From the Archive; Remembering Jimmy Armfield

From shortly after his passing in January 2018, some reflections on the life and career of the legendary player, manager and broadcaster.

Reading through the obituaries this morning for the former Blackpool and England captain and broadcaster Jimmy Armfield, it was difficult not to be struck by the tone of the comments made by those who’d enjoyed the privilege of spending time with him. “Kind”, “modest”, “humble” and “gentle” are not, after all, words commonly thrown around when we talk about leading figures in the media—or in football, if we’re honest with ourselves—very often. But then again, Jimmy Armfield was hardly the typical professional footballer, and neither was he the typical professional broadcaster.

Throughout the length of his career as a player, a manager and a broadcaster, Armfield always felt like something of a throwback. As a player he was a one club man, running up almost 570 appearances for Blackpool between 1954 and 1971, a reassuring presence at right-back at a club that became one of the casualties of the industrialisation of professional football that took place from the start of the 1960s on.