Gordon Astall

Astall was born in Horwich, near Bolton, in Lancashire. He was playing amateur football for Southampton when he signed professional with Plymouth Argyle in November 1947. He had previously been an unsuccessful triallist at his local side Bolton Wanderers. His league debut came in February 1948 at home to Luton Town, and he soon became a regular in the Home Park side, helping Plymouth win the Third Division South title in 1952. Due to his speed down the wing the crowd christened him Flash Astall. That same year he was selected for the England B team. In October 1953 he was signed by Second Division rivals Birmingham City for a fee of £14,000, following his Plymouth wing colleague Alex Govan to St Andrew's. He had made 194 appearances for Plymouth and scored 43 goals. As a goalscoring outside right, Astall replaced the Scot Jackie Stewart in the Birmingham side and quickly became an important member of a team that won the Second Division title in 1955 and reached the 1956 FA Cup final, losing 3–1 at Wembley to Manchester City. Full international recognition followed and he scored on his debut for England against Finland on 20 May 1956. He played again six days later in a 3–1 victory against West Germany, but this proved to be his final international appearance. He also took part in Birmingham's Inter-Cities Fairs Cup campaigns, playing in the 1960 final which the team lost 4–1 on aggregate to Barcelona. At the end of the 1960–61 season, after 271 appearances for Birmingham in…

Plymouth Argyle

Football League Third Division South: 1951–52 Birmingham City

Football League Second Division: 1954–55 FA Cup runner-up: 1955–56 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup runner-up: 1958–60