Langan on liveline

Dave Langan epitomises a lot of what Ireland have been missing at full back in more recent times. He was a solid, dependable type of player that was not afraid to make his presence felt. His attitude and commitment was always 100% and that is why he was so popular on the terraces.

In an age of phony and superfluous "outstanding contribution to football" and "Outstanding Irish Legend" so-called awards and accolades - Dave Langan is someone truly deserving of a recognition of his contribution to Irish football when the rewards were more modest and the acclaim less audible.

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Originally Posted by Drumcondra 69er

Surely a large part of being a fan is knowing your team's history?

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So the more history you know the bigger the fan you are?? :confused:

Must we all bow down to the "real fans" on here who know every little detail and fact on the history of the Republic of Ireland football team? :rolleyes:

By the way, I have never heard of him also.

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Originally Posted by sullanefc

So the more history you know the bigger the fan you are?? :confused:

Must we all bow down to the "real fans" on here who know every little detail and fact on the history of the Republic of Ireland football team? :rolleyes:

By the way, I have never heard of him also.

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That's not what I said. But I would think that when people get interested in football they tend to want to find out about old players etc and I have to say the lack of knowledge of some surprises me given the way they pontificate on other threads. And we're not talking about 'every little detail and fact on the history of the Republic of Ireland football team? :rolleyes:'. It's just over 20 years since Dave Langan stopped playing for Ireland and he was a total cult hero with the fans of the time. His situation has been reported on by journalists and spoken about by fans a fair bit in recent times, seems odd that there's Ireland fans that haven't heard of him.

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Originally Posted by Drumcondra 69er

That's not what I said. But I would think that when people get interested in football they tend to want to find out about old players etc and I have to say the lack of knowledge of some surprises me given the way they pontificate on other threads. And we're not talking about 'every little detail and fact on the history of the Republic of Ireland football team? :rolleyes:'. It's just over 20 years since Dave Langan stopped playing for Ireland and he was a total cult hero with the fans of the time. His situation has been reported on by journalists and spoken about by fans a fair bit in recent times, seems odd that there's Ireland fans that haven't heard of him.

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Yep, there was a thread on here about Langan last year:

http://foot.ie/showthread.php?t=18864&highlight=langan

And another a bit older:
http://foot.ie/showthread.php?t=55768&highlight=langan

Jayus, kids these days. Should learn to shut up and respect their elders :p

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Originally Posted by Ciaran

If you're going to start a discussion on an obscure figure you could at least give a brief introduction as to who he is.

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A) I didn't start the discussion.

B) I don't think Dave Langan would be considered an obscure figure by anyone (possibly excluding the bebo generation) with any knowledge of the game.

C) I think it would be your responsibility to do any checking up before posting on a topic, otherwise leave it to those who know what they're on about. By all means join in after you've done a simple google search.

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Originally Posted by Shedender81

Dave Langan played in the 1970's and early 80's at a time when professional footballers earned not a whole lot more than the average man on the street.


Max wage was gone in the 60s ... for the times these boys were on good money .. in the 70s and early 80s the man on the street was unemployed in this country !!! or had to move away to get work ...

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Langan's earning potential was severely affected by his injuries, he was out for 2 years after getting injured against France. When he had his 'second coming' at Oxford he was on £300 a week which, while higher then the average wage on the street, was never going to be enough to retire on. The big clubs might have been paying good money but outside of that there's very few players that retired at the same time as Langan that were able to retire on, had he been 10 years later he's have been fine.

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Originally Posted by joeSoap

a time when professional footballers earned not a whole lot more than the average man on the street.

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the poor fella, he only earned more than the average man on the street, but not a whole lot more. And how do you know how much he earned? you're just guessing from the self-pitying tone of the article.

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Originally Posted by joeSoap

The majority of footballers had no formal education and when their careers ended, they had to go and find 'normal' jobs.

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oh janey mackers, that's so tragic...had to go find normal jobs and didn't have a good education, imagine the rest of his generation being in such a dire situation.

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Originally Posted by joeSoap

Dave Langan could not do this, due to a medical condition, and now, at 51 years of age lives on state assistance and nothing more.

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42 years of age, read the article properly, and he's just like thousands of other people dependent on state assistance except they won't be given and probably would not want a platform to air their 'poor me' stories.

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Originally Posted by joeSoap

The FAI saw fit to grant testimonials to players like John Giles, Liam Brady and Kevin Moran, who clearly did not need them from a financial perspective.

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because they played for 20 years and were renowned the world over for their footballing achievements. Testimonials are not awarded to footballers most people under 40 don't know,
who happened on bad luck

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Originally Posted by joeSoap

Langan won 26 caps in great Irish teams before his debilitating illness.

