The Three L's

The Greatest defence in England!

Introducing The Three L's

Lyall

Goalkeeper

Langley

Left Full Back

Layton

Right Full Back

The Three L’s became recognised as the toughest defensive trio in England during the 1902-03 season. They were so feared that it was actually the opposing sides that would refer to Wednesday’s defence as The Three L’s. They were made up of; club captain Ambrose Langley, who had been a mainstay in the Wednesday side since his signing in 1893; Willie Layton, who had performed as Langley’s understudy for four seasons before breaking into the first team proper when he replaced previous club captain Jack Earp in 1899; and finally Jack Lyall the 6ft 2in goalkeeper from Scotland who joined Wednesday in 1901.

The 1902-03 season became the tightest Championship race of all time as with only two weeks remaining of the season there were eight teams that still had a chance of snatching the title. It was Wednesday’s consistency, particularly in defence that enabled them to be the team that won it.

Wednesday’s biggest challenger was the reigning champions Sunderland, who had won the title four times previously and also been runner up on three other occasions in just the first 14 years of the competition. Their dominance and quality had led to them becoming known as ‘the team of all talents’.

The Football League Trophy

At Hillsborough earlier in the season The Three L’s had held firm to secure a 1-0 victory courtesy of a Harry Chapman goal. However, leading into the return fixture, Sunderland had become favourites for the title after a 13 game unbeaten run had put them just behind Wednesday but with two matches in hand. Yet again the Three L’s stood firm! In front of a raucous 20,000 strong home crowd, Lyall, Layton and Langley put in another brick wall of a performance and this time it was Andrew Wilson who scored the only goal of the game to give Wednesday both points.

To make things worse for the home side after the final whistle ugly scenes broke out around the outside of the ground. Wednesday’s horse drawn wagonette was pelted with stones as disorder spread into the Roker streets and the Wednesday players considered themselves lucky to get away with only a few small injuries.

As punishment Sunderland were forced to play their last home match of the season at St James’ Park against Newcastle! Wednesday had already completed their fixtures (unusual even for 1903) and due to The Three L’s conceding the fewest goals of any side in the league Sunderland knew that only a win would secure them the title. Sunderland fell to their first ever defeat to Newcastle United and Wednesday were crowned Champions of England for the first time.

Whilst it takes a whole squad of players to with the league, and Wednesday that season were blessed with club legends such as Tommy Crawshaw, Andrew Wilson and a resurgent Fred Spiksley, there is no doubt that Lyall, Langley and Layton made the difference and turned a good team into the best all round side in the country.

The Wednesday

Champions of England 1902-03

Back Row: Ferrier, Hemmingfield, Thackeray.Middle Row: Layton, Langley, Lyall, Crawshaw, Ruddlesdin.Front Row: V.S. Simpson, Davis, Wilson, Malloch, Spiksley, G. Simpson.

Picture Credit: Brett Hudson

Willie Layton

Willie Layton, pictured here with the Sheffield Wednesday mascot of the time, played in the same Blackwell Colliery side as the legendary goalkeeping giant, Willie Foulke, and had a spell with Chesterfield before joining Wednesday in late 1895.

The story often told of how, to ensure he would be fresh for his trial at Olive Grove (Wednesday’s ground before Hillsborough), Layton gave the nightshift at Blackwell a miss and that very night seven of his colleagues died in an explosion. He said he saw the hand of fate in that and vowed that if he succeeded in his trial he would always be loyal to Wednesday.

Initially, full-back Layton had to show considerable patience, for he did not make his League debut until 1898, and for some time was merely stand-in for Earp or Langley.

However, he came into his own at last in the Second Division Championship campaign of 1899-1900, and subsequently helped Wednesday win the First Division title in 1903 and 1904 as well as the FA Cup in 1907.

Layton had a mighty kick, was a strong tackler and his prowess gained him a place in the Football League XI against the Irish League in 1901. Many were surprised that he was not made captain following Crawshaw’s departure. When his playing days were over he emigrated to Australia.

He died in April 1944.

Jack Lyall

Jack Lyall, who stood nearly 6ft 2in, was a big goalkeeper with a big reputation and a great favourite in the club’s early years at Hillsborough.

He joined Wednesday from Jarrow and got his chance after the ‘Stubbs disaster’ of 1901 — that being the occasion when Frank Stubbs, having taken a blow to the head, literally presented Notts County with six goals.

For eight years Lyall was a ‘fixture’ in the team. He helped Wednesday win the League Championship in 1902-03 and 1903-04 and, having been on the losing side in the semi-finals of 1904 and 1905, finally had the satisfaction of playing in the FA Cup-winning side of 1907.

Many experts believed he deserved more than the one Scottish international cap which came his way in the match against England in 1905.

Lyall was one of the victims of some unrest which prevailed in the Owls camp after the 1907 triumph and he lost his place to Teddy Davison in 1909. Lyall’s last game was in George Simpson’s benefit match, when Sunderland visited Hillsborough and won 5-2.

He joined Manchester City, returning to play a few games for Wednesday during World War One. He later emigrated to the USA where he died in 1944 at the age of 63.

Layton & Lyall Text Credit

Keith Farnsworth: A Complete Record, BreedonBooks, 1987.

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