Farewell, Gentleman Jim – £20-a-week captain of England
How his life compared to new Man Utd star earning £600K a week
RESPECTFULLY remembered as the ‘perfect gent’ of football, Jimmy Armfield’s reputation could not differ any more wildly from that of today’s bad-boy superstars.
The former England football captain and BBC commentator, who died at 82 yesterday after a long battle with cancer, earned a weekly wage of just £20 in his early days playing for Blackpool.
By astronomical contrast, Alexis Sanchez will pocket £600,000 a week after a bigmoney transfer from Arsenal to Manchester United was announced yesterday.
In recent years World Cup winner Armfield had become a familiar voice to millions of fans as a BBC Radio 5 Live commentator.
Until his illness became too much for him, Armstrong’s gentle voice could be heard for more than 30 years by a generation of football fans who never saw him play.
Yesterday footballers and broadcasters paid tribute to a man who not only captained England 15 times but was also a ‘oneclub man’ – playing for Blackpool for 627 games in a career lasting 17 years.
Armfield, who was part of Sir Alf Ramsey’s 1966 World Cup-winning squad, first had treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2007. The disease returned in 2016.
Born in Denton, Manchester, Armfield spent much of his career playing with Sir Stanley Matthews.
At 19, Armfield made his Blackpool debut as a full-back against Portsmouth in December 1954, and made his international debut five years later. At the time he was earning £20 a week – around £440 today – but this rose to £40 a week (£880) in 1961.
And in 1957 there was a rumour Sir Matt Busby wanted to sign him for his Manchester United team, with Armfield recalling later how he had missed being involved in the Munich air crash a year later.
Starkly illustrating the contrast with today’s cut-throat, mega-money agent culture, he later told how then-Blackpool manager Joe Smith told him : ‘We’ve decided you can’t go and that’s the end of it.’ Armfield later explained: ‘You had no agent to help
‘Most of us were happy to be where we were’
you, so most of us were happy to be where we were.’ He played his final game for Blackpool on 1 May 1971, in front of more than 30,000 fans against Manchester United.
Blackpool FC yesterday said it was ‘deeply saddened to learn of the passing of its record appearance holder and vice-president’. Armfield was one of two Blackpool players – along with Alan Ball – in England’s 1966 World Cup-winning squad but injury denied him an appearance.
In 2009 he was finally handed a winner’s medal by then Prime Minister Gordon Brown after a campaign to honour those who did not start in the final. After his playing career, Armfield became manager of Bolton Wanderers in 1971, leading them to promotion, and in 1974 began a four-year spell at Leeds United when he replaced Brian Clough as manager. He later trained as a journalist, landing a role at the Daily Express, where he stayed from 1979 until 1991.
Known for his keen sense of humour, Armfield was once in a press pack being berated by former England manager Howard Wilkinson, who pointedly asked reporters how many England caps they had got. Armfield famously replied: ‘43, Howard.’
The former player then became a summariser for BBC Radio Five Live and an FA consultant. BBC Match of the Day presenter and former England striker Gary Lineker tweeted: ‘Saddened to hear that Jimmy Armfield has passed away. A wonderful footballer and England captain who went on to be a terrific broadcaster of the game he loved, and, most importantly, he was a delightful man. He’ll be much missed.’
Former Liverpool and England keeper Ray Clemence called him ‘a great player and perfect gent in every way’. Armfield – who still lived in Blackpool – is survived by his 83-year-old wife Anne and two sons John and Duncan.