Jimmy Armfield

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Jimmy Armfield
Personal information
Full name James Christopher Armfield, OBE
Date of birth 2 September 1935 (1935-09-02) (age 72)
Place of birth    Denton, England
Playing position Right-back (retired)
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1954–1971 Blackpool 569 (6)   
National team2
1959–1966 England 043 (0)
Teams managed
1971–1974
1974–1978		 Bolton Wanderers
Leeds United

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of January 8, 2007.
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of January 8, 2007.
* Appearances (Goals)

James Christopher "Jimmy" Armfield, OBE (born 21 September 1935 in Denton, Greater Manchester) is an English former professional football player and manager who currently works as a football pundit for BBC Radio Five Live. He played the whole of his Football League career at Blackpool, usually at right back. Between 1954 and 1971 he played 627 games in all competitions, scored six goals, and spent a decade as the club's captain. He also captained the England national team fifteen times.[1]

Contents

[edit] Playing career

After Armfield's family moved to Blackpool from Denton, he was spotted in a practice match at Bloomfield Road by then-Tangerines manager Joe Smith. Impressed, Smith offered him a trial.[2] On December 27, 1954, Armfield made his Blackpool debut at Portsmouth.

Armfield was voted Young Player of the Year in 1959. In 1966, he narrowly lost out to Bobby Charlton for the Footballer of the Year award and had to content himself with being Blackpool's Player of the Year.[2]

He endured little success in his seventeen years with the Seasiders, the club having won the FA Cup the year prior to his arrival. The exception was promotion to Division One in 1969/70.

Armfield won 43 caps for England between 1959 and 1966, and captained his country on fifteen occasions. He made his international debut on May 13, 1959, against Brazil in front of over 120,000 fans.[2] He played in the 1962 World Cup in Chile, where he was acclaimed as "the best right-back in the world" (he was also voted "best right-back in Europe" between 1962 and 1964). He was included in the 1966 World Cup-winning squad but missed out on the tournament through injury.

Armfield was awarded a testimonial match, played on September 2, 1970, his 35th birthday, and thousands turned out to pay tribute to him.[2] He played his final game for Blackpool on May 1, 1971, against Manchester United at Bloomfield Road, in what would be the last game played by Blackpool (to date) in the top flight of English football. He came back from a ten-game injury lay-off to make his swan song appearance.

[edit] Management career

Not long after hanging up his boots, Armfield became manager of Bolton Wanderers. He also subsequently took the helm at Leeds United, leading them to the European Cup Final in 1975. Assisted by Don Howe, Armfield was responsible for rebuilding Don Revie's ageing but still formidable side, a task which he achieved with some success. Armfield bought in players such as Tony Currie and Brian Flynn, and under his stewardship Leeds never finished outside of the top ten, qualified for the UEFA cup, and reached FA and League Cup semi-finals. However, the Leeds board were impatient for greater success, and Armfield was sacked at the end of the 1977-78 season and replaced by Jock Stein

[edit] Post-management

Leeds was Armfield's final managerial role, and he decided to work in radio. Currently he is best known as a match summariser for BBC Radio Five Live. He is also a consultant with the Football Association and in this role was responsible for the appointment of Terry Venables as England coach in 1994 and was also a key figure in Glen Hoddle's appointment two years later. In 2000 he was awarded an OBE and in 2004 he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of his home county of Lancashire. In 2005–2006 he served as High Sheriff of Lancashire.

On 11 May 2007, he announced on Radio Lancashire that he had been undergoing chemotherapy treatment for Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in his throat, and was being advised to rest by his doctors, but he remained positive about his future.[3]

On 22 September, 2007, Armfield was the half-time guest at Blackpool's Championship home match against Colchester United. He received a standing ovation, and he thanked the Blackpool fans for their support, which, he said, helped him get through the recent dark days.[4]

On 2 March 2008, Armfield was awarded the Outstanding Contribution honour at the Football League Awards ceremony in London.[1]

[edit] Honours

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Football League honours Armfield" - BBC Sport
  2. ^ a b c d Calley, R: Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887-1992, Breedon Books Sport, 1992
  3. ^ Armfield faces cancer treatment. BBC Sport. Retrieved on 2007-05-11.
  4. ^ "Jimmy's thanks to 'Pool fans", 2007-09-22. Retrieved on 2007-09-23. 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
England squad - 1962 FIFA World Cup
1 Springett • 2 Armfield • 3 Wilson • 4 Robson • 5 Swan • 6 Flowers • 7 Connelly • 8 Greaves • 9 Hitchens • 10 Haynes • 11 Charlton • 12 Hodgkinson • 13 Kevan • 14 Anderson • 15 Norman • 16 Moore • 17 Douglas • 18 Hunt • 19 Peacock • 20 Eastham • 21 Howe • 22 Banks • Coach: Winterbottom
 Flag of England
v • d • e
England squad - 1966 FIFA World Cup Winners (1st Title)
1 Banks • 2 Cohen • 3 Wilson • 4 Stiles • 5 J. Charlton • 6 Moore • 7 Ball • 8 Greaves • 9 B. Charlton • 10 Hurst • 11 Connelly • 12 Springett • 13 Bonetti • 14 Armfield • 15 Byrne • 16 Peters • 17 Flowers • 18 Hunter • 19 Paine • 20 Callaghan • 21 Hunt • 22 Eastham • Coach: Ramsey
 Flag of England
v • d • e
Bolton Wanderers F.C. – Managers

Mather (1915–19) • Foweraker (1919–44) • Rowley (1944–50) • Ridding (1950–68) • Lofthouse (1968–70) • McIlroy (1970) • Meadows (1970) • Lofthouse (1971) • Armfield (1971–74) • Greaves (1974–80) • Anderson (1980–81) • Mulhall (1981–82) • McGovern (1982–85) • Wright (1985) • Neal (1985–92) • Rioch (1992–95) • McFarland (1995–96) • Todd (1996–99) • Allardyce (1999–2007) • Lee (2007) • Megson (2007–)
v • d • e
Leeds United A.F.C. – Managers

Ray (1919–20) • Fairclough (1920–1927) • Ray (1927–35) • Hampson (1935–47) • Edwards (1947–48) • Buckley (1948–53) • Carter (1953–58) • Lambton (1958–59) • Taylor (1959–61) • Revie (1961–74) • Clough (1974) • Armfield (1974–78) • Stein (1978) • Adamson (1978–80) • Clarke (1980–82) • Gray (1982–85) • Bremner (1985–88) • Wilkinson (1988–96) • Graham (1996–98) • O'Leary (1998–2002) • Venables (2002–03) • Reid (2003) • Gray (2003–04) • Blackwell (2004–06) • Wise (2006–08) • McAllister (2008–)


Persondata
NAME Armfield, James Christopher
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Armfield, Jimmy
SHORT DESCRIPTION
DATE OF BIRTH 1935-9-2
PLACE OF BIRTH Denton

, England
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH