James Lang (footballer)

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James J. "Reddie" Lang (born March 1851^[1]) was a Scottish footballer who is generally considered to be the first professional player.

Lang's playing career started with Glasgow Eastern, from where he move to Clydesdale and then Third Lanark.^[1] While with Clydesdale he played in the first ever Scottish Cup final. He also became involved with the Glasgow vs. Sheffield association matches and at the 1876 meeting he caught the attention of The Wednesday board. They subsequently invited him to play for their team. He was not paid by the club but instead gained employment with a company owned by one of the directors. No formal duties were attached to the job and he spent most of the day reading the paper.

Lang returned to Third Lanark in 1877 and played in their 1878 Scottish Cup final defeat but joined Wednesday for a second time in 1879. Remarkably, he prospered in Sheffield despite only having vision in one eye, having the lost the use of the other in a shipyard accident in Clydebank.^[1] When Lang part company with Wednesday in 1886 it was, ironically, due to the rise of professionalism. At that time Sheffield Wednesday were still an "amateur" club and he moved across the Pennines to the openly professional Burnley. He won two international caps for Scotland, in 1876 and 1878, scoring two goals.

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