Alun Armstrong (footballer)

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Alun Armstrong
Personal information
Full name Alun Armstrong [1]
Date of birth (1975-02-22) 22 February 1975 (age 49)
Place of birth Gateshead, England
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) [1]
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
0000–1993 Newcastle United
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(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)
Total357(83)
Managerial career
2016–2019 Blyth Spartans
2019–2023 Darlington
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Alun Armstrong (born 22 February 1975) is an English former professional footballer and manager. During his playing career, Armstrong operated primarily as a forward.

Contents

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.

Playing career

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.

Managerial career

Blyth Spartans

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]

Darlington

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]

Personal life

His son Luke is also a footballer with Carlisle United. [16]

He has another son Rhys, who is at Darlington with him. [17]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeague FA Cup League Cup OtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Stockport County 1994–95 Second Division 45141031004915
1995–96 Second Division46134352005518
1996–97 [18] Second Division39921113005213
1997–98 [19] First Division 29122132—3415
Total15948952280019061
Middlesbrough 1997–98 [19] First Division1170000—117
1998–99 [20] Premier League 610000—61
1999–00 [21] Premier League1210030—61
2000–01 [22] Premier League000010—10
Total299004000339
Huddersfield Town (loan) 1999–00 [21] First Division600000—60
Ipswich Town 2000–01 [22] Premier League2172100—238
2001–02 [23] Premier League32410213 [lower-alpha 1] 2387
2002–03 [24] First Division19100104 [lower-alpha 1] 1242
2003–04 [25] First Division7200101 [lower-alpha 2] 092
Total79143141839419
Bradford City (loan) 2003–04 [25] First Division611000—71
Darlington 2004–05 [26] League Two 3292200003411
Rushden & Diamonds 2005–06 [27] League Two9031001 [lower-alpha 3] 0131
Doncaster Rovers (loan) 2005–06 [27] League One 6000000060
Darlington 2006–07 [28] League Two29120002 [lower-alpha 3] 0331
Career total35582209309113416103
  1. 1 2 Appearances in UEFA Cup
  2. ↑ Appearance in First Division play-offs
  3. 1 2 Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy play-offs

Managerial statistics

As of 19 August 2023: [29] [30]

TeamDurationRecordSource
FromToGWDL%
Blyth Spartans 22 September 201621 May 2019134712142052.99 [31]
Darlington 21 May 20196 September 2023162623961038.27 [31]
Total29613360103044.93—

Honours

As a player

Stockport County

Middlesbrough

As a manager

Individual

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References

  1. 1 2 Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2003). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2003/2004. Queen Anne Press. p. 24. ISBN   1-85291-651-6.
  2. ↑ "Ipswich stun Inter". BBC. 22 November 2001. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  3. ↑ "Vieri stuns Ipswich". BBC. 6 December 2001. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  4. ↑ "Norwich 0-1 Bradford". BBC. 10 January 2004. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  5. ↑ "Halifax 1-1 Rushden & Diamonds". BBC. 6 November 2005. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  6. ↑ "Hereford 1-1 Darlington". BBC. 14 October 2006. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  7. ↑ http://www.blythspartans.com/alun-armstrong-takes-tom-wade-blyth-spartans-manager/}%5B%5D
  8. ↑ "Home".
  9. 1 2 "National League North table". Pitchero. Archived from the original on 30 April 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  10. 1 2 "Altrincham 2–2 Blyth Spartans". Pitchero . Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  11. ↑ "Armstrong named Darlington manager". The Northern Echo. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  12. ↑ Stoddart, Craig (26 April 2019). "Wright Leaves Darlington". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  13. ↑ Simpson, Ray (26 April 2019). "Tommy Wright leaves as Darlington Manager" . Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  14. 1 2 "Alun wins the Manager of the Month award!". darlingtonfc.co.uk. 10 October 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  15. ↑ Simpson, Ray. "Club statement: Alun Armstrong and Darren Holloway". Darlington FC. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  16. ↑ https://www.carlisleunited.co.uk/player/18
  17. ↑ "Rhys Armstrong".
  18. ↑ "Games played by Alun Armstrong in 1996/1997". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  19. 1 2 "Games played by Alun Armstrong in 1997/1998". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  20. ↑ "Games played by Alun Armstrong in 1998/1999". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  21. 1 2 "Games played by Alun Armstrong in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  22. 1 2 "Games played by Alun Armstrong in 2000/2001". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  23. ↑ "Games played by Alun Armstrong in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  24. ↑ "Games played by Alun Armstrong in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  25. 1 2 "Games played by Alun Armstrong in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  26. ↑ "Games played by Alun Armstrong in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  27. 1 2 "Games played by Alun Armstrong in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  28. ↑ "Games played by Alun Armstrong in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  29. ↑ "Home".
  30. ↑ "1st Team Fixtures & Results".
  31. 1 2 "Alun Armstrong – Managers". Soccer Base. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
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