At the 1982 World Cup in Spain, Gerry Armstrong wrote his name into the history books by scoring the winning goal in Northern Ireland's iconic victory against the hosts.
While his finish in the 47th minute broke Spanish hearts, it did much more back in his home nation. The goal transcended football, bringing a divided country together to celebrate the success of the World Cup team.
“Back at the team hotel, there were hundreds of messages from around the world; from the Taoiseach of Ireland, from the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, from the Reverend Ian Paisley... telegrams came from everywhere, from all denominations," Armstrong tells FourFourTwo. "There were street parties across Ireland.
“That’s when Norman Whiteside’s mum [a Protestant] was invited by my mum [a Catholic] to go from the Shankill Road to the Falls Road for tea and sandwiches. Camera crews were there. It broke down all of the barriers. Politicians had tried for years to bring the communities together, but football did it in one World Cup game.
"I think that’s our greatest achievement from that World Cup – what it did for the people. They were really down and we gave them something to cheer them up.”
For the benefit of those who haven’t seen the goal against Spain that defined his fate, Armstrong intercepts the ball deep inside his own half, two minutes after the interval, and plays it out wide to Billy Hamilton.
Over to the late John Motson: “Gerry Armstrong, what a worker he is, striding away there, with Hamilton to his right and Norman Whiteside up on the far side of the area. It’s still Billy Hamilton, he’s got past Tendillo – Arconada – ARMSTRONG! Northern Ireland have scored through Gerry Armstrong!”
Not even a red card for Mal Donaghy in the 61st minute could dampen Northern Ireland's resolve in the game, as they held onto win 1-0.
Victory meant they finished top of Group 5, too, ahead of Spain, Yugoslavia and Honduras. However, they were unable to progress from the second group stage at the tournament, with France knocking Norn Iron and Austria out.
Still, Armstrong finished as the highest scoring player from the UK with three goals, while Northern Ireland enjoyed their most famous victory.
