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

| years1 = 1989–1991{{0|0000}}–1989 |clubs1 = [[WrexhamLlay Welfare A.F.C.|WrexhamLlay Welfare]] |caps1 = 60 |goals1 = 13

| years2 = 1991–19921989–1991 |clubs2 = [[MillwallWrexham A.F.C.|MillwallWrexham]] |caps2 = 2860 |goals2 = 5 13

| years3 = 1992–19951991–1992 |clubs3 = [[Crystal PalaceMillwall F.C.|Crystal PalaceMillwall]] |caps3 = 11828 |goals3 = 455

| years4 = 1995–20021992–1995 |clubs4 = [[TottenhamCrystal HotspurPalace F.C.|TottenhamCrystal HotspurPalace]] |caps4 = 141118 |goals4 = 4845

| years5 = 2002–20031995–2002 |clubs5 = [[BoltonTottenham WanderersHotspur F.C.|BoltonTottenham WanderersHotspur]] |caps5 = 0 141 |goals5 = 048

| years6 = 2003–20052002–2003 |clubs6 = [[WrexhamBolton Wanderers A.F.C.|WrexhamBolton Wanderers]] |caps6 = 590 |goals6 = 130

'''Christopher Peter Armstrong''' (born 19 June 1971) is an English former [[Association football|footballer]] who played professionally as a [[Forward (association football)|striker]] from 1989 to 2005.

He notably played in the [[Premier League]] for [[Crystal Palace F.C.|Crystal Palace]] and [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]]. He grew up in North Wales, where he played in the amateur game for [[Llay Welfare F.C.|Llay Welfare]] before making his professional debut for [[Wrexham A.F.C.|Wrexham]] in 1989.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.englandfootballonline.com/TeamPlyrsBios/PlayersA/BioArmstrongC.html|title=England Uncapped & Black Players - Chris Armstrong|website=www.englandfootballonline.com|access-date=2019-06-18}}</ref> After one season at [[Millwall F.C.|Millwall]], he made a £1 million transfer to [[Crystal Palace F.C.|Crystal Palace]] of the [[Premier League]] in 1992. In March 1995, he became the first Premier League player to receive a doping ban, testing positive for [[Cannabis (drug)|cannabis]].<ref name=drug/><ref name=spliff/> He joined [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]] that June for a club record £4.5 million and was part of their team that won the [[Football League Cup|League Cup]] in [[1999 Football League Cup Final|1999]]. After a one-game spell at [[Bolton Wanderers F.C.|Bolton Wanderers]], he returned to Wrexham for the remainder of his career.

Armstrong was born in [[Newcastle upon Tyne]] to an Irish father and Nigerian mother, and moved to [[London]] at age three. He was raised by foster parents in Wales, where he began playing as an amateur [[Goalkeeper (association football)|goalkeeper]] in local leagues., Agedbefore leaving school and giving up on football aged 16,. whileA playingfriend forreintroduced him to the game by bringing him to [[Llay Welfare F.C.|Llay Welfare]] in the [[Welsh National League (Wrexham Area)|Welsh National League]], andwhile he packingpacked burgers during the day for £30 a week,. heHe gained the attention of local professional club [[Wrexham A.F.C.|Wrexham]].<ref name=ten>{{cite news |title=Ten things you didn't know about Chris Armstrong |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/1999/mar/25/newsstory.sport7 |accessdate=15 August 2018 |work=The Guardian |date=25 March 1999}}</ref><ref name=moore/>

At Wrexham, Armstrong made his professional debut as a teenager during the [[1989–90 Football League]] season in the old [[Football League Fourth Division|Fourth Division]], and managed to score three times through the course of the season. In his two-year spell at the club, he went on to play 60 games, scoring 13 times,.<ref>[http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football/tottenham-hotspur-fc/chris-armstrong-5504/1995-96-2001-02_a12651/] Sporting Heroes - Extracted 24 January 2012</ref> beforeHe movingtook topart in the [[Millwall1990–91 F.C.European Cup Winners' Cup]], where he scored the only goal of the first round tie against Denmark's [[Lyngby Boldklub|MillwallLyngby]] forbefore £50,000elimination by eventual champions [[Manchester United]] in Augustthe second 1991round.<ref name=afpmoore/>

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.

In March 1995, Armstrong tested positive for [[cannabis (drug)|cannabis]], becoming the first ever Premier League player to fail a drug test, and was banned for four matches.<ref name=drug>{{cite news |last1=Mackay |first1=Duncan |title=Why English football has a drugs problem |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2002/apr/27/sport.comment3 |accessdate=15 August 2018 |work=The Guardian |date=27 April 2002}}</ref> He''[[The Independent]]'' sports writer Glenn Moore criticised The FA for punishing Armstrong despite not taking action against [[Dennis Wise]] and [[Vinnie Jones]] for recent violent offences, adding that cannabis was extremely unlikely to have aided his performance.<ref name=spliff>{{cite news |last1=Moore |first1=Glenn |title=The FA has suspended Chris Armstrong of Crystal Palace for smoking a private spliff |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/the-fa-has-suspended-chris-armstrong-of-crystal-palace-for-smoking-a-private-spliff-our-football-1610241.html |accessdate=16 August 2018 |work=The Independent |date=7 March 1995}}</ref> Armstrong finished the season on 18 goals, not enough to save the Eagles from relegation.

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&sjid=Yx8EAAAAIBAJ&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 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&ndash;10–1 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>

* [[Football League Cup|LeagueFirst CupDivision]]: [[1998–991993–94 Football League Cup|1998–991993–94]]

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

[[Category:Black EnglishBritish sportspeoplesportsmen]]

[[Category:English men's footballers]]

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

[[Category:SportspeoplePremier fromLeague Newcastle upon Tyneplayers]]