Langley Ambrose Image 1 Sheffield Wednesday 1896

Description

Horncastle, Lincolnshire born full back Ambrose Langley began his football career with Horncastle in 1887 and Boston in 1888, before joining Football Alliance club Grimsby Town in 1889 and two years later Middlesbrough Ironopolis, winning Northern League title medals in both seasons with the Teesside club.

Langley was signed by First Division Sheffield Wednesday in 1893 and made his Football League debut against Sunderland in September 1893. He remained with Sheffield Wednesday for eleven seasons, winning an FA Cup winners medal in 1896 as Sheffield Wednesday beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 at The Crystal Palace. Although they were relegated in 1899, they bounced back immediately to win the Second Division Championship  in 1900 with Langley a near ever present.

With Langley ever present, The Wednesday went on to win League Championship in 1902-03, and while he scored 5 penalties in 34 appearances in the former season, he lost his place in October 1903 and only made 8 appearances in their 1903-04 campaign as they retained the League Championship, which proved his last for Wednesday. In total he scored 14 goals in 317 appearances for The Owls.

Despite suffering a rib injury that curtailed his career in the top flight, Langley was appointed as player-manager of Hull City in April 1905. In his first season in charge, City finished in fifth place in the Second Division, and Langley made 16 appearances as a player for The Tigers, after which he retired from playing.

In 1908-09 he led them to fourth place, discovering young star players such as Tommy “Boy” Browell. In 1909-10 they finished third, and only missed out on promotion to the top flight on goal average, losing 3-0 to promotion rivals Oldham in their final game of the season, having won eleven and drawn one of their previous twelve games.

Langley resigned from Hull City at the end of the 1912-13 season and became assistant secretary at Sheffield Wednesday, and after the First World War he managed Huddersfield Town from December 1919 to March 1921, taking them to the 1920 FA Cup Final, where they were beaten by Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge, and clinching promotion to the First Division the same season, the first in Huddersfield’s history, as Second Division runners up in 1919-20.