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as i said, 1 in 6 people have arthritis, just because this guy played football doesn't mean we should elevate him above other people, he chose to play football, he wasn't drafted. Society can't be there to pick up the pieces and make it all better for footballers who make bad decisions in life and don't plan for the future. Nobody is forcing him to be a porter, he can use the PFA for financial, educational, and counselling assistance.
http://soccerlens.com/professional-f...ociation/6096/

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Originally Posted by Drumcondra 69er

C) I think it would be your responsibility to do any checking up before posting on a topic, otherwise leave it to those who know what they're on about. By all means join in after you've done a simple google search.

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That's funny, I never saw that on the rules of the forum? :confused:

I'm 27 years of age and most certainly not of the Bebo generation, so less of the lecturing to other posters. :rolleyes:

While I have never heard of the man, he played for Ireland and it's sad to see the condition he is in now. Should the PFAI be doing more for him???

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Originally Posted by sullanefc

That's funny, I never saw that on the rules of the forum? :confused:

I'm 27 years of age and most certainly not of the Bebo generation, so less of the lecturing to other posters. :rolleyes:

While I have never heard of the man, he played for Ireland and it's sad to see the condition he is in now. Should the PFAI be doing more for him???

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Not part of the rules hence the 'I think' at the start of the sentence. :rolleyes:

And I'd reckon you'd be in the minority of Ireland fans aged 27 who haven't heard of Dave Langan given that he was still playing when most 27 year olds would have been old enough to start taking an interest in football but that's just my opinion. Given that there's been a number of articles written about him in the last few years by Irish football journalists I find it strange that you still hadn't heard of him.

I would actually say that clubs should be doing more for ex players that fall on hard times but in this instance given that he injured himself playing for Ireland and would in all likelihood have been awarded a testimonial had he reached 25 caps earlier then he did that there's an argument for having a game organised for him. He has received a level of support already from the trust fund set up by the FAI in recent years.

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Originally Posted by ruben_sosa

42 years of age, read the article properly, and he's just like thousands of other people dependent on state assistance except they won't be given and probably would not want a platform to air their 'poor me' stories.

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Davy is 51.

I suggest you read the article again and perhaps the full post as the original piece was published by the Irish Times in 1999.

The thread dates from 2004 and in one post I pointed out that it was at that stage more than five years old.

I had the pleasure of seeing Davy progress from a schoolboy on the Lawn with Cherry Orchard, his first U15 international against against Germany in 1972 and then to the senior team.

1970's Ireland was a hell of a lot different those days in terms of living, wealth and education.

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Originally Posted by ruben_sosa

oh, he fought for Ireland during a war and gave his life? yeah he deserves the title 'legend' then. Oh wait, he played football.... feck off.

who can the rest of us turn when our families are sick? feckin no-one that's who, so stop pushing your misplaced bleeding heart bullpoop down peoples throats. There are millions of people more deserving of a handout than an ex-footballer with arthritis. I'll keep my money for the Red Cross if you don't mind. He lived the dream and now he's suffering from a problem that 1 in 6 Irish people have, life's tough.

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Is this not a forum for Irish football fans???? Dave Langan was a hero to thousands of people in this country and as football fans would like to see the man get some help financially.Dave played in the the time before the days of footballers being millioneers.No not everybody can turn to help when our families get sick but being a hero to so many people means that he still hold the affection of so many of these same fans that have great memories of the man as a player. Yes there are other charities to give money too and lots of other people that need help in the world and you are free to help whoever you want..... just dont be so disrepectful to the man and the fans that still care about his welfare

yep. only ever head of langan on here. ridiculous to presume everyone under 30 would ever have heard of the guy but if he does get a testamonial fair play to him if he's that badly off-i wouldnt begrudge him

. surely though if he actually was a legend of the game he would have been known by most of those not of his generation .e.g george best for example. just a thought.

In fairness am sure there are players before peoples time that they are not aware of. I know I wouldnt know many of the players of the 70s. Having said that you would think people would be a bit interested in a former player even if they hadnt heard of him before now.

Has Dave Langan ever got any assistance from FAI? Just wondering as I remember there was an article about him working in a laundrette years ago. Possible during middle of Charlton era.

(Might be a good idea to delete some of the posts agruing about the right to not know who he is:rolleyes: )

'Legend', 'Hero', what utter nonsense to use these words to describe a footballer. Just because footballers entertain us, does not make them altruistic, selfless, brave or worthy of the reverance in which some people hold them. People in here need to look harder for their role models, beyond the back pages of the Daily Star.

He gets some money from the FAI via an ex-player "help" fund. This was stated in the liveline interview but it wasn't mentioned how much he gets.

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Originally Posted by ruben_sosa

'Legend', 'Hero', what utter nonsense to use these words to describe a footballer. Just because footballers entertain us, does not make them altruistic, selfless, brave or worthy of the reverance in which some people hold them. People in here need to look harder for their role models, beyond the back pages of the Daily Star.

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Sorry we should only look at doctors and nurses and people like that as heroes..... get over yourself will ya!!!

