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The First True Captain Of Hillsborough!
Let's give a Sheffield Wednesday legend his headstone back!
Let's give a Sheffield Wednesday legend his headstone back!
Ambrose Langley lies in an unmarked grave in Burngreave Cemetry, Sheffield.
The first captain to guide Sheffield Wednesday to become Champions of England and 16 years of service on and off the pitch deserves to be recognised with a headstone worthy of his place in the club's history.
A Wednesday Hero
A Wednesday Hero
A giant of a man, inside and out, Ambrose Langley was the first captain of Sheffield Wednesday to lead them to win the Football League. He also played heroically in their 1896 FA Cup winning side.
Our Mission
Our Mission
To mark the 125-year anniversary of Hillsborough our mission is to give the ground's first true captain his headstone back and to host a commemorative event in the city.
gofundme
gofundme
Wednesdayites can support us in achieving our goal by donating to our gofundme fundraising page, where we aim to raise all the neccessary funds for a new headstone, commemorative booklet, website and event.
Local Talent
Local Talent
With the money raised we aim to commission local stonemason Steve Roche to create a beautiful hand crafted headstone that does justice to both Langley and Hillsborough football stadium.
First Captain of Hillsborough?
On 2 September 1899 The Wednesday Football Club opened the ground we know today as Hillsborough. Jack Earp had the honour of captaining the club that day, an honour befitting the man who had led the team so well during the latter seasons at their previous ground, Olive Grove. From that moment on Wednesday were led by fellow fullback and giant of a man Ambrose Langley, who had joined the club in 1893.
Langley would go on to captain The Wednesday for the next four seasons, leading the team to promotion back into the first division at the first time of asking and then 3 seasons later guide them to become Football League Champions 1902-03 for the first time in the club's history. In 1903-04 Langley's injuries finally caught up with him, managing just 8 appearances in a season where Wednesday would defend their title and captaincy would pass from Langley to his friend and club legend Tommy Crawshaw.
In captaining The Wednesday in 136 League and Cup matches in their first four seasons at Hillsborough it is right that Langley be recognised as The First True Captain of the Hillsborough era.
"I was fortunate enough to be appointed as Club Captain for the 1899-1900 season. I deemed this to be a great honour and it made me more determined than ever that we should recover our position in the premier division of the league."
Ambrose Langley, 1925
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