By Christopher Boulay
Senior Goalkeeper Paul Armstrong, like most of the foreign players on the CCSU men’s soccer team has come a long way. Not just the 3,222 miles from Liverpool, England to New Britain, but the soccer journey he has taken as well.
Armstrong started out playing amateur soccer when he was nine. When he was 14, while still unattached to a youth outfit, he finally got his chance. He was picked up by Wigan Athletic Football Club, currently an English Premier League side, and given a spot in their youth organization. From Wigan, he went to Morecambe F.C., then Crewe Alexandra F.C., which are both members of League Two, the fourth division of the English Football Pyramid.
After his stints with these clubs, he went to Chester City F.C., who at the end of last season were relegated out of League Two.
“Within four or five years, I moved to four different clubs,” Armstrong said. “Most of the time I was moving because of ease of transport. Crewe is over an hour train ride from my house, and Morcambe is at least an hour drive. It was causing too many problems.”
Despite the difficulty getting around England to play for his clubs, Armstrong realized that his dream of becoming a professional footballer could come true.
“When I got to that level of playing, I think it sort of hit me that I could make a career out of soccer. I wanted to pursue that,” he said.
While at Chester City, Armstrong was told that if he stayed, he could be given a reserve contract at the club, and fight for a higher spot there. Reserve contracts are unpaid, and a difficult decision was on the horizon.
“If you called upon, you’d be given a first team contract,” Armstrong said. “It wasn’t what I was looking for, I couldn’t make a living out of that.”
This is where “Scouse’s,” a nickname for people from Liverpool, and what he is called by many of the players and staff, journey to the United States began.
“It was a strange journey going from club to club, but it was a great learning experience for me,” he said.
While looking to possibly play for other clubs and get a professional contract, Armstrong was given information on a company called ScholarshipsUSA.com, run by Adam Clementson, a former CCSU soccer player from 1996-98. The company helps give foreign soccer players an opportunity to play for a college or university in the United States on scholarship.
“It’s a big step to leave your country for four years, leave your family. I was apprehensive at first,” he said.
Armstrong brought a couple of his friends with him to the trial, so he would be less nervous. He did well during the trial, and he was elected to the program.
Immediately, he started getting calls about coaches all over the United States wanting him to play at their school.
“Overall I had 14 or 15 offers to come and play,” Armstrong said. “Eventually I chose Central. I was speaking to Shaun [Green], everything was going brilliant. Then, I lost contact with Shaun for two months.”
Armstrong would later find out from former assistant at CCSU, Todd Dufresne, that Coach Green had suffered a heart attack, and was in no condition to recruit.
“I was left in limbo. I didn’t know whether I was going or whether I was going to have to stay [in Liverpool.]”
Time started to become a factor for Armstrong, as the NCAA has a time limit on signing, so he had to act quickly.
After Armstrong found out about the situation with Green, Dufresne emailed Armstrong and told him that CCSU isn’t going to take him.
“It was a huge disappointment for me,” Armstrong said.
Other offers for Armstrong’s services kept pouring in, and it looked like he would be going to Ohio to play his college soccer, as he went as far as making a verbal agreement with the school. But two days before he was to sign his letter of intent, Armstrong received a call.
“I got a call from Shaun. He had no idea of the conversation [with Dufresne]. He asked, ‘are we still on?’ It was out of the blue for me. I was told I wasn’t needed.”
Armstrong and Green straightened the situation out, and he was on his way to play for the Blue Devils.
The adjustment coming to America was difficult for Armstrong, but with a bit of help and guidance from some of his former teammates, he was able to make the transition to life in America.
“There was only like four or five lads in my recruiting class, and one was Eddie Floyd and one was Persis Oware,” Armstrong said. “I got lucky that Shaun got me the apartment with Dave Tyrie, and that helped a lot for settling in. I was with English lads, and they were able to understanding the feelings I was going through: homesick, not talking to your family on a daily basis, so they were able to help with that.”
Even Armstrong’s American teammates helped with the transition, as some of them invited him to their homes and he met their families, which he believes is an invaluable part of his experience here, and has added to his extended new family that he has with the soccer team.
He said, “It was good to come into an environment where everyone was so welcoming.”
Even after he was settled in, he found ways to help the future stars of the program get settled the same way his English predecessors did to him.
Captain Robert Cavener, a junior, recalled the time that he had to adjust to living away from his family and familiar surroundings, and how Armstrong made his transition easier.
“He’s always helped me out. When I got here, he was definitely one of the guys who helped me settle in,” Cavener said. “He’s great on the field. He’s a leader. Loud. Everyone can hear him. He’s a great guy. I hope we’re still friends after he leaves here.”
Armstrong has started in net for the Blue Devils for the last three years, but to him, nothing is more memorable than the run to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament.
“When I was with the professional squads in England, we had a few cup runs, but we never got very far,” Armstrong said. “The only time it happened to me was during amateur football when I was 13 or 14 we won a local cup, but that was all I won. The feeling of winning a cup is fantastic. It came to a point during my sophomore year, where every game was a cup final.”
With Armstrong in net, CCSU was able to string victory after victory together to qualify for the NEC Tournament, where they upset #1 seed Monmouth, and St. Francis to lift the NEC title.
“I’ve never been more proud in my life than when we beat St. Francis,” Armstrong said. “We went on to beat Harvard and Tulsa and they were great games, but the fact that we beat [St. Francis] in the final and Monmouth in the semifinal after the adversity that we had gone through, starting off so slow, all the odds were stacked against us, and for us to pull together as a team and do that, it was an amazing experience. It is something that will live long in my memory.”
Playing professionally is something that started as only a dream for Armstrong, but now could very well be a reality for the keeper. And it all started right after he was signed by Wigan.
“It sort of hit me when went back to school that week and I told my best mates. They said, ‘you’re playing soccer for a living now, school’s gonna take a backburner type thing.”
But even in the classroom, Armstrong is no slouch. Green has praised him for not only his work on the pitch, but also in the classroom.
“Paul’s been a great goalkeeper for the program. I have seen him come on and really improve his skills over four years and he’s been a great leader,” Green said. “I think he has an opportunity to play beyond, maybe at a professional club, if that is what he wishes to do. Paul is an outstanding kid, he’s one of those few kids that come along who exemplifies everything we’re about. Academically he’s a great student too, and has been a consistent performer.”
It is too early right now to know what his path will be after he leaves his spot under the woodwork on CCSU’s home pitch, but if he is able to continue on to a professional career, the kid that excitedly told all of his friends about playing professionally nearly ten years ago, might just get that opportunity as a career a short time from now.
He said, “To do something that you love every day is a great opportunity. When I got signed, it was one of the best moments of my life.”
Paul is such a great young man. He has visited here at our home in Gloucester, MA with Bridget, our granddaughter, and will be joining the “Phinney family” for Thansgiving again this year. He is so unasuming and personable and the whole family is looking forward to seeing him again. Great article on his soccer playing but it is ability to relate to all about him that makes him unique!