Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Alun Armstrong [1] | ||
Date of birth | 22 February 1975 | ||
Place of birth | Gateshead, England | ||
Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) [1] | ||
Position(s) | Forward | ||
Youth career | |||
–1993 | Newcastle United | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1993–1994 | Newcastle United | 0 | (0) |
1994–1998 | Stockport County | 160 | (49) |
1998–2000 | Middlesbrough | 29 | (9) |
2000 | → Huddersfield Town (loan) | 6 | (0) |
2000–2004 | Ipswich Town | 79 | (14) |
2003–2004 | → Bradford City (loan) | 6 | (1) |
2004–2005 | Darlington | 32 | (9) |
2005–2006 | Rushden & Diamonds | 9 | (0) |
2006 | → Doncaster Rovers (loan) | 6 | (0) |
2006–2007 | Darlington | 29 | (1) |
2007 | Newcastle Blue Star | 1 | (0) |
Total | 357 | (83) | |
Managerial career | |||
2016–2019 | Blyth Spartans | ||
2019–2023 | Darlington | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:04, 30 July 2008 (UTC) |
Alun Armstrong (born 22 February 1975) is an English former professional footballer and manager, he recently managed Darlington. During his playing career, Armstrong operated primarily as a forward.
His career as a player, which ran between 1993 and 2007, included spells at Newcastle United, Stockport County, Middlesbrough, Ipswich Town, two spells at Darlington, Rushden & Diamonds and concluding it with a brief spell at Newcastle Blue Star. He has also enjoyed loan spells at Huddersfield Town, Bradford City and Doncaster Rovers.
Armstrong entered into club management in 2016, joining Blyth Spartans, achieving promotion to the National League North in his first season in charge. He left the club in 2019, agreeing to join Darlington as their new manager.
Armstrong's first club was Newcastle United, where in October 1993 he came up from their youth team. He left in June 1994 having not played a competitive game for them, and signed with Stockport County for £50,000. In 200 games for them, he scored 62 goals. In February 1998 he joined Middlesbrough for £1.6m. He stayed until 2000, when in March he joined Huddersfield Town for three months on loan. In December 2000 he joined Ipswich Town for £500,000. In the three years he was at Ipswich he scored 19 goals in 94 appearances, including a header in Ipswich's 1–0 win over Inter Milan in the 2001–02 UEFA Cup. [2] Armstrong described the goal as "probably the most important of my career, as long as we get a result out there (In the return leg)". Despite Armstrong scoring another goal in the return leg from the penalty spot, Ipswich were knocked out with an aggregate score of 4–2. [3]
From December 2003 until March 2004 he was on loan to Bradford City, scoring once against Norwich City, [4] and in September 2004 he joined Darlington on a free transfer. He left Darlington in June 2005, to join Rushden & Diamonds. He scored once for Rushden, his goal coming against Halifax Town in the FA Cup. [5] After a spell on loan at Doncaster Rovers, he re-signed for Darlington in August 2006 to join the club on a second spell, before leaving them again at the end of the 2006–07 season. He scored once in his second spell at Darlington, against Hereford. [6] He signed for Newcastle Blue Star in the UniBond Division One North before quitting days after receiving a red card against Gateshead.
On 22 September 2016, Armstrong was appointed as the new manager of Northern Premier League Premier Division side Blyth Spartans. [7] In his first season in charge of the Green Army, he guided them to win the league title at the first attempt, achieving National League North status for the first time since their relegation from the sixth tier at the end of the 2011–12 season. [8]
In their first season back in the National League divisions, Armstrong led Spartans to a tenth-placed finish, four points adrift from play-off qualification. [9] In their following league campaign, Armstrong's side saw a huge boost of form, eventually concluding the season in sixth place, qualifying for the divisional play-off quarter-finals, [9] his side failed to continue to the semi-finals after defeat to Altrincham on penalties, [10] having recorded a 2–2 draw prior though extra time could not see Spartans push for victory. [10]
On 21 May 2019, Armstrong was appointed as the new manager of fellow National League North club Darlington, [11] replacing Tommy Wright. [12] [13]
An impressive start to the 2022–23 season saw Armstrong awarded the National League North Manager of the Month award for September 2022, winning all four of their matches across the month and climbing to 3rd position from 17th at the start of the month. [14]
On 6 September 2023, with Darlington languishing at the bottom of the National League North Table, Alun Armstrong and assistant Darren Holloway were sacked by the club. [15]
His son Luke is also a footballer. [16]
He has another son Rhys who is at Darlington with him. [17]
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Stockport County | 1994–95 | Second Division | 45 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 15 |
1995–96 | Second Division | 46 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 55 | 18 | |
1996–97 [18] | Second Division | 39 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 13 | |
1997–98 [19] | First Division | 29 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | — | 34 | 15 | ||
Total | 159 | 48 | 9 | 5 | 22 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 190 | 61 | ||
Middlesbrough | 1997–98 [19] | First Division | 11 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 11 | 7 | |
1998–99 [20] | Premier League | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 1 | ||
1999–00 [21] | Premier League | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 6 | 1 | ||
2000–01 [22] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||
Total | 29 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 9 | ||
Huddersfield Town (loan) | 1999–00 [21] | First Division | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | |
Ipswich Town | 2000–01 [22] | Premier League | 21 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 23 | 8 | |
