Ambrose Langley, the first captain to lead Sheffield Wednesday to victory in the football league in 1902 and 1903, will be honoured with a new headstone at a ceremony in Burngreave Cemetery almost 90 years after his death.
Clive Nicholson, great-grandnephew of legendary Sheffield Wednesday player, Fred Spiksley, was researching the history of Sheffield Wednesday, when he visited Burngreave Cemetery where several Sheffield Wednesday players are buried.
He was shocked to discover that no headstone marked Langley’s grave. So he teamed up with Tom Crawshaw, the great-grandson of Sheffield Wednesday’s most decorated player, Tommy Crawshaw, to raise funds for a headstone for Langley.
The GoFundMe campaign, launched in September 2024 on the 125th anniversary of SW’s move to Hillsborough, has now raised more than their target sum of £5000 for the new headstone.
Ambrose Langley was the most decorated player in Sheffield Wednesday history, second only to Tommy Crawshaw. He played in almost 300 games and was part of the team which won the FA Cup in 1893.
Clive Nicholson said Langley ‘stabilised the performance on the field,’ a defining factor in transforming a relegated team into a victorious one.
Langley went on to captain the Sheffield Wednesday team that won the League championship in 1902-03 and again in 1903-04.
The headstone will be unveiled at a ceremony later this year.
On their GoFundMe page Clive Nicholson and Tom Crawshaw said: “We are seeking the support of Sheffield Wednesday fans to help us fund ‘a new, fitting memorial for this great man.”
“Burngreave Cemetery is the final resting place of several notable Sheffield footballers, including the legendary goalkeeper William ‘Fatty’ Foulkes, one of the most visited graves in the UK.
“We plan to develop a mapped trail through Burngreave, highlighting these footballing legends, with Langley’s new headstone serving as the trail’s centerpiece and making his grave one of the most visited in the country.”
Clive Nicholson has praised the kindness of the Sheffield Wednesday fans to pitch in so Ambrose Langley can be commemorated properly.
Yorkshire stone has been chosen for the headstone and will feature a carving in the ‘Horncastle style’ to honour the town where Langley was born.
