Luke Thomas Armstrong (born 2 July 1996) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a striker for

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Le ...

club

Harrogate Town Harrogate Town A.F.C. is a professional association football club in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the Sulphurites, due to the ...

Club career

Early career

Armstrong began his career with Middlesbrough, making his way up through the academy teams until he was released by the club in the summer of 2014. He subsequently joined Birmingham City's youth setup on a one-year deal after a successful trial period but would leave after he was informed that his contract with

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

would not be renewed in the summer of 2015. Armstrong then had a successful trial period with

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League One was ...

outfit

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 18 ...

, leading to him being handed a one-year deal. After six months with the club, Armstrong decided to terminate his contract due his game time being limited to just a few substitute appearances during the half-season. Following this setback, Armstrong would join

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division ...

Premier Division club Blyth Spartans, which was then managed by his father,

Alun Armstrong Alan Armstrong, known professionally as Alun Armstrong, is an English actor. He grew up in County Durham in North East England, and first became interested in acting through Shakespeare productions at his grammar school. Since his career bega ...

. He would score 23 goals across the season, helping his team to win the Northumberland Senior Cup and league title, ultimately attracting the attention of one of his previous employers in the form of

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

Return to Middlesbrough and loans

On 16 July 2018, Armstrong joined

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

club Gateshead on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

until the end of the season. On 29 July 2018, he notably scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

against his former club Blyth Spartans during a 3–1 victory in a friendly at Croft Park. After scoring on his ''Heed'' début, Armstrong would score two goals against Salford City in a 2–1 victory. He went on to make 18 appearances for the club, during which he scored a further seven goals, by the time his loan was cut short by parent club

on 31 December 2018. Upon his return to

, Armstrong would sign a new two and a half year contract with the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club, before being shipped out on loan to

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete histor ...

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

on 11 January 2019. He made his debut for the club the next day, in a goalless

tie versus

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

at the

Wham Stadium The Crown Ground is a multi-use stadium in Accrington, Lancashire, England. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Accrington Stanley. Opened in 1968, the stadium has a capacity of 5,450. The ground is curre ...

Salford City

On 26 July 2019, Armstrong joined newly promoted

outfit Salford City on a permanent transfer, signing a three year contract. He scored his first goal against

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is t ...

, opening the scoring in a 3–0 triumph as Salford won away for the first time in the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...

. On 7 December 2020, Armstrong joined

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartl ...

until the end of the 2020–21 season on loan. Armstrong scored a brace on his debut for Hartlepool in a 2–0 win against

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, ...

. Armstrong went on to score 15 goals in all competitions for Pools, including one in their

2021 National League play-off Final The 2021 National League play-off final, known as the Vanarama National League Promotion Final for sponsorship reasons, was an association football match played on 20 June 2021 at the Ashton Gate Stadium in Bristol between Torquay United and Har ...

win against

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

Harrogate Town

On 26 June 2021 it was announced that he has signed for

for an undisclosed fee. Armstrong signed a new contract at the end of the 2021–22 season that would keep him at the club until the summer of 2025.

Personal life

Luke is the son of former

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

and

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn professio ...

striker

. He attended

Wolsingham School Wolsingham School is a coeducational secondary school located in Wolsingham, County Durham, England. The school is situated just off the A689, and near the River Wear in the former district of Wear Valley. This is the former grammar school. ...

and is a qualified personal trainer having picked up a Level 3 qualification at Darlington College. In December 2021, Armstrong opened a cafe in

Wolsingham Wolsingham is a market town in Weardale, County Durham, England. It is situated by the River Wear, between Crook and Stanhope. History Wolsingham sits at the confluence of the River Wear and Waskerley Beck. It is a small settlement and one ...

called No 10.

Career statistics

Honours

Blyth Spartans *

Premier Division: 2016–17 Hartlepool United *

play-offs:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Luke 1996 births Living people Sportspeople from Durham, England Footballers from County Durham English footballers Association football forwards Middlesbrough F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Cowdenbeath F.C. players Blyth Spartans A.F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players Salford City F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players Northern Premier League players National League (English football) players English Football League players Harrogate Town A.F.C. players