For the uneducated:

POSITION: Right Back
DATE OF BIRTH: Friday, 15th February 1957
PLACE OF BIRTH: Dublin, Ireland

Dublin born right back David Langan joined Derby County as an apprentice. He progressed well and signed his first professional contract in June 1976 aged nineteen. When he made his debut the following February the "Rams" were a struggling First Division side. A poor start to the season had prompted Dave Mackay's resignation as manager and his replacement Colin Murphy appeared unable to prevent County's freefall towards the relegation zone. A series of solid displays earned David a regular place in the line up for the remainder of the campaign. The signing of Gerry Daly also triggered a revival and Derby clawed themselves into fifteenth spot after losing just two of their last seventeen fixtures. Another dreadfull opening in 1977/78 saw Murphy axed in favour of Tommy Docherty. The flamboyant Scot set about a radical shake up of the playing staff and as a consequence of a deluge of incomings and outgoings thirty-one players made league appearances. Langan remained the only ever present, a reward for his pacey, tough tackling performances. Unfortunately for the club, few players fared as well and despite all the transfer activity County ended in a disappointing twelth place. David played forty games the following season, the away fixture he missed against Arsenal ending a run of eighty-three consecutive league starts County meanwhile slipped to nineteenth, Docherty himself resigning soon after the season ended. Things went from bad to worse in 1979/80. Colin Addison's side were relegated five points below the safety zone and several players requested transfers over the course of the season. When Langan, in an attempt to avoid being cup tied, refused to travel on the team bus for an FA Cup tie at Bristol City, he was fined and dropped for a couple of games. The incident ultimately ended his County career. Although David saw out the rest of the campaign he was sold to Birmingham City in July 1980 for a fee of £350000. In all competitions he made 155 appearances for the "Rams", scoring his only goal for the club against Arsenal in September 1979 to inspire County to a 3-2 victory after trailing 2-0 at half-time. He made his international debut in April 1978.
moved to Birmingham for what was then one of the highest ever fees for a full back.

He hardly missed a match for two-and-a-half seasons before injury threatened to ruin his career at the age of 26. He did not play for over a year but Jim Smith, who had signed him for Birmingham, knew him well and resurrected his career at Oxford United. He had played 235 league games, all in the top flight.

Dave was soon recalled to the international side and gained a further 11 caps while at the Manor. He received winner's medals for the (Old) Second Division championship and for the League Cup and delighted the United fans with his surging runs and his pinpoint crosses for the likes of Aldridge and Hamilton.

'Langy' played 136 first team games for Oxford United before moving to Bournemouth and then to Peterborough.



(Division 1 was the top league in England before the Premiership... for those who don't know):
Derby County: 1976-1977 Played 21 Scored 0 goals (Division 1)
1977-1978 Played 42 Scored 0 goals (Division 1)
1978-1979 Played 40 Scored 0 goals (Division 1)
1979-1980 Played 40 Scored 1 goal (Division 1)
http://www.sporting-heroes.net/files...90310_GH_L.jpg
Transferred to Birmingham City £350000 in July 1980, a good sized fee in those days

Birmingham: 1980-1981 Played 42 Scored 0 goals (Division 1)
1981-1982 Played 36 Scored 1 goal (Division 1)
1982-1983 Played 14 Scored 2 goals (Division 1)
1983-1984 Played 0 Scored 0 goals (Division 1)
http://www.sporting-heroes.net/files...01025_GH_L.jpg
http://www.oxfordmail.net/_images/mi...ory-langan.jpg
http://www.oxkits.co.uk/80s/1987-88%...d%20Langan.jpg

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Originally Posted by ruben_sosa

Society can't be there to pick up the pieces and make it all better for footballers who make bad decisions in life

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no, but football people can look after their own and thats what most on here would like to see

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Originally Posted by Ciaran

Oh so ageism now? :rolleyes:

And I did do a google search, try it yourself. The first result that comes up for "Dave Langan" is this very Foot.ie thread :D

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No, the first result that comes up is an archived thread from 2004 quoting an article from 1999 which would have given you all the info you needed had you bothered to open it. This isn't a new story.

As for the bebo page, it's nice someone from that generation knows what they're on about.

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Originally Posted by Ciaran

Right well on to the matter.

My understanding is that the FAI are under no obligation to give him a testimonial as he didn't make enough appearances and the campaign appears to be trying to joust the FAI into earning PR points by helping.

I'm with some of the other people here, I don't see the urgency of the situation. It's unfortunate, yes. But if that man was in most other professions he'd have no choice but live off state grants, and apparently he's getting paid from the FAI too.
Is there some specific reason he's looking for this money?

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In most other, if not all, jobs where an employee is so injured that he cannot continue to work he would receive substantial compensation. Davy is now in a position where his employment options are extremely limited. I'm all for giving him a substantial dig out.