Stephen Armstrong (born 23 July 1976) is an English former

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 lea ...

who spent the majority of his career with clubs in the United States.

Career

College and amateur

Armstrong was born in

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

, England and raised in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, South Africa. He came to the United States to attend

Butler University Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study within six colleges in the arts, business, communic ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

and finished as the school's third all-time leading scorer with 43 goals and 16 assists. During his college career Armstrong also played for the

Mid-Michigan Bucks Flint City Bucks is an American soccer team based in Flint, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1995, the team plays in USL League Two. The club was founded in 1995 as the Mid-Michigan Bucks, playing in Saginaw, and began playing in 1996. In ...

in the

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

Professional

Armstrong was selected in the second round – 13th overall – of the

2000 MLS SuperDraft The 2000 Major League Soccer MLS SuperDraft, SuperDraft was held on February 6, 2000 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and consisted of six rounds. One of the most successful draft picks was goalkeeper Nick Rimando, a third round pick, who went on t ...

by D.C. United but he decided to begin his professional career in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

with

Västra Frölunda Västra Frölunda, sometimes referred to as just Frölunda, is one of 21 boroughs in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden. It is located in the south western part of the city, and is the smallest of the boroughs with a population of 12,855 (2004) on 3.7 ...

instead before moving to English

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

side

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

on a free transfer in October 2000. He made three appearances for the club, all as a substitute, before being released at the end of the 2000–01 season. He eventually returned to play for D.C. United, sixteen-months after the draft. Armstrong was traded to

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

for

Brandon Prideaux Brandon Prideaux (born August 18, 1976) is an American soccer coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the men's soccer team at the University of Washington. Prideaux spent most of his professional career in Major League Soccer, pla ...

on 11 January 2002. He spent two years with the Wizards, appearing in regular season and playoff each year. Armstrong missed the 2004

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

season while recovering from ACL surgery on his right knee. He joined the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

in 2005. At the beginning of the 2006 season Armstrong signed with

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

club

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are the oldest continuously operating professional socc ...

, where he would spend the remainder of his outdoor career, and served as an assistant coach during his final season with the club.

Honours

Charleston Battery *

USL Second Division The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Regular Season:

Individual *MISL Rookie of the Year: 2006–07

References

External links

Charleston Battery bio
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Stephen 1976 births Living people Footballers from Birkenhead Butler Bulldogs men's soccer players Charleston Battery players Chicago Storm (MISL) players Columbus Crew players D.C. United players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English men's footballers English people of Scottish descent English people of South African descent Men's association football forwards Major League Soccer players Flint City Bucks players Naturalised citizens of South Africa South African men's soccer players South African people of English descent South African people of Scottish descent Sporting Kansas City players English Football League players USL First Division players USL League Two players USL Second Division players USL Championship players Västra Frölunda IF players Watford F.C. players D.C. United draft picks English expatriate sportspeople in the United States English expatriate men's footballers Allsvenskan players