DAVID ARMSTRONG had not played very much for Middlesbrough when I took over as manager but I could see from the first pre-season friendly or two that he was a hell of a good player. David sealed the left side of our midfield from day one and gave the club tremendous service over many years and, like a lot of that team, did not get the individual recognition he deserved.
We had a great team and played to our strengths and the weaknesses of our opponents. We had in Alan Foggon a striker who might have made a living as a sprinter. He was that fast. Teams in those days played offside and our aim was to get David and the great Bobby Murdoch to find the gaps behind defences for Alan to run in to. Alan was not so good with the ball but if we did all the right things he could get on the end of those through balls and put them away.
David was a great passer and a little quicker than people think. He also got more than his fair share of goals from midfield. He was an intelligent player but not a big lad and that might have counted against him in England terms. They always want big lads.
I think back to the lads we had like David Mills, Foggon, John Hickton, Willie Maddren, Stuart Boam and John Craggs and, like David, they either played little for England or not at all. In my view they were all good enough but maybe Middlesbrough didn’t capture the imagination of the national media.
David was an important part of an outstanding team and it didn’t change much at all from year to year. We should have won a trophy or two. We were certainly good enough.
Looking back, I think I should have stayed as Middlesbrough manager for one more year. It is easy to say that now but when I left we were not far away from winning honours regularly. I left behind a great team and some fine players. David was one of those.
David had a top class domestic career and should have played many more times for England. He was easily good enough.
JACK CHARLTON
October 2012