, 1984
Place of death New Zealand
size 173 cm
position Middle , external runner
Juniors
Years station
Bradford Rovers
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1946-1957 Chelsea FC 362 (25)
1957-1958 Eastern Union
1959-1964 North Shore United
1965-1966 Eastern suburbs
1967-1970 North Shore United
1971 Mt Wellington 1 0(0)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1954 England B 3 0(0)
1955 England 1 0(0)
1958–1962 New Zealand 9 0(3)
Stations as a trainer
Years station
1957-1964 New Zealand
1970-1975 Mt Wellington
1980 New Zealand (women)
1 Only league games are given.

Kenneth "Ken" Armstrong (born June 3, 1924 in Bradford , † June 13, 1984 ) was an English football player and coach . Two years after winning the English championship in 1955 with Chelsea , he emigrated to New Zealand in 1957, where he had a major influence on the development of football from then on. After an international match for the English national team, he was also used for the selection of New Zealand , which he temporarily looked after as a coach.

Athletic career

Career in England

Ken Armstrong's professional career got off to a slow start in 1946 due to the war-related interruption in play. He learned to play football at the local club Bradford Rovers and during his time as a soldier, he served in army national teams. Now at the age of 22, he was hired by the first division club Chelsea from London in December 1946 and when he arrived there he quickly made a name for himself with the help of his flexibility. He was primarily to be found in defensive midfield positions, but not infrequently he also helped out as a half or center forward - he often appeared as a goal scorer. Usually, however, he was a key player in the center of the "blues" because of his fighting strength, game intelligence and reliability. In the good ten years he played just over 400 competitive games, 362 of which were in the top English division. He set an internal club record that was only improved in the 1969/70 season by Peter Bonetti . The highlight was the 1954/55 season, in which Armstrong won the English championship with Chelsea and completed 39 of 42 encounters.

In the mid-1950s, Armstrong was also in the extended circle of the English national team. In three games of the English national B team, the team led the field as captain and another nomination for the A team took place on the occasion of the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland . At the tournament itself, however, he was only “on call” as a substitute and he did not have to travel to Switzerland. It was not until April 1955 that he played his first (and only) international A match for England against Scotland , which ended with a 7-2 victory. When the end of his career was announced two years later - at least in the English elite class - the gradual transition to the coaching profession seemed already mapped out when Armstrong decided in the summer of 1957 to emigrate to New Zealand. This was due to his chronic chest pain and the doctor's advice to choose a "better climate".

Emigration to New Zealand

Armstrong's choice fell on Gisborne in the northeast of New Zealand's North Island . As he continued to play football there, it wasn't long before he began to make his mark on New Zealand football. In his new adopted home he played for Eastern Union (later renamed "Gisborne City"); in addition, he was entrusted with the care of the New Zealand national team in 1957 . He played as a national player himself until 1962 - making him one of the few footballers to appear for two national teams - and the era as national coach lasted until 1964. He later held a managerial position for the New Zealand Football Association.

In club football Armstrong played well into the old footballer and his stations included after his beginnings for Eastern Union North Shore United (1959-1964), the Eastern Suburbs (1965-1966), again North Shore United (1967-1970) and finally the Mt Wellington University team (1971). He played his last game at the record age of 46 years and 319 days against the Dunedin Suburbs and won the Chatham Cup four times (1960, 1961, 1963, 1965) while playing in New Zealand .

Armstrong worked for the capital team from Wellington for five years as a coach from the end of 1970 and in addition to another Chatham Cup trophy in 1973, he won two New Zealand championships in 1972 and 1974 . During this time his two sons Brian and Ron joined the team (both later became national players, in 2008 the granddaughter Bridgette followed ). Overall, he continued to have a major impact on the development of New Zealand football. This included his work for the women's national team , which he briefly supervised as head coach in 1980. His early death ten days after his 60th birthday in June 1984 - two years after New Zealand's first World Cup participation - was also mourned against the background of his merits and for 28 years the "All Whites" had to successfully qualify for a World Cup again -Final tournament waiting. His ashes were scattered around Stamford Bridge , home of Chelsea FC.

Title / Awards

As a player

As a trainer

literature

  • Dean P. Hayes: England! England! The Complete Who's Who of Players since 1946 . Sutton Publishing, 2004, ISBN 0-7509-3234-1 , pp. 88-89 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "England - International Results B-Team - Details" (RSSSF)
  2. ↑ During this time there are only nine comparisons against other nations that are rated as international matches (see compilation of the RSSSF ). In the literature cited, a total of 13 appearances for New Zealand are mentioned.
  3. ^ "Coaching Records" (The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website)
  4. ↑ "NZ girl will continue family football dynasty at under 17 World Cup" ( Memento of the original from October 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (3 News) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.3news.co.nz
  5. ^ "Roll of Honor" (The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website)
  6. ^ "Hall of Fame: Inductees 1991" (The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website)
  7. ↑ "Champions of a different era" (BBC Sport)
personal data
SURNAME Armstrong, Ken
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Armstrong, Kenneth
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English-New Zealand soccer player and coach
DATE OF BIRTH June 3, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Bradford , England
DATE OF DEATH June 13, 1984
Place of death New Zealand