Jim Langley
Encyclopedia
Ernest James "Jim" Langley (7 February 1929 in London
, England
– 9 December 2007 in London, England), was an English
association football player noted for his pacey, rampaging runs from the left fullback position and his long throw-ins. He is remembered particularly fondly by supporters of Fulham
for his long service with the club during which he helped them achieve promotion to the First Division during the 1958/59 season; by Queens Park Rangers fans for featuring in the side which won the Third Division title and sensationally beat First Division West Bromwich Albion in the League Cup Final in the 1966/67 season and by non league side Guildford City
where he remains one of their most successful former players. Langley also enjoyed a short spell as an England international, playing three games for his country in 1958.
signing him when he was still only 17. Langley was unfortunate however that the then manager of the west London side, Harry Curtis, whilst admiring the young player’s ability on the ball could not see any future for a defensive player standing at only 5 feet 9 inches and consequently the Londoner was soon looking for another club.
As with many youngsters his age, Langley was called upon to do national service
shortly afterwards and it was while he was still in the army that Jim joined Guildford City in 1948. After a season playing with the Southern League side as an amateur, during which they narrowly avoided relegation, finishing in 17th position, Langley turned professional in 1949.
at Langley’s preferred position of left back and Jim moved to Third Division (South) Brighton and Hove Albion in the summer of 1953.
in 1954/55 and 1956/57. Langley clearly felt he needed to prove his ability at a higher level, however and he agreed to a £12,000 move to Second Division Fulham in 1957.
was arguably the making of Langley as he slotted well into Doug Livingstone’s
stylish side alongside the legendary midfielder Johnny Haynes
. During Jim’s eight season’s at the club he helped the Cottagers to the F.A. Cup semi finals in 1957/58 where they lost to Manchester United; and then to promotion back to the 1st division the following season. In 1959/60 the Cottagers secured their highest league position in the top flight ever as they finished 10th – a record not beaten until Chris Coleman
helped the Cottagers to a ninth position finish in 2003/04.
There were many highlights in Langley’s career at Fulham but particularly picked out by the press after his death were his goal in the 1962 FA Cup semi-final replay against Burnley
, despite his side eventually losing to the Clarets; and his selection for a London XI which lost to Barcelona in the Inter City Fairs Cup final in 1958. Perhaps the ultimate accolade however came from Sir Stanley Matthews when he selected Langley to be his opposite number in his final league match.
and won the 1966/67 League Cup
, pulling off one of the greatest comebacks in football. They had had an outstanding run in earlier rounds, beating Colchester United 5-0 in the first round and Leicester City (4-2) Carlisle
(2-1) and Birmingham City (7-2 on aggregate) in the semi finals. In the final at Wembley Stadium
, they met the holders, First Division side West Bromwich Albion and appeared to be heading for a comprehensive defeat after conceding two Clive Clark
goals in the first half. Yet Rangers responded by scoring three goals in the last 17 minutes and winning 3-2, handing Langley the first, and only silverware of his career.
. Yet again Jim tasted success, steering the club into the third round proper of the FA Cup, beating Luton Town in the second round. He almost triumphed at Wembley once again in 1970/71 when Hillingdon featured in the F.A. Challenge Trophy final but his side lost 3-2 to Telford United.
before returning to Hillingdon Borough as a club administrator. He appears to have had one last sojourn in management for Dulwich Hamlet
in the latter part of the 1976/77 season where he strived, ultimately fruitlessly, to prevent their relegation into the Second Division of the Isthmian League
. Jim Langley died in London at the age of 78.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
– 9 December 2007 in London, England), was an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
association football player noted for his pacey, rampaging runs from the left fullback position and his long throw-ins. He is remembered particularly fondly by supporters of Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
for his long service with the club during which he helped them achieve promotion to the First Division during the 1958/59 season; by Queens Park Rangers fans for featuring in the side which won the Third Division title and sensationally beat First Division West Bromwich Albion in the League Cup Final in the 1966/67 season and by non league side Guildford City
Guildford City F.C.
