Jack Armstrong | |||||||
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OVERALL STATISTICS | |||||||
| BIRTH | AGE | SIGNED ON | FROM | ||||
| DEBUT | LAST MATCH | LEFT | |||||
| CAREER | APPEARANCES (SUBS) | ||||||
| TRIES | GOALS | DGOALS | PTS | ||||
Biography of Jack Armstrong |
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 HERITAGE NO : Jack Armstrong ROCK HARD Jack was born in August 1870 in the Westmorland settlement of Kendal. His father, Joseph, was a limestone journeyman and young Jack was to follow in his father’s footsteps in that occupation. The family lived in a community minded district of the town around Captain French Lane. In fact Jack would spend his whole life in that particular thoroughfare. Jack was a Westmorland county wing three-quarter, whose nickname was ‘Blake’. The History of football in Kendal describes him as follows: “Very tricky and speedy in his runs, and a famous tackler; well-known in the six and nine-a-side competitions; always displayed sound judgement, and stuck to the club like a leech”. The club side Kendal Hornets had a strong link with the Saints. In those days rugby was community based with strong social bonds, players had the freedom to guest for other teams and it was not unusual for players to appear in rivals’ colours from time to time. The strong bond between the Saints and Kendal Hornets emerged in the 1880s based on regular fixtures and one huge character, Billy Cross. Billy Cross was instrumental in introducing Jack to the delights of rugby in St Helens. The rugged forward made his debut for the Saints against Sale on the 10th of October 1891. The match resulted in a 24 points to nil victory for victory for the Saints with Armstrong powering his way over the line for a stunning try. In the same match Billy Cross showed the way with a hat trick of tries and one goal.. Jack appeared for his second and final match for the Saints in a friendly against Runcorn on the the following Thursday. This time the Saints succumbed to the Linnets by 7 points to 2. It would appear that Jack had visited the town at the behest of Billy Cross but had soon returned to his family, job and Kendal Hornets, a sort of rugby tourism. In 1911 Jack was living at 2 Captain French Lane, across the street from the house in which he was born. In the same abode was his wife Sarah and step daughter Emma Jane Fisher. Jack was still doing the hard graft working with limestone. He died in January 1917 aged 47, doubtless with his recollection of a great week in St Helens lurking in the back of his mind. |
| Date | Match | Pos | Opponents | Comp | Venue | FT | FTO | T | G | DG | ||
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| 10th Oct 1891 | 1 | W |
11 | Sale* | FR | H | 24 | 0 | 1 | VIEW | ||
| 15th Oct 1891 | 2 | L |
10 | Runcorn* | Charity | A | 2 | 7 | VIEW |
| *Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub. |
| WINS : 1 | LOSSES : 1 | DRAWS : |
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