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.
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.
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.
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]
