Robert "Bobby" Ronald Almond (born 16 April 1951 in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

) was an association football player who represented New Zealand and was part of the first New Zealand side to contest a FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...

 in 1982

1982 FIFA World Cup

The 1982 FIFA World Cup, the 12th FIFA World Cup, was held in Spain from 13 June to 11 July. The tournament was won by Italy, after defeating West Germany 3–1 in the final.-Host selection:...

.

Career

Almond was a part of the Leyton Orient and Tottenham Hotspur youth set-ups before he emigrated to New Zealand in 1973.

Almond made his New Zealand debut in a 1-0 win over Australia on 13 June 1979. He pulled on the All White strip a total of 49 times between 1978 and 1982, although only 28 were full A-internationals.

He was a member the All Whites squad at the 1982 FIFA World Cup

1982 FIFA World Cup

The 1982 FIFA World Cup, the 12th FIFA World Cup, was held in Spain from 13 June to 11 July. The tournament was won by Italy, after defeating West Germany 3–1 in the final.-Host selection:...

 in Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, playing in all 15 qualifiers, and started two games at the finals, the 5-2 loss to Scotland

Scotland national football team

The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...

 and 4-0 loss to Brazil

Brazil national football team

The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the...

, having to sit out the game against USSR

USSR national football team

The Soviet Union National Football Team was the national football team of the Soviet Union. It ceased to exist after the break up of the Union...

 with an achilles injury. Almond retired from international football following their elimination.

Almond co-authored a book, To Spain the Hard Way, with Steve Sumner

Steve Sumner

Steven Paul Sumner is an English-born, New Zealand football player, who was captain of the national team during the country's first successful campaign to qualify for the World Cup, in 1982.-Club career:...

 and Derrick Mansbridge, chronicling the experience.

External references