Jimmy Armfield has passed away

Former Bolton Wanderers manager Jimmy Armfield has passed away. Led Bolton to the Third Division championship in 1972/73.

Fine player,fine man. And,I might add,a very good pundit during his time on the radio.

Sad to hear that, as Boncey says a very knowledgeable man and knew his football inside out and also managed the Super Whites and did a great job from what i've read in the past.

Very sad news.

Great man and fantastic manager, Bolton legend.

RIP

Ex-Bolton manager Jimmy Armfield loses cancer battle at 82

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Jimmy Armfield, left, congratulates Warwick Rimmer after Bolton seal the 1972/73 Third Division championship.

FORMER Bolton Wanderers manager Jimmy Armfield has passed away at the age of 82 after a battle with cancer.
It was confirmed this morning by Armfield’s family the former England international, who spent his entire playing career with Blackpool, had died at the Trinity Hospice near Poulton.
A statement from the family said: "After a long and courageous battle, our beloved husband, father, grandfather and father-in-law Jimmy Armfield, has passed away peacefully surrounded by his immediate family.

"At this time we are still in shock as we begin the grieving process. We know Jimmy was a public figure, but the family respectfully ask for privacy at this time.
"We have many wonderful messages of love and support, for which we are grateful, and moved by all the kind words.
"We would also like to thank all the magnificent and dedicated NHS staff who have kept Jimmy, and the family, as well as possible over the ten years of his illness.
"During the last few days Trinity Hospice in Blackpool made a big difference to Jimmy as he slipped away, pain free at last.
"Jimmy had two great loves, first and foremost was his family, to which he was devoted and loved dearly. The other was football, especially Blackpool, England and his colleagues at the PFA.

"Once again, the family extends its thanks as we try to come to terms in a world without Jimmy."
Armfield was dubbed the world’s finest right-back after his performances for England at the 1962 World Cup in Chile and was also a member of Sir Alf Ramsey’s World Cup winning squad four years later. He eventually earned 43 caps, 15 as captain, but stayed loyal to Blackpool through his whole playing career, amassing 568 league games for the Tangerines and 627 in total.
It was considered a huge coup for Wanderers to land one of the game’s most recognised names following the club’s relegation to the Third Division for the first time in their history in 1971 under Jimmy Meadows.
Armfield’s first act as manager was to restore Bolton’s traditional white shirt and navy blue shorts and dispense with the all-white kit which had been used previously.

His impact was immediate and though the team missed out on promotion in his first season, they had improved defensively thanks to the addition of players like Peter Nicholson, Charlie Wright, Henry Mowbray and Graham Rowe.
He also helped shape the early careers of Wanderers’ stars to come, including a young Paul Jones.
“Nat Lofthouse gave me my debut but it was Jim who really brought me and a few others through to make the team Ian Greaves eventually took on,” he told The Bolton News.
“It is a sad loss. Jim was a kind bloke, a pleasure to work for, and he will be sadly missed.”
Armfield led Bolton to a famous League Cup victory over Manchester City in which Garry Jones scored three times and the following season to promotion as champions of Division Three.
In September 1974 he accepted an offer to manage Leeds United and led the Whites to the European Cup final in 1975.
“Gentleman Jim” had another stint in charge of Leeds after the departure of Brian Clough but then concentrated on journalism, becoming one of the BBC most enduring pundits.

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Jimmy Armfield when he managed Bolton Wanderers in 1973


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Always came across as a really nice bloke and did a decent job when he was our manager. RIP.

Just hearing of the death of BWFC former manager Jimmy Armfield dying from cancer at the ripe old age of 82. RIP. And another legend drops off the mortal coil.

Bolton Wanderers pay respects to ex-manager Jimmy Armfield

TRIBUTES have been paid to Jimmy Armfield, the former England captain who helped re-shape Bolton Wanderers as manager in the early seventies.
It was confirmed this morning that Armfield had passed away aged 82 at a hospice near Poulton le Fylde following a battle with cancer.
Armfield, who played a record 627 times for Blackpool, took up the job at Burnden Park on May 19, 1971 following the Whites’ relegation to the old Third Division for the first time in the club’s history.
Then aged 36, the former England international’s arrival was considered quite a footballing coup.

