Competition for England recognition was rife when Middlesbrough's wily and distinctive
midfielder David Armstrong was called up by Ron Greenwood as part of the experimental
and futuristic squad which travelled to Sydney in May 1980 for a friendly against Australia.
The European Championship finals were nigh and Greenwood had no intention of inflicting
a gruelling trip and jet lag on his first choice players just a week before they were due to
travel to Italy, so he looked for the reserves, up-and-coming players and the borderline
talents to make up his squad.
Armstrong was such, making an undistinguished debut in a
2-1 win in which three other players (Russell Osman, Terry Butcher and Alan Sunderland)
made their bows and a clutch more won only their second caps.Greenwood said thanks and
no more, and Armstrong wasn't issued with a call-up again for more than two years for a
friendly against West Germany
(the photo above is during the game), by which time
he'd switched to Southampton and England had turned to Bobby Robson.
The symmetry of his England career was completed when, having won his second cap two years after his first
and been pretty nondescript, he was handed a third opportunity by Robson a further two
years on when he played in a highly forgettable 1-0 defeat by Wales in the 1984 Home
Internationals. Although giving a player a chance just over a one-game trial is often seen
as unfair, it became clear that while Armstrong was a worthy and sometimes excellent club
player, he was not an international.
(Matthew Rudd)