William Longair (19 July 1870 – 28 November 1926) 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 played as a half-back for

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

in the 1890s. When he retired from playing, he became the club's trainer for over two decades, and remained an influential figure at the club. Born in

, Longair began his football career with Dundee F.C. in the early 1890s. He made his debut for

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 ...

in March 1894, and signed for

Newton Heath Newton Heath is an area of Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester city centre and with a population of 9,883. Historically part of Lancashire, Newton was formerly a farming area, but adopted the factory system following the Industrial Re ...

in February 1895. He played for Newton Heath for four months, making one appearance, before returning to Dundee in June 1895. Short spells at

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

and

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 ...

followed in the 1896–97 season, before he moved to Brighton United in 1898 after a brief return up north. He returned to Dundee once again in May 1899, retiring from football in 1902. Longair would later go on to become the club's trainer and perform the role for over 20 years, including training the eventual 1910 Scottish Cup winners. Longair would also become Dundee's groundsman in 1924. Upon his death in 1926, a crowd of approximately 20,000 lined the streets as his coffin passed to honour his services to the club and the city. His uncle, also named William Longair, was Lord Provost of the Burgh of Dundee from 1905 to 1908. On 3 April 2009, Longair was inducted into

's Hall of Fame (Heritage Award).

References

External links

Scotland profile
at LondonHearts.com

at MUFCInfo.com

at Spartacus Educational 1870 births 1926 deaths Footballers from Dundee Scotland international footballers Scottish footballers Association football midfielders Dundee F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Brighton United F.C. players {{Scotland-footy-midfielder-1870s-stub Dundee F.C. non-playing staff