Chris Armstrong (footballer, born 1971): Difference between revisions

{{shortShort description|English footballer (born 1971)}}

After one season with Millwall, Armstrong joined [[Steve Coppell]]'s Crystal Palace for £1 million in 1992, ahead of the inaugural season of the [[Premier League]].<ref name=afp/> He found a home at [[Selhurst Park]], where he was the club's top-scorer with 2315 league goals in his first campaign.

After interest from [[FA Cup]] [[1995 FA Cup Finalfinal|holders]] [[Everton F.C.|Everton]], Armstrong joined [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]] for a fee of £4.5 million in June 1995, replacing [[FC Bayern Munich|Bayern Munich]]-bound [[Jürgen Klinsmann]].<ref name=afp>{{cite news |title=Armstrong opts for Spurs |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=v59jAAAAIBAJ&pg=4377,244503&dq=stan-collymore&hl=en |accessdate=16 August 2018 |work=New Straits Times |agency=AFP |date=21 June 1995}}</ref> With the funds coming from a new kit deal and the sales of Klinsmann, [[Gheorghe Popescu (footballer, born 1967)|Gica Popescu]] and [[Ilie Dumitrescu]], this made him both Tottenham's most expensive signing,<ref name=afp/> until [[Les Ferdinand]] for £6 million in 1997. It was also Palace's most expensive sale, until [[Andrew Johnson (English footballer, born 1981)|Andrew Johnson]] joined Everton for £8.6 million in 2006.<ref>{{cite news |title=The record sale progression of every Premier League club |url=https://www.football365.com/news/the-record-sale-progression-of-every-premier-league-club |accessdate=16 August 2018 |publisher=Football 365 |date=28 June 1997}}</ref>

Armstrong made his Spurs debut on 19 August in a 1–1 draw at [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]], and scored his first goals in the form of a brace on 20 September in a 4–0 win over [[Chester City F.C.|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]] against Arsenal on 18 November at [[White Hart Lane]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Games played by Chris Armstrong in 1995/1996 |url=http://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=235&season_id=125 |publisher=Soccerbase |accessdate=16 August 2018}}</ref> 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]].<ref name=moore>{{cite news |last1=Moore |first1=Glenn |title=Why Armstrong put Spurs before money |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/why-armstrong-put-spurs-before-money-1598053.html |accessdate=16 August 2018 |work=The Independent |date=26 August 1995}}</ref> However, he built up a prolific partnership with [[Teddy Sheringham]]; Armstrong's two goals in a 4–1 win over [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]] on 1 January 1996 brought their combined total to 23 goals.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Moore |first1=Glenn |title=United's frailties exposed by Spurs |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/uniteds-frailties-exposed-by-spurs-1322115.html |accessdate=16 August 2018 |work=The Independent |date=2 January 1996}}</ref>

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]] got in his way to bow down to him.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rowbottom |first1=Mike |title=Football: Armstrong treble traumatises Everton |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-armstrong-treble-traumatises-everton-1194826.html |accessdate=16 August 2018 |work=The Independent |date=29 December 1998}}</ref> 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 [[1999 Football League Cup Finalfinal|final]] at Wembley Stadium which Spurs won over [[Leicester City F.C.|Leicester City]].

On 28 August 2002, Armstrong signed for [[Bolton Wanderers F.C.|Bolton Wanderers]] in a deal that would see him earn a low wage until his first-team debut, estimated at two months away due to fitness.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Nixon |first1=Alan |title=Bolton sign Armstrong on low-wage deal |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/bolton-sign-armstrong-on-low-wage-deal-175050.html |accessdate=15 August 2018 |work=The Independent |date=29 August 2002}}</ref> His only appearance came on 2 October, in a 1–0 home defeat to [[Bury F.C.|Bury]] in the second round of the League Cup, lasting just 53 minutes before being substituted for [[Henrik Pedersen (footballer)|Henrik Pedersen]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Bolton 0–1 Bury |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/2281384.stm |accessdate=15 August 2018 |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2 October 2002}}</ref>

Towards the start of his professional career, Armstrong was tracked by [[Wales national football team|Wales]], and was called up by [[Nigeria national football team|Nigeria]] ahead of the [[1994 FIFA World Cup]], but turned them down in hope of representing England.<ref name=ten/> [[Republic of Ireland national football team|Republic of Ireland]] managers [[Jack Charlton]] and [[Mick McCarthy]] 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.<ref name=ten/>

Armstrong played his only international match on 10 May 1994, a 3–2 friendly win for [[England national football B team|England B]] over Northern Ireland at [[Hillsborough Stadium|Hillsborough]]. He came on as a 65th-minute substitute for [[Chris Sutton]].<ref>{{cite news |title=England - International Results B-Team - Details |website=[[RSSSF]] |url=httphttps://www.rsssf.comorg/tablese/eng-b-intres-det.html |accessdate=15 August 2018 |publisher=RSSSF}}</ref>

[[Category:AssociationMen's association football forwards]]

[[Category:Black British sportspeoplesportsmen]]

[[Category:English men's footballers]]

[[Category:English sportspeoplepeople of Nigerian descent]]

[[Category:England men's B international footballers]]