Today marks the 40th anniversary of one of the most seismic shocks in World Cup finals history – and two Albion players were at the heart of it.
That day in Valencia in 1982, a goal from Gerry Armstrong earned Northern Ireland a 1-0 win over hosts Spain while Sammy Nelson kept the Spanish out after Ireland were reduced to ten men in the closing stages. “It was the greatest day of my career,” said Armstrong, who went on to make 55 appearances for Albion between 1986-89.
Until Trinidad and Tobago’s appearance at the World Cup in Germany in 2006, Northern Ireland held the record for being the smallest nation ever to qualify for the finals. They prepared for their first appearance in the finals since 1958 in Brighton at a training camp at Sussex University where manager Billy Bingham, who died earlier this month, put the squad through their paces.
They began the group stage with a creditable 0-0 draw against Yugoslavia but a 1-1 draw against Honduras left them needing victory over the hosts to reach the next round.
Two minutes into the second half Armstrong silenced the 50,000 crowd when he made an interception in his own half, strode forward, switched the ball to Billy Hamilton, whose cross was pushed back into in Armstrong’s path by keeper Luis Arconada. Armstrong belted a right-foot shot past the keeper. “We didn’t realise at the time, but we bonded the country together,” he said. “You couldn’t write the script for it. We were just wrapped up in playing for our country and doing the best we could,” said Armstrong.
After Mal Donaghy’s harsh red card Nelson and his fellow defenders, as well as legendary keeper Pat Jennings, had their work cut out to preserve the lead.
“I came on as a sub with about 25 minutes or half an hour to go and we were hanging onto the goal that Gerry scored,” Sammy recalled. “Mal had got sent off and we were down to ten men, then Sammy McIlroy had been kicked and got injured. In fact, there were a few kicks being handed out so on I went.
“It was immense. King Juan Carlos was there in attendance along with quite a few of the Spanish royal hierarchy. They were thinking it was going to be a straightforward game. It ended up being one of the biggest shocks of the tournament as we held on to win 1-0. Even our travel agent had booked us on return flights for the day after the game – quite an ‘Irish’ thing to do! They had to cancel everything, and we moved on to Madrid.”
The Irish finished top of the group but a draw with Austria and defeat against France in the second round ended their campaign.
Two Billy Hamilton goals in a 2-2 draw versus Austria, a match in which Sammy made his 51st and final international appearance, left Northern Ireland just one game away from making it through to the semi-finals but a France team inspired by Michel Platini won 4-1.
So unexpected was their progress that there was no open-top bus parade at the time. It finally happened that November in Belfast, where Armstrong took much of the applause.
Nelson, who played 45 times for Albion, added, “We hadn’t qualified for the World Cup finals since 1958, primarily because we hadn’t had the nucleus of a big squad. We’d had players like George Best but were often drawn into qualifying groups that were top notch. If we didn’t have our full squad, then we were going to have problems. But the way that squad was – the amount of experience that had built up, players playing in the First Division, the camaraderie within the team, the endeavour to perform well for the people – meant we finally got the opportunity in 1982. They were one-off games and, if we all gelled together, we believed we could get some results. And it worked out well for us.
“To finish at that stage, in a World Cup, rather than at some mediocre game somewhere else, was ideal. Those are highlights that you’ll always remember. There were a lot of problems back in Northern Ireland at that time with the troubles and I think we did help people gel. The people were really 100 per cent behind us… and the players felt that. It was amazing. When you have that type of support, and you think you’ve done well for the team, then you’ve done well for the whole country.”