David langan autobiography

Dave 'Francis' Langan was born on 15 February 1957 in the Ringsend suburb of Dublin.
The story of David Langan, the Republic of Ireland international full back who was signed as an apprentice at Derby County under Brian Clough, and then went.
The story of David Langan, the Republic of Ireland international full back who was signed as an apprentice at Derby County under Brian Clough.

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Publisher Description

Dave ‘Francis’ Langan was born on 15 February 1957 in the Ringsend suburb of Dublin. He played for Bath Rangers and Cherry Orchard as a youth before moving England at the age of 16 after being signed by the legendary Brian Clough as an apprentice at Derby County.

He spent six years at Derby County, winning their player of the year award for the 1977-78 season, before moving to Birmingham City, for a then club record fee of £350,000 in 1980. He spent four years at St Andrews; a period hampered by injuries before leaving the club on a free transfer to join Oxford United, then in the old Division Two.

Despite being written off by managers, including his former manager at Birmingham, Langan’s move to Oxford saw him win the Division Two title and achieve his dream of playing at Wembley Stadium, helping the club to win the 1986 Milk Cup Final against QPR.

He also played for Leicester City (on loan), Bournemouth and Peterborough before retiring from professional football in 1989 at the age of 32.

Langan also won 26 caps for the Republic of Ireland, making

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I remember when I signed for Birmingham, Jim Smith said to me ‘I’ll give you the same as what you are on at Derby plus £50 appearance money every game.’

When Dave Langan signed for Blues in the summer of 1980 for a club record £350,000 from Derby County that was the extent of the negotiations between player and manager in a motorway cafe. A right-back, Langan made over 100 appearances for Blues before injury forced him to miss 18 months of his career and ruined his knees forever. In his book “Running Through Walls”, Langan tells a story of how a naïve lad from Ringsend, Dublin became Blues record signing, played 26 times for the Republic of Ireland and a League Cup winner before injury and depression hit and left him racked with pain and for a time homeless.

At the time Langan signed for Blues I was still in nappies so I’ll let you read the words of an OP reader who remembers Dave in his pomp.

I think what’s hard to explain about Langan is what a ground breaking player he was for us. Prior to him we’d had stalwart right-backs like Pendrey,
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Dave Langan
Irish footballer
David Francis Langan (born 15 February 1957) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a right back for the Republic of Ireland, for whom he won 26 caps. Langan won his first cap against Turkey in April 1978 and was a regular in the squad until he sustained a knee injury in a 3–2 victory over France.
For four years he was in the international wilderness until his move to Oxford regenerated the form that earned him his first caps. He remained an ever-present throughout the course of the qualifying campaign for UEFA Euro 1988 in which he played four games. Despite public outcry,^{[citation needed]} Langan was dropped for the adventure in the summer of 1988 in Germany and there ended his international career.
Langan played youth football with the Cherry Orchard club and was a youth international before going to England to join Derby County, for whom he made his debut in 1977 as a 19-year-old and went on to make over 150 senior appearances. Jim Smith then paid a club record £350,000 to take him to Birmingham City, for whom