Jimmy Armfield at 80: Our interview with the Blackpool legend on his milestone birthday

On turning 80 Jimmy Armfield did a special interview with the Gazette's Seasiders writer William Watt. Here are some extracts.
Former Gazette writer William Watt with Blackpool legend Jimmy ArmfieldFormer Gazette writer William Watt with Blackpool legend Jimmy Armfield
Former Gazette writer William Watt with Blackpool legend Jimmy Armfield

“I wasn’t sure I’d reach 80 at one time, so I’m just glad I did.”

Those were the modest words of Jimmy Armfield, as the footballing icon celebrated his 80th birthday.

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But after playing more than 600 times for Blackpool, captaining England and receiving a CBE from the Queen, Armfield was determined not to slow down.

He told The Gazette: “When you get older you have a tendency to live for the day. I was a school governor for 30 years, I still do coaching advice for the PFA, I’m chairman of the Lancashire Partnership against Crime, President of Age UK Blackpool, President of Trinity Hospice and those keep me mobile all the time.

“I have things to keep my mind going. I play the organ, which is good for my brain, and I’m a keen gardener. That all helps in keeping me active. I’ve always been non-stop, that’s my thing.

“As a player I was like that. People say I was the first overlapping full-back but that’s just what I’m like. I wanted to get on the ball more and do more, so I used to overlap.”

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‘Gentleman Jim’, was determined to stay active the Fylde coast community after his 2007 cancer scare when he received 400 cards and 2,500 emails were sent to the club.

“I was among good people,’ Armfield said. “I just wanted to be in Blackpool. It was harrowing but I tried to be positive all the time. The two chaps who had treatment with me didn’t make it and I do wonder why I beat the disease.

“Was it because I played sport every day of my young life? I think it might be. I was physically strong and that may well have saved me. I also had my own personal nurse, which helped,” he said referring to his wife Anne, who he married in Blackpool in 1958.

Having lived in the shadow of Bloomfield Road as child, Armfield recalled: “I should never have really been a footballer. I passed my 11-plus, went to a rugby-playing school, did my exams and was accepted to study economics at Liverpool University. But then along came Blackpool FC.

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“I was a local boy and had grown up playing the game on the beach. I played in the street as well and always carried a tennis ball around with me. I would kick that against walls on my own but I had never shot at a proper net.

“Before my first trial game for Blackpool I had never even played on a proper pitch. It all happened so quickly. My PE teacher was into football and said there was a game for junior players at the ground. I went along, we won 4-1 and I scored all four goals. That’s how it started and I went on to captain my country.”

His first game for Blackpool in December 1954 at Portsmouth is not one he remembers fondly.

“I found myself up against Gordon Dale, a very clever and strong winger with plenty of experience. He was far too good and we lost 3-0.

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“Gordon really gave me the runaround and I realised just how much I had to learn.

“They were a very good team and they scored in about the first two minutes. I hadn’t touched the ball. We were three down after 15 minutes.”

But after 17 years in a Blackpool shirt, Armfield could reflect: “I loved every single minute of my playing career and didn’t take one day of it for granted. I think my generation was programmed not to.

“I was a war baby, I didn’t taste chocolate until I was 11, and grew up with rationing. “We grew up in the dark, holidays were very rare and so any sort of perk was a bonus and we were grateful for it.

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“Blackpool is in my heart. I came here as a little boy during the war with my mother. We lived in a boarding house until the end of the war and we stayed.

“When I look back, Blackpool has been good to me. I still think it has a great deal going for it. When I drive home down the M55 and I can see the Tower I always think the sky looks brighter. It always feels brighter to me when I am driving to the west.”

“The only regret is I never won a medal with Blackpool. We were always a good team but we never managed to win anything. We should have done with the players we had.”