Richard Strang (19 March 1900 – 15 February 1971) was a Scottish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who made 301 appearances in the English

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

playing as a

centre half In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

and

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

in the 1920s and 1930s. He began his professional career with

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, but never represented that club in competitive first-team football, and also played

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

for

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

and

Worcester City Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Midland Football League, the ninth tier of English football. Established in 1902, the club play at Claines Lane. Worcester City's ...

Life and career

Strang was born in

Rutherglen Rutherglen (, sco, Ruglen, gd, An Ruadh-Ghleann) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having existed as a Lanarkshire burgh in its own ...

. He was playing for a junior club in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

when English First Division club

beat off competition to sign him in September 1923. He never appeared for Birmingham's first team, and was allowed to leave the club on a free transfer the following May for

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

team

. Described in the ''

Derby Daily Telegraph The ''Derby Telegraph'', formerly the ''Derby Evening Telegraph'', is a daily tabloid newspaper distributed in the Derby area of England. Stories produced by the Derby Telegraph team are published online under the Derbyshire Live brand. Histor ...

'' as a "lean and lanky" centre-half with competence in both the defensive and the creative aspects of his role – "a rare breaker-up and knows a thing or two about feeding his forwards" – Strang had progressed well with Palace and become a regular in the team when, in October 1925, he and forward

Bill Hand William R. Hand (5 July 1898 – ) was an English professional footballer, who played in the Football League for Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shop ...

were charged with breach of contract in respect of training requirements and given two weeks' notice to leave the club. He initially signed for

of the Western League, then moved into the Birmingham & District League with

. He scored once in league competition, and also scored the winning goal in the semi-final of the 1927

Worcestershire Senior Cup The Worcestershire Senior Cup (officially ''The Worcestershire Football Association Senior Invitation Cup'') is a football competition organised by the Worcestershire County Football Association. It began in the 1893-94 season, with Redditch Town ...

against

Stourbridge Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The 20 ...

; Worcester lost to

Cradley Heath Cradley Heath is a town in the Rowley Regis area of the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England approximately north-west of Halesowen, south of Dudley and west of central Birmingham. Cradley Heath is often confused with the ...

in the final after a replay. Strang returned to

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

with

of the

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

in 1929. He played 99 league matches over three seasons, and his "heroic" performance in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

tie in 1931 made a major contribution to the struggling club's survival. In those days, progress in the FA Cup provided a significant income stream, and in 1931, the club was on the verge of financial failure. Drawn away to Newark Town in the first round, Halifax conceded an early goal, but after Newark lost a man to injury, they equalised by half-time. The second half was a rearguard action as Halifax clung on to the draw, and then won the replay and their second-round tie before losing in the third round: His services were not retained at the end of the 1931–32 season, and he and Halifax teammate

John McFarlane John McFarlane OBE (born 14 June 1947) is a British businessman. He served as Group Chairman of Barclays from 2015 to 2019. Early life He was born in Dumfries and attended Dumfries Academy. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh, Cra ...

moved on to

. Strang was little used in Northampton's first team, and in the summer of 1933, he joined

, for whom he played 171 matches in the Third Division North before finishing his senior career in 1938. Strang died in

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, in 1971 at the age of 70.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strang, Dick 1900 births 1971 deaths Sportspeople from Rutherglen Scottish footballers Association football defenders Birmingham City F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Poole Town F.C. players Worcester City F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Darlington F.C. players English Football League players Western Football League players Footballers from South Lanarkshire