A player who held the record as Palace’s top goalscorer in the Premier League for over two decades. Armstrong has 23 goals to his name in red and blue, coming in Palace’s first and second seasons as Premier League.
His 15 goals in the inaugural Premier League season in 1992/93 saw him equal Manchester United’s Mark Hughes and Southampton’s Matt Le Tissier, as well as former Palace man Ian Wright at Arsenal; he was just one behind then-Blackburn Rovers striker Alan Shearer.
Armstrong had bundles of speed and energy, with an adept ability to make intelligent runs into the box and find space in between the defensive line. The pick of his goals would be a brace at Goodison Park in September 1992, with both goals set up by John Salako.
He scored 57 times in 136 games for Palace, before moving to Tottenham Hotspur in a club-record £4.5 million deal. He would be a similar hit in North London, scoring 62 goals in 173 appearances and winning the League cup in 1999.
### **Matt Lawrence**
Not many players can make a name at both Crystal Palace and Millwall and remain highly regarded by supporters of both clubs, but Matt Lawrence achieved that feat and more.
After captaining Millwall to the FA Cup final under Dennis Wise in 2004, he moved to Selhurst Park in 2006 and quickly set about establishing a place in the starting XI, rekindling his partnership with Darren Ward who had moved from Millwall a year earlier.
He scored his first goal for the club against Sheffield Wednesday in 2008, and would have one of his finest hours against the same opposition two years later as the Eagles survived the drop by the skin of their teeth, earning a heroic 2-2 draw at Hillsbrou in the most testing of circumstances.
Lawrence left the club that summer, moving to Gillingham before finishing his career in non-league football.
Happy birthday Chris and Matt!