Gerry Armstrong (footballer)

Northern Irish footballer

Gerard Joseph Armstrong (born 23 May 1954) is a former Northern Ireland international footballer who played for Tottenham Hotspur. He spent the majority of his career in England, as well as having a spell in Spain. He represented the Northern Ireland national football team and won acclaim at the 1982 FIFA World Cup, where he was the highest scoring player from the UK; this included a shock winner against hosts Spain. He currently works as a football analyst.

In April 1977 Armstrong made his debut for the Northern Ireland national team. He played alongside George Best in a 5–0 friendly defeat to West Germany. Five years later, Armstrong was selected for the Northern Ireland squad for the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain. After a 0–0 draw in their opening match against Yugoslavia, Armstrong scored the opening goal in the 1–1 draw against Honduras. With Northern Ireland requiring a win to progress to the next stage, Armstrong scored a 47th minute goal against hosts Spain in Valencia. Northern Ireland even had Mal Donaghy sent off, but held on to win 1–0. In the next stage, also a group round, Northern Ireland drew 2–2 with Austria, with Armstrong scoring in the subsequent 4–1 loss to France. Armstrong made a total of six appearances for Northern Ireland in the World Cup.

Armstrong had combined his coaching positions with employment in football journalism in television, in radio and in print. He works as a co commentator for Sky Sports' coverage of La Liga and also works as an analyst for the Premier League coverage of ESPN Star Sports. He used to work on talkSPORT radio presenting their show that looked at European Football on Monday night with Gab Marcotti but Armstrong has since left the station. He is an outspoken critic of the amount of diving in the modern game. Armstrong has appeared on Singaporean media as an analyst on SingTel mio TV's 2014 World Cup coverage which was mirrored on The Straits Times. As of 2023 he co commentates for Virgin Media TV in Ireland.

Armstrong is married with two children, and originally from the Falls Road in Belfast. He grew up in the times of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and was one of 11 children.