Northern Ireland: plans afoot to put the boys from '82 back together again
World Cup hero Gerry Armstrong recalls the famous 1-0 win over Spain in his new autibiography
Plans under way to mark the 40th anniversary of one of the most famous results in Northern Ireland's history.
On June 25th, 1982 the boys in green and white pulled of a 1-0 win over Spain in the World Cup finals - a result that sent shock waves around the footballing world.
The scorer of that historic goal was Gerry Armstrong and he is now hoping to get the players together again for a special 40th celebration.
In an interview with Nigel Gould, Head of News & Sport at Downtown Radio & Cool FM at the National Stadium at Windsor Park, " We would love to do a big dinner on the 25th of June - we've been talking about it for the last six months but because of covid we have been restricted but it is still in our plans.
"I would like as many players over as possible."
Armstrong was speaking during the launch of his new autiobiography 'My Story My Journey' - looking back on a superb career both internationally (63 caps for Northern Ireland) and domestically (Spurs and Real Mallorca among the clubs he played for).
"I spoke to a lot of the players and they are all very much up for it, so we'll see," he said.
"I think it is important to remember it - it was such a great time for our wee country."
Armstrong said he felt it was the right time to write the book.
And, it is no surprise that his career highlight is 'that' goal against Spain on their home turf.
"You can't not talk about the World Cup - nobody fancied us - and yet we finished top of our group," he said. "Two more wins and we would have been into the World Cup final."
Armstrong said Northern Ireland always "punches above their weight."
"We're a small population but we have big hearts," he said.
He said that despite the current Northern Ireland team not reaching the Euro or World Cup finals, he is optimistic about the future.
"I still believe we have that in us - we can qualify again," he said.