Guildford City Football Club is a football club based in Guildford, Surrey, England. The club was originally established in 1921, folded in 1974 and were reformed in 1996...
where he remains one of their most successful former players. Langley also enjoyed a short spell as an England international, playing three games for his country in 1958.
Amateur career
Jim Langley started his football career as an amateur playing for a number of non league sides in the London area whilst still a teenager. His ability was soon attracting attention and in 1946 Langley was given his dream move – First Division side BrentfordBrentford F.C.
Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....
signing him when he was still only 17. Langley was unfortunate however that the then manager of the west London side, Harry Curtis, whilst admiring the young player’s ability on the ball could not see any future for a defensive player standing at only 5 feet 9 inches and consequently the Londoner was soon looking for another club.
As with many youngsters his age, Langley was called upon to do national service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
shortly afterwards and it was while he was still in the army that Jim joined Guildford City in 1948. After a season playing with the Southern League side as an amateur, during which they narrowly avoided relegation, finishing in 17th position, Langley turned professional in 1949.
Guildford City
Jim was a huge crowd favourite at Guildford City, helping them to two Southern League cup finals in 1951 and 1952 during his four seasons there. After the near catastrophic 1948/49 season he also helped the Surrey side to record a top ten finish in each of the following three seasons. It was hence with great reluctance that Guildford were forced to sell their prized asset to Second Division Leeds United for £2,000 in the summer of 1952 after slipping some £12,000 into debt. He was not forgotten by the club however and in the mid 1970s when Guildford City merged with Dorking FC and were forced to sell their Joseph’s Road ground for housing, a Langley Close was created on the site in his honourLeeds United
Jim’s second shot at making it in the Football League was as unhappy as his first as Langley made only 9 appearances for Leeds during his one season there. Despite scoring on his debut and on two subsequent occasions in his nine appearances on the left wing, manager Major Frank Buckley preferred to play Elland Road stalwart Grenville HairGrenville Hair
Grenville Hair was a footballer who played his entire professional career for Leeds United between 1948 and 1964. He later became the manager of Wellington Town and Bradford City...
at Langley’s preferred position of left back and Jim moved to Third Division (South) Brighton and Hove Albion in the summer of 1953.
Brighton and Hove Albion
Albion finally provided Langley with the opportunity to show his ability and he thrived at the south coast club during his four seasons there, helping them secure runners up position in the 1953/54 and 1955/56 seasons and captaining them for two years. He was selected to play for the Third Division South representative sideFootball League Third Division North vs. South Representative Games
The Third Division North and Third Division South of The Football League was a level in English association football, which ran from 1921 to 1958.From 1954–55 season until 1957–58 season, there was a series of games between teams representing the Third Division North and the Third Division South.-...
in 1954/55 and 1956/57. Langley clearly felt he needed to prove his ability at a higher level, however and he agreed to a £12,000 move to Second Division Fulham in 1957.
Fulham
This move to Craven CottageCraven Cottage
Craven Cottage is the name of a football stadium in the Hammersmith and Fulham area that has been the home ground of the association football team Fulham F.C. since 1896....
was arguably the making of Langley as he slotted well into Doug Livingstone’s
Doug Livingstone
Dugald Livingstone was a Scottish football player and manager.He played fullback for Parkhead, Ashfield, Celtic, Dumbarton Harp , Everton, Plymouth Argyle, Aberdeen and Tranmere Rovers during an illustrious playing career before hanging up his boots and going into management.During his managerial...
stylish side alongside the legendary midfielder Johnny Haynes
Johnny Haynes
John Norman "Johnny" Haynes was an English footballer, best known for his 18 years at Fulham. He played a club-record 658 games and scored 158 goals for the club between 1952 and 1970...
