Ex-England captain Armfield dies

LONDON: Former England captain and Blackpool legend Jimmy Armfield has died at the age of 82 after a long battle with cancer.

Armfield, who played 627 matches in 17 years for his only club and was part of the World Cup-winning squad in 1966, was diagnosed with cancer for a second time last year. Armfield captained Blackpool for more than 10 of his 17 years at the club and was capped 43 times for England, with 15 of those occasions as skipper. He was one of two Blackpool players along with Alan Ball named in England’s 1966 World Cup winning squad, although injury denied him an appearance at the tournament. Only players who were on the pitch in the final received winners’ medals but that was rectified 43 years later when Armfield eventually received his medal.Armfield had stints in management with Bolton and Leeds before moving into broadcasting where he spent more than 30 years working for the BBC.