Former Plymouth Argyle, Birmingham City, Torquay United and England winger Gordon Astall has passed away at the age of 93.
Astall, who was born Horwich, near Bolton, was originally spotted by the Pilgrims when playing for the Royal Marines, at nearby Bickleigh, in 1947. He soon became a regular for Argyle and helped them to win the Third Division South title in the 1951-52 season.
A year later, he signed for Birmingham City and as a goalscoring outside right - a right winger in modern parlence - he starred for the Blues as they lifted the Second Division title in the 1954-55 campaign. This was later followed by an appearance in the 1956 FA Cup final which Birmingham lost 3-1 to Manchester City, which is most notable for Man City keeper Bert Trautmann playing on with a broken neck.
His club displays later earned him international recognition as he made his debut for England against Finland on May 20, 1956; six days later he won the second of his two England caps in a 3-1 win over West Germany, which is widely remembered for the virtuoso display by Manchester United's Duncan Edwards, who would sadly perish in the Munich Air Crash in 1958.
In 1960, Astall featured for Birmingham City in their appearance in the final of the Inter Cities Fairs Cup - which later became the UEFA Cup - against Barcelona.
A year later, he left St Andrews to return to Devon and joined Torquay United on a free transfer. Astall was one of many players who made the journey from the Blues to United in this period, including Robin Stubbs, Torquay's star player of the 1960s who joined United from Birmingham for £6,000 in 1963. Despite scoring ten goals in 27 appearances in the 1961-62 season, Astall was unable to prevent Torquay from being relegated from the Third Division to the Fourth Division. He appeared a further six times for United in the 1962-63 season before retiring from professional football.
Upon retiring, Astall remained in South Devon and worked in insurance and coached local side Upton Vale and even donned his boots again for Torbay Gentlemen. He was also a keen golfer and also played bowls and darts.
At the time of his passing he was the oldest living former England international.
Ahead of the VE Day 75 celebrations, and despite suffering from dementia, Astall was visited by two young hopefuls from Plymouth Argyle's development squad - one of which was Adam Randell, who is currently on loan at Plainmoor from the Pilgrims.