. During Jim’s eight season’s at the club he helped the Cottagers to the F.A. Cup semi finals in 1957/58 where they lost to Manchester United; and then to promotion back to the 1st division the following season. In 1959/60 the Cottagers secured their highest league position in the top flight ever as they finished 10th – a record not beaten until Chris Coleman
Chris Coleman (footballer)
Christopher "Chris" Coleman is a Welsh football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of Greek Side Larissa....
helped the Cottagers to a ninth position finish in 2003/04.
There were many highlights in Langley’s career at Fulham but particularly picked out by the press after his death were his goal in the 1962 FA Cup semi-final replay against Burnley
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...
, despite his side eventually losing to the Clarets; and his selection for a London XI which lost to Barcelona in the Inter City Fairs Cup final in 1958. Perhaps the ultimate accolade however came from Sir Stanley Matthews when he selected Langley to be his opposite number in his final league match.
Queens Park Rangers
Jim left Fulham in 1965, moving to Queens Park Rangers in a £5,000 deal. Despite being in his mid thirties, he helped Rangers to a third-place finish in the Third Division in 1965/66 and the following season, he featured in the side which won the Third DivisionFootball League Third Division
The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...
and won the 1966/67 League Cup
League Cup
In association football, a League Cup or Secondary Cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament to be called "League Cup" was held in Scotland in 1946/47 and was entitled the Scottish...
, pulling off one of the greatest comebacks in football. They had had an outstanding run in earlier rounds, beating Colchester United 5-0 in the first round and Leicester City (4-2) Carlisle
Carlisle United F.C.
Carlisle United F.C. is an English football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, where they play at Brunton Park. Formed in 1904, the club currently compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system....
(2-1) and Birmingham City (7-2 on aggregate) in the semi finals. In the final at Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
, they met the holders, First Division side West Bromwich Albion and appeared to be heading for a comprehensive defeat after conceding two Clive Clark
Clive Clark (footballer)
Clive Clark is an English former footballer.-Career:Clark was a skilful left-winger who began his career at Leeds United. He joined Queens Park Rangers in September 1958, making his debut against Bournemouth and went on to play 66 league games for Rangers, scoring 8 goals. A move to West Bromwich...
goals in the first half. Yet Rangers responded by scoring three goals in the last 17 minutes and winning 3-2, handing Langley the first, and only silverware of his career.
Return to non league
After being released by QPR at the end of that season, Langley turned his attention to management, becoming player-boss of Hillingdon Borough of the Southern LeagueSouthern Football League
The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...
. Yet again Jim tasted success, steering the club into the third round proper of the FA Cup, beating Luton Town in the second round. He almost triumphed at Wembley once again in 1970/71 when Hillingdon featured in the F.A. Challenge Trophy final but his side lost 3-2 to Telford United.
England
Langley’s career for his national team was short and sweet and he perhaps should have had more time to prove himself. Then manager Walter Winterbottom selected Jim for the home international against Scotland in April 1958 after his impressive first season with Fulham and he helped the side to a 4-0 victory. However defeats in his next two games against Portugal and Yugoslavia, including a catastrophic penalty miss in his second game which condemned England to a 2-1 defeat, meant he was never called up again after an international career of barely three weeks.Post playing career
Langley hung up his boots in 1971 and became a coach at Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...
before returning to Hillingdon Borough as a club administrator. He appears to have had one last sojourn in management for Dulwich Hamlet
Dulwich Hamlet F.C.
Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is an English football club who play at Champion Hill stadium in Dulwich, in the London Borough of Southwark. Formed in 1893, they joined the Isthmian League a few years later, winning it a total of 4 times, between 1920 and 1949, and wear a famous pink and blue...
in the latter part of the 1976/77 season where he strived, ultimately fruitlessly, to prevent their relegation into the Second Division of the Isthmian League
Isthmian League
The Isthmian League is a regional football league covering London and South East England featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs. It is sponsored by Ryman, and therefore officially known as the Ryman League. It was founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area...
. Jim Langley died in London at the age of 78.