Armfield captained England 15 times and had been acclaimed as the best right-back on the planet after the World Cup in Chile in 1962. But he had not played for his country for a year before the 1966 finals because of a groin injury. He was recalled by Sir Alf Ramsey for the competition but cracked a toe playing against Finland in one of the early warm-up games. The back four then remained unchanged, leaving Armfield without a winner’s medal because he did not play in the final. That was eventually corrected by FIFA in 2009 when they issued medals to all 11 reserves.
His arrival at Burnden was considering something of a football coup.
He undertook a swift rebuilding process at Wanderers under a tight budget but one of his most memorable acts was to restore the traditional kit of white shirts and navy shorts, discarding the all-white kit which had been used the season before.
One of the players who followed Armfield from Bloomfield Road was Peter Nicholson, signed for £4,000 he would go on to represent Wanderers for another 11 years.
“Jimmy was Mr Blackpool, that’s what they called him, and when he agreed to take the Bolton job I was primed as his successor. I was next in line,” Nicholson recalled.
“But he turned around to me and said ‘I want to take you to Bolton’ and sold the club to me. He loved the place, the history, the tradition and the rivalry they had with Blackpool.

“He ended up taking me, Graham Rowe and Henry Mowbray over there and the rest was history.
“It was the first time the club had ever been in the Third Division but he got us organised, got things his way and made a good team out of us.
“He was my mentor but he didn’t really coach you in the same way they do today. You just stood back, watched him play and took notes.”
Armfield missed out on promotion in his first season, Wanderers finishing seventh behind champions Aston Villa, but the team had shown signs of promise conceding just 41 goals – the best record since 1925.
Bolton also knocked Manchester City out of the League Cup with a glorious 3-0 victory, courtesy of Garry Jones’ hat-trick in front of more than 42,000 at Burnden Park.
The following season Wanderers got it right, lifting the championship trophy with room to spare.
One of the younger players pushed into the limelight at the time was defender Paul Jones, who had taken over from the long-serving John Hulme.
Jones played in every game of the 72/73 title win and was eventually regarded as one of the best defenders ever produced by the club, helping Wanderers return to the top flight under Ian Greaves in 1977/78.
“Jimmy was one of the kindest, most honest blokes you could ever wish to meet,” Jones told The Bolton News. “He got us together, fostered that ‘one for all’ spirit but I can’t remember him even getting angry. He didn’t swear once the whole time I played for him, and you’d never imagine that of a manager these days.

“He commanded respect because of what he’d done in the game. The group didn’t give him many problems but if there was something to be sorted it would be done in his office, behind closed doors, with nothing coming out into the press.
“What he did for Bolton at that time possibly doesn’t get the recognition it should.
“Nat Lofthouse gave me my debut but it was Jim who really brought me and a few others on.
“Jimmy started what Ian Greaves finished off. Those two men together created that whole era in the late seventies where we had a bit of success and were a decent side.
“He was a pleasure to work for, and he’ll be sadly missed.”
Armfield took charge of one full season in the Second Division with Wanderers and led the club to a respectable 11th placed finish.

Once again the goals of John Byrom proved useful, as it turned out in Bolton’s first-ever Sunday game, a 3-2 victory over Stoke City.
Armfield’s services were in high demand, however, and though Bolton’s fans did their best to keep him at Burnden – compiling a petition at one point to prevent him leaving for Blackpool – the offers kept coming.
An approach from First Division Everton was rejected in 1974 before Leeds United asked him to succeed Brian Clough, following his ill-fated 44-days in charge.
Armfield spent four years at Elland Road before moving into journalism, both as a writer and BBC pundit.

“When he got offered the Leeds job I don’t suppose he could have said no, and he went on to do a great job there,” said Nicholson. “When you look at the short time he did spend as a manager it was very successful but he made a good job of radio. He spoke common sense and he was so knowledgeable.”

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Another football pioneer departed. A gentleman and a scholar.

True Gent RIP Mate BWFC Legend !!

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A true gent.