Cliff Almond (soccer)

Cliff Almond
Personal information
Full name	Cliff Almond
Date of birth	1930
Place of birth	Cessnock, Australia
Date of death	4 November 2018 (aged 88)
Place of death	Cessnock, Australia
Position(s)	Full-back / Right winger
Youth career
	Aberdare Rangers
Senior career*
Years	Team
1946–1947	Cessnock
1947	North Shore
1953–1954	Cessnock
1954–1955	Stirling Albion
1955–1969	Cessnock
International career
1955	Australia
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Cliff Almond was a former Australian professional soccer player who played as a forward. He was an international player for the Australia national soccer team.

His 24-year career included three spells at Cessnock, a brief stint at North Shore and played with Scottish club Stirling Albion playing eight league games.^[1] He reportedly played 464 games at club level, with more than 400 appearances at Cessnock.

Early life

Cliff Almond was born in 1930. Growing up, he was a local colliery clerk until he changed to playing soccer.^[2]

Club career

1946–54: Cessnock and North Shore stint

Almond progressed from the Aberdare Rangers youth team in 1946,^[3] where he signed for Cessnock as a right winger. He first played for Cessnock at age 15 in the 1946 Gardiner Cup with big impressions from spectators.

He made a brief stint at Sydney club North Shore for a year in 1947.

1954–69: English trials and third Cessnock spell

During mid-1954, Cliff Almond was set to travel to England to trial with English clubs Aston Villa and Newcastle United.^[4] He then played for Scottish club Stirling Albion on 31 December 1954 and played eight league games in the 1954–55 season.^[5]

He returned to Cessnock in 1955, where he moved to a defensive position and began his international career with the NSW state representative team and the Australia national soccer team.^[6] Almond played his final match for Cessnock in the Northern NSW top division at age 38.

International career

Almond was selected as part of Australia's five-test match series against South Africa and played three games as captain.^[7] He was also selected for the NSW state representative side against South Africa in August 1955.^[8]