Sean Armstrong is a second cousin of Northern Ireland’s 1982 World Cup hero Gerry Armstrong.

Thirty-six summers ago, Tyrone man Gerry famously scored the goal that handed Northern Ireland a magnificent 1-0 victory over hosts Spain in Valencia.

Sean Armstrong, who announced his retirement from intercounty duty with Galway last week, explained to The Irish News:

“My grandfather John and Gerry’s father, Gerry Snr., were brothers. My grandfather moved from Fintona to Galway and married a Clare woman and they moved to the States. They came back in the early 1960s and set up in Salthill. My dad was reared in Salthill but he used to spend a lot of his summers up in Fintona.

“I would always have known about Gerry and the World Cup. I’ve met him a couple of times and I would always have been aware of the star that Gerry was.

“I know he was a very talented footballer but I’m sure, when he looks back, he knows he made the right decision to go and play soccer after all the success he had.

“I stopped playing soccer when I was 16 but I played for Galway and Connacht schoolboys and had an Ireland trial or two but I was never that good at it. Football was always my better sport for sure.”

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