2001–02 [23] | Premier League | 32 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 [lower-alpha 1] | 2 | 38 | 7 | |
2002–03 [24] | First Division | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 [lower-alpha 1] | 1 | 24 | 2 | |
2003–04 [25] | First Division | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 [lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 9 | 2 | |
Total | 79 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 94 | 19 | ||
Bradford City (loan) | 2003–04 [25] | First Division | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 7 | 1 | |
Darlington | 2004–05 [26] | League Two | 32 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 11 |
Rushden & Diamonds | 2005–06 [27] | League Two | 9 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 [lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 13 | 1 |
Doncaster Rovers (loan) | 2005–06 [27] | League One | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
Darlington | 2006–07 [28] | League Two | 29 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 [lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 33 | 1 |
Career total | 355 | 82 | 20 | 9 | 30 | 9 | 11 | 3 | 416 | 103 |
As of 19 August 2023: [29] [30]
Team | Duration | Record | Source | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
From | To | G | W | D | L | % | ||
Blyth Spartans | 22 September 2016 | 21 May 2019 | 134 | 71 | 21 | 42 | 52.99 | [31] |
Darlington | 21 May 2019 | 6 September 2023 | 157 | 61 | 37 | 59 | 38.85 | [31] |
Total | 291 | 132 | 58 | 101 | 45.36 | — |
Stockport County
Middlesbrough
Individual
Lee Robert Clark is an English football manager and former professional footballer, who was most recently the manager of Al-Merrikh in the Sudan Premier League.
John Brackstone is an English former footballer who played as a left back. He played in the Football League for Hartlepool United and Darlington, and in non-league football for clubs including Gateshead, Blyth Spartans, Bedlington Terriers, Shildon and West Auckland Town.
Matthew David Bates is an English former football manager and former professional footballer, as well as holding a UEFA B coaching licence. He is currently the assistant manager at Northern Premier League side Whitby Town.
David Sean Knight is an English footballer who last played for Spennymoor Town as a goalkeeper.
Graham Anthony Fenton is an English football manager and former professional footballer who is the current manager of Blyth Spartans.
Richard Offiong is an English footballer who plays as a striker.
Alan White is an English former professional footballer who made more than 400 appearances in the Football League.
Michael Paul Tait is an English former footballer and later a manager at the end of his playing career. His 760 league games puts him 13th in the list of English footballers. His clubs were Oxford United, Carlisle United, Hull City, Portsmouth, Reading, Darlington and Hartlepool United as well as Gretna in Scotland. Tait also later managed two of these clubs; Darlington and Hartlepool United. In 2012 he became a scout for Newcastle United.
Michael William Liddle is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for National League North club Blyth Spartans. He began his club career with Sunderland, though appeared only once for the first team, and spent time on loan at Carlisle United, Leyton Orient, Gateshead and Accrington Stanley, before joining the latter club on a permanent basis in 2012. He then moved into non-league football with Dunston UTS, Blyth Spartans and Darlington, before returning to Blyth Spartans in 2021.
Lewis Horner is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. Horner has previously played for Hibernian, and a loan spell at East Stirlingshire. He has also played for Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Newcastle Benfield and he has had two spells at Blyth Spartans.
Louis Mark Laing is a former English footballer who played as a defender. He started his career at Sunderland and also played for Wycombe Wanderers, Nottingham Forest, Notts County, Motherwell, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Hartlepool United, Blyth Spartans and Darlington.
Nathan Thomas is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Marske United.
Marcus Harley Maddison is a former English footballer who played as a winger or attacking midfielder.
Steven "Steve" Walklate is an English former footballer who played in the Football League for Darlington and in the Scottish League for Queen of the South. He began his career at Middlesbrough without playing first-team football for them, and also played non-league football for a number of clubs in the north-east of England, mostly in the Northern League.
Glen Alan Robson is an English former footballer who played as a forward in the Football League for Rochdale and Darlington. He also played non-league football for many clubs in the north-east of England.
David Atkinson is an English footballer who plays as a defender for Northern League Division One club Shildon. He played in the Football League for Carlisle United.
Luke Thomas Armstrong is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for League Two club Harrogate Town.
Ben George Liddle is an English professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for National League North club Darlington. He previous played in the Football League for Middlesbrough, Forest Green Rovers, Scunthorpe United and Bristol Rovers, in the Scottish Championship for Queen of the South, and in non-league football for Blyth Spartans.
Tyrone O'Neill is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Northern League Division One club Shildon. O'Neill made his Football League debut for Middlesbrough in the EFL Championship in 2019, but that was his only first-team appearance. He spent time on loan at National League club Hartlepool United and Darlington before being released in 2021 and joining Scunthorpe United. He returned to Darlington on loan in 2022 before leaving Scunthorpe at the end of the season and signing for Stockton Town.
Daniel Mark Dodds is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for National League club Hartlepool United.