David Armstrong was a great servant to Southampton Football Club and it's hard to believe it's almost 30 years since he left the club, his biography tells the story.

David Armstrong played 365 consecutive games for Middlesbrough by the time he was 26 when he joined Saints in August 1981 to boost what was hoped to be a challenge for the League title in the coming season, it was not to be but Saints did lead the table for a long period before tailing off in the final weeks of the season.

Armstrong though became a club legend at the Dell playing 272 games in all competitions in his six seasons as a Saints, now his story is told and it is one that contains many ups as well as many downs both on and off the pitch.

David was the club record signing at £600,000 when he arrived in the summer of 1981 and the book can be basically split into three areas, the first is how he started out at Boro, the second is his time at Saints and the third is his life after the game and chronicles his struggles not just with the pain of injuries from the game but in having to adapt to life outside of the game.

The one thing that emerges is that unfortunately for him Armstrong played just before the big money came into the game, yes he was was well paid compared to the average man in the street, but if he had been born 10 years later then a man of his talent would have earned much more and not had to scrape a living on the peripherals of the game and indeed he documents how only four years after being capped for England he had to sign on the dole.

It is a story that is engaging on two fronts, the first it tells of football in a different age, one that many Saint supporters will recall and secondly it goes behind the scenes at the Dell during a period when Saints were truly one of the top sides in the country.

It is not a pretty tale, nor is it one of a man who was happy in himself for a lot of the time, for all the success on the pitch he had a life that was in turmoil off it due to divorce and the heartbreak that can wreak.

Ultimately though it shows that David is a survivor and despite never being able to break into the game full time as a coach or a manager he worked hard to earn money out of the game as well as part time in it.

The Bald Facts was originally published in hardback in 2013, now it has been updated and is out in paperback, perhaps making it more affordable and accessible to Saints supporters.

It is now out in all good bookshops priced £8.99.

Look out next week for our great competition giving you a chance to win all four books linked with Saints in the Pitch Publishing roster.

Photo: Action Images

ItchenNorth added 13:50 - Dec 13 He certainly stood out as a player. Definitely worth reading this book; if you are out of the 80s football breed.
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redwight added 17:33 - Dec 13 Holmes, Williams, Armstrong, Ball. Did Saints ever have a better midfield?
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saintmark1976 added 21:10 - Dec 13 redwight . The answer is almost certainly "no". Any one of them would walk into the current Saints midfield. Indeed,some would say even taking into account their current ages with no disrespect intended to the great Bally.
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whitty added 22:47 - Dec 13 A good read. My favourite player fantastic-left foot, if only we had a goal scoring midfielder in his mould now so many headers arriving late in the box. Not a Keeganesc signing but still remember us signing him 81 before Charles and Di got married whilst sat on the beach on my hols. Oh and that right foot cross for Steve Moran happy days!
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