Vincent Armstrong was born in Newcastle-on-Tyne and came to Adelaide in 1912. He was 28 years old and single, and a French polisher by trade. Said to be a fast, tricky winger, although diminutive, he played for the Sturt soccer club for two seasons before enlisting in the AIF in June 1915. He named his mother in Newcastle as his next of kin.
With the 27th Battalion, he saw the end of the Gallipoli campaign before being wounded in the leg at Pozieres in August 1916. After time spent in an English hospital he was returned to Australia and discharged as medically unfit in July 1917. He returned to the Sturt club in 1919 after a five years absence and played on, still fast and tricky despite his war wound.
He switched to Glenelg in 1922 and was rewarded with a cap for the state team against Tasmania at Jubilee Oval in 1923. SA lost 3-0 and Armstrong, despite playing well “was double marked by two Tasmanians and could not get past them”. He apparently received no help from his right wing partner and could only hold the ball up. He played on with Glenelg until 1928 and died in Adelaide in 1954.