The footballer Jimmy Armfield, who has died aged 82, spent his entire playing career at Blackpool, captained England in the years when he was regarded as the best full-back in the world and later managed Leeds to the European Cup final — before becoming a much-liked commentator on BBC radio.
He had never played on a proper pitch before having a trial for Blackpool, but he made his debut in 1954, aged 19, and became arguably the first overlapping attacking full-back in English football.
It was an age in which Armfield could smoke a pipe for relaxation and bicycle to home matches through crowds he knew by name. As England captain in 1964, he was earning just £40 a week, although his pay went down to £14 in the summer.
— The Daily Telegraph
Mark E Smith
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Mark E Smith, the contrarian frontman of the Fall who has died aged 60, was dubbed “the grumpiest man in pop”. The songs he wrote were abrasive and bleak — and his dysfunctional approach to human relationships led to 66 musicians passing through the ranks of the post-punk band. He once sacked a band member because he didn’t like his taste in food. In his teens he belonged to the Socialist Workers Party, but in later years he tended towards anarchy. Asked for his manifesto, he suggested he would “halve the price of cigarettes, double the tax on health food and declare war on France”.
— The Times