James Joseph Lang (March 1851 – 14 July 1929) was a Scottish international

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 represented

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

twice from 1876 to 1878.

Early life

Lang was born in March 1851 in Scotland. Before his football career, he worked at the

John Brown & Company John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish Naval architecture, marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and the ''Queen Elizabeth 2 (ship), Queen Elizabeth 2''. At its ...

's shipyard on the

River Clyde The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...

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 ...

, where he lost sight in one eye due to an accident in 1869.

Football career

Club career

Lang's playing career started with Glasgow's

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, from where he moved to

Clydesdale Clydesdale is an archaic name for Lanarkshire, a traditional county in Scotland. The name may also refer to: Sports * Clydesdale F.C., a former football club in Glasgow * Clydesdale RFC, Glasgow, a former rugby union club * Clydesdale RFC, South ...

and then

Third Lanark Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scottish ...

. While with Clydesdale he played in the first ever

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1874 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes The Bronx. * January 2 – Ignacio María González becomes head of state of the Dominican Republic for the first time. * January 3 – Third Carlist War &ndas ...

, losing 2–0 against Queen's Park. He also became involved with the

vs.

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

association matches, and at the 1876 meeting (in which Glasgow won 2–0) he caught the attention of

The Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

board. They subsequently invited him to play for their team. He was not paid by the club but instead gained employment with a company in Garden Street owned by one of the directors, Walter Fearnehough. Although the family business manufactured "Bayonet Spirals, Ledger Blades and Chaff Knives" Lang received no formal duties and he spent most of the day reading the paper. The first mention of Lang playing for Wednesday was a friendly against local rivals Hallam on 25 November 1876. While he appeared for Wednesday throughout the 1876–77 season, featuring in "six friendly matches, four cup ties, two representative fixtures and one benefit game", he also made two appearances for Chesterfield Spital during December 1876. Lang returned to Third Lanark in October 1877 and played in their 1878 Scottish Cup Final defeat to

Vale of Leven The Vale of Leven (Scottish Gaelic: ''Magh Leamhna'') is an area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in the valley of the River Leven. Historically, it was part of The Lennox, the name of which derives from the Gaelic term ''Leamhnach'', meaning ' ...

. Despite returning north of the border, Lang still featured for The Wednesday in 1878, playing in three

Sheffield Challenge Cup The Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cup is a county cup competition involving teams within the Sheffield and Hallamshire County Football Association. Originally named the Sheffield Challenge Cup, it is the 5th oldest surviving cup competition i ...

matches, including the final in which Wednesday beat

Attercliffe Attercliffe is an industrial suburb of northeast Sheffield, England on the south bank of the River Don. The suburb falls in the Darnall ward of Sheffield City Council. History The name Attercliffe can be traced back as far as an entry in t ...

2–0. While still at Third Lanark, Lang played once more for Wednesday in January 1879 against

Heeley Heeley is a former cluster of villages. Which all now form a suburb in the south of the City of Sheffield, England. The village has existed at least since 1343, its name deriving from ''Heah Leah'', ''High Lea'' then ''Hely'', meaning a high, w ...

, before returning full-time to South Yorkshire for the 1879–80 season. Lang featured for Attercliffe against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

in November 1879. Lang also played for the Sheffield Zulus, lining up for them against Chesterfield on 24 November 1879 and

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

in January 1880 – he was also briefly secretary for the club. Lang featured for Wednesday over 20 times during the 1880–81 season, captaining them in the opening months. However, for the 1881–82 season he only appeared three times – including the 1882

Wharncliffe Charity Cup The Wharncliffe Charity Cup was an invitational cup competition organised by the Sheffield & Hallamshire County Football Association from 1878 to 1984. The competition took its name from the Earl of Wharncliffe, who sponsored the event, and w ...

Final against Heeley, which Wednesday won 5–0. Lang was also noted playing for

Northwich Victoria {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

in January 1884.

International career

He won two international caps for

, the first on 25 March 1876 in a 4–0 win over

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

(the

first international The International Workingmen's Association (IWA), often called the First International (1864–1876), was an international organisation An international organization or international organisation (see spelling differences), also known as ...

between the two countries) and the second on 23 March 1878, scoring a goal in each game.

Career statistics

International

International goals

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lang, Jimmy 1851 births Scotland international footballers Scottish footballers Third Lanark A.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Clydesdale F.C. players Association football forwards Eastern F.C. players Sportspeople with a vision impairment 1929 deaths