Alexander Lang (1864 – 8 November 1901) was a Scottish professional

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 played as a full back. He came to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

from Padiham in 1885 and was one of the club's regular full-backs, operating on the left or right side, as well as being the club captain, when

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 Engl ...

came to Turf Moor in 1888. He was born at Bridge of Weir, near Paisley, in 1864 and came south of the border to join Padiham as a 20-year-old in 1884. He brought with him a reputation as a versatile player but it was as a hard-tackling defender that he made his name. He missed only eight League games in the first seasons of League football and was the first Burnley player to complete 100 games for the club, in March 1893. The only two goals of his League career came in the previous season and the second was the club's first–ever from a penalty–kick, in a 3–2 win against West Bromwich Albion on 28 November 1891. The keeper Lang beat that day was

Joe Reader Josiah "Joe" Reader (27 February 1866 – 8 March 1954) was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He spent his entire professional career with West Bromwich Albion and served the club as a player, coach and steward for a total of 65 ...

, later to play for England. He played his last League game in March 1895 and became a publican in Burnley, although he later resumed his playing career, assisting Nelson to the Lancashire League Championship. He sustained fatal injuries in an accident at his home and died on 9 November 1901, aged 37.

1888-1889

Sandy Lang made his League debut on 8 September 1888, playing at full-back, at

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England, the home of Preston North End. Deepdale is "widely recognised as being the oldest 'continuously used' football stadium in the world, though this is contested". History ...

, the home of

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

. The latter defeated Burnley 5–2. Sandy Lang missed just one of the 22 League matches played by Burnley in season 1888–89. As a full-back he played in a Burnley defence that kept four clean sheets and restricted the opposition to one-League-goal-in-a-match on three separate occasions. (registration & fee required)

References

* 1864 births 1901 deaths Footballers from Renfrewshire Scottish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Nelson F.C. players Burnley F.C. players English Football League players Padiham F.C. players {{Scotland-footy-defender-1860s-stub