Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
A hero BRIAN READE
As Jimmy Armfield made one final trip down the wing at his beloved Bloomfield Road ground, the solemn crowd looked on in silence.
For 17 years this giant of a oneclub footballer who invented the role of overlapping full-back, had burst down that side of the Blackpool ground in his famous tangerine shirt, drawing thunderous applause.
Now, as his funeral cortege passed through a players’ guard of honour, the ground fell mute.
When it reached the corner flag, it paused for a minute, to give the hundreds of fans in the stand named after the man who played for this club more times than any other, the chance to bid him farewell.
And still the silence held.
Then, when the hearse slowly moved off and out of the stadium Blackpool’s greatest-ever servant had graced so magnificently across three different decades, the clapping thundered out once more.
The depth of the respect in that applause, not just for a giant of a footballer but a giant of a gentleman, cut through the cold air blowing in off the Irish Sea and left a warm glow in the famous old ground.
The cortege carrying the man dubbed Mr Blackpool, who died of cancer last month aged 82, made its way through the wet Lancashire streets to St Peter’s Church on the South Shore, where Jimmy was treasurer, warden and played the organ every Sunday.
It went past his statue outside the ground, which had been turned into a shrine to the memory of the man who made a club record 627 appearances for Blackpool between 1954-71 and played 43 times for England.
The flowers and tributes were not just laid by Blackpool fans but supporters of other English clubs, as well as Scotland’s Rangers and Irish side Limerick.
At the church, football royalty waited to salute football royalty. Sir Bobby Charlton, his brother Jack, Sir Trevor Brooking and Norman Hunter were among the many football figures at the private ceremony, which was relayed back to fans at Bloomfield Road. Hunter, who like Jimmy was part of England’s 1966 World Cup squad, said: “He was a football man who stayed at one place, which in itself is a remarkable achievement. He was very intelligent, fairly quiet in some ways but very well-liked.”
Vicar Tracy Charnock said Jimmy “touched and inspired” people, not just here in Blackpool but “across the country and the world”.
Jimmy’s sons, Duncan and John, regaled tales of their father’s life, outlining his love for his family, football and his adopted home of Blackpool.
A musical medley which included I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside, the theme tunes from Match of the Day and BBC’S famous Sports Report, played as his coffin left the church for a committal for family and friends.
Outside St Peter’s Church they applauded him off again. It wasn’t a crowd made up solely of Blackpool FC fans, but non-football lovers who were touched by