Gordon Astall (22 September 1927 – 21 October 2020) was an English professional footballer. He played as an outside right, and represented the Football League, the England B team and the full England side. At club level he made 456 appearances in the Football League and scored 111 goals.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gordon Astall[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1927-09-22)22 September 1927[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Horwich, England | ||
| Date of death | 21 October 2020(2020-10-21) (aged 93)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Outside right | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Royal Marines | |||
| Southampton | |||
| Bolton Wanderers (trial) | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1947–1953 | Plymouth Argyle | 188 | (42) |
| 1953–1961 | Birmingham City | 235 | (59) |
| 1961–1963 | Torquay United | 33 | (10) |
| Total | 456 | (111) | |
| National team | |||
| 1952 | England B | 1 | (0) |
| 1956 | England | 2 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Astall was born in Horwich, near Bolton, Lancashire.[1] He was playing amateur football for Southampton when he signed professional with Plymouth Argyle in November 1947.[3] He had previously been an unsuccessful triallist at his local side Bolton Wanderers.[4] His league debut came in February 1948 at home to Luton Town, and he soon became a regular in the Home Park side, helping Plymouth win the Third Division South title in 1952.[3] Due to his speed down the wing the crowd christened him Flash Astall. That same year he was selected for the England B team.[5] In October 1953 he was signed by Second Division rivals Birmingham City for a fee of £14,000, following his Plymouth wing colleague Alex Govan to St Andrew's. He had made 194 appearances for Plymouth and scored 43 goals.[3][6]
As a goalscoring outside right, Astall replaced the Scot Jackie Stewart in the Birmingham side and quickly became an important member of a team that won the Second Division title in 1955 and reached the 1956 FA Cup Final, losing 3–1 at Wembley to Manchester City.[7] Full international recognition followed and he scored on his debut for England against Finland on 20 May 1956. He played again six days later in a 3–1 victory against West Germany, but this proved to be his final international appearance.[4] He also took part in Birmingham's Inter-Cities Fairs Cup campaigns, playing in the 1960 final which the team lost 4–1 on aggregate to Barcelona.[8] At the end of the 1960–61 season, after 271 appearances for Birmingham in which he scored 67 goals,[6] he moved to Torquay United on a free transfer.[4]
Astall made his Gulls debut on 19 August 1961, featuring in a 2–1 defeat at home to Crystal Palace, and went on to score 10 goals in 27 league games in a season that saw Torquay relegated back to the Fourth Division thanks to a 4–2 final-day defeat away to Barnsley, Astall scoring one of Torquay's goals.[9] He played only six times the following season before retiring from the professional game.[6]
Astall settled in the Torbay area, working in insurance and coaching local club Upton Vale.[6] In May 2000, the Torquay Herald Express reported that he was living in retirement in the town and was a keen golfer.[10]
In later life, he was diagnosed with dementia.[11] He died in October 2020 at the age of 93.[12]
Plymouth Argyle
Birmingham City