Northern Ireland v Lithuania (12/11/2021)

GERRY’S INCREDIBLE JOURNEY MAPPED OUT The official autobiography of

WORDS: NIGEL T ILSON

Northern Ireland legend Gerry Armstrong has just been published.

‘My Story, My Journey’ (available from curtis- sport .com) charts the story of a rising star in Gaelic football and hurling who found his niche when football came calling in his teens. Armstrong, who was born in Belfast and brought up amidst the Troubles, tells the story of his life in an engaging way, reflecting his own big personality. It charts his move to England, the goal in Valencia that changed his life and a gift for commentary that took him all over the world. From being locked up in Holywood to getting the freedom of the Bernabéu, via Best , Maradona and Elton John, nobody tells a story the way Gerry Armstrong does. There’s not another football book like it , according to curtis-sport .com, and they are probably right . The striker turned TV pundit , who won 63 caps for his country, reflects on many highlights from his on-pitch and off-pitch career in the pages of ‘My Story, My Journey’. Among those wonderful memories is a fantastic night at Windsor Park in November 1981 when Northern Ireland sealed qualification for the 1982 World Cup in Spain with a 1-0 win against Israel . Gerry scored the only goal that night in front of 40,000 fans. He also remembers there being lots of excitement in the run-up to Espana ’82. On the eve of the tournament Northern Ireland were given little chance of progressing out of a group which contained the host nation, a strong Yugoslavia side and Honduras. A 0-0 draw against the Yugoslavs in the opening game was followed by another draw, 1-1 against Honduras. At that stage Northern Ireland were being written off.

However, then manager Billy Bingham had taken his team to watch Spain in their opening group fixture against Honduras, which also ended 1-1, and had spotted weaknesses. A 1-0 win v Spain was always the plan because Northern Ireland could defend a lead, according to Gerry. And, of course, that’s the way the game in Valencia panned out , albeit with a few twists along the way, not least a dubious red card for Mal Donaghy. Gerry, of course, scored the only goal of a game that was voted Northern Ireland’s Greatest Ever Sporting Moment by Belfast Telegraph readers. And his goal and the scenes of jubilation at the final whistle are still vivid in his memory banks after all these years. The next game was against Austria. It was a 4pm kick-off in Madrid and the temperature gauge read 112 degrees on the pitch. Billy Hamilton weighed in with two goals against the Austrians as the game ended all square in the blistering heat . Northern Ireland then faced France to decide who would progress to the next round. Gerry scored against the French, but Northern Ireland exited the tournament following a 4-1 defeat . Several of the players who starred in the ’82 World Cup also made it to Mexico four years later. Despite the team undertaking training at altitude in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for a few weeks prior to the tournament , Gerry firmly believes it was the altitude which beat them in the summer of ’86. They simply could not cope with it . Norman Whiteside scored against Algeria in their first group game, which ended 1-1. It was followed by a 2-1 defeat against Spain – Colin Clarke scored the goal – before Gerry won his 63rd and final cap after coming on as a sub in the final group game against Brazil . And there was no better way to leave the international stage than earn a cap against the mighty Brazil…

IRISHFA.COM

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