Tommy Langley

Tommy Langley

Personal information
Date of birth	(1958-02-08) 8 February 1958
Place of birth	Elephant & Castle, London, England
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
?–1975	Chelsea
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1974–1980	Chelsea	142	(40)
1980–1981	Queens Park Rangers	25	(8)
1981–1983	Crystal Palace	59	(8)
1983–1984	AEK Athens	5	(0)
1983–1984	Coventry City	2	(0)
1984–1985	Wolverhampton Wanderers	23	(4)
1984–1985	Aldershot	16	(4)
1985–1986	South China	?	(?)
1986–1988	Aldershot	81	(21)
1988–1989	Exeter City	21	(2)
1989	Tampa Bay Rowdies	5	(1)
1989–1991	Slough Town	56	(19)
1991	Aylesbury United	2	(1)
1991	St Albans City	5	(1)
1992	Basingstoke Town
1992	Staines Town
1992–1993	Wokingham Town
International career‡
1978	England U21	1	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11:07, 15 April 2007 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 4 January 2007

Tommy Langley (born 8 February 1958 in the Elephant & Castle, London) is an English retired footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s as a striker. He is currently one of the hosts of Matchnight Live on Chelsea TV.

Playing career

Chelsea

Langley began his career as an apprentice with Chelsea, making his debut in 1975 against Leicester City, when aged 16 years and 9 months . The club were relegated the same season and for the remainder of Langley's time there they bounced between the top two divisions. He first established himself in the side during Chelsea's first season back in the First Division in 1977–78, during which he scored 13 goals, making him the club's top scorer. The following year, Chelsea were near the bottom of the league all season and relegated by March, with Langley's 16 goals – more than three times the total managed by any of his team mates – a rare bright spot, for which he was voted club player of the year. During his career with Chelsea, he scored 43 goals in 152 games.

England Honours

Langley won England Honours at Schoolboy, Under-21 and 'B' levels.

Queens Park Rangers

After Chelsea's failure to gain instant promotion in 1979–80, Langley joined Queens Park Rangers in August 1980. During his stint with QPR, he appeared in 25 games and scored 8 goals.

Crystal Palace

Following his brief stay at QPR, Langley joined Crystal Palace in March 1981, where he played until 1983. During his time at Crystal Palace he appeared in 59 games and scored 8 goals.

AEK Athens and Coventry City

In 1983, Langley left English football for a spell with AEK Athens. Langley only managed to appear in five matches for the Greek club and returned to England to play for Coventry City halfway into the season. Langley appeared in two games for Coventy. During his seven combined appearances with the two sides during the 1983–84 season, he did not manage to score any goals.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

After a somewhat disappointing '83–'84 season, Langley joined Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1984 where he managed to score four goals in 23 appearances. He finished the '84–'85 season at Aldershot Town where he scored another four goals in 16 games for The Shots.

South China AA

After his stint with the Wanderers and Aldershot, Langley left Europe in 1985 to play for Hong Kong-based South China.

Aldershot F.C.

After spending a year in Asia, Langley returned to England and rejoined Aldershot in 1986. He spent two more years with the club appearing in 81 matches and scoring 21 goals.

Exeter City

Langley then went on to finish his English career with Exeter City where he appeared in 21 matches scoring two goals during the 1988–89 season with the club.

Tampa Bay Rowdies

He left Europe for the second time in 1989 this time going to the United States to play for the now defunct, Tampa Bay Rowdies in the American Soccer League.

After football

After Langley's playing days were over, he has still been a part of the game with a career in sport media. Tommy took on his first presenting role as a commentator on Chelsea Radio in 1997. After the radio show, Langley went on to his role as Football Reporter on Channel 5's Breakfast News. Langley joined Chelsea TV when it launched, as a regular guest on the 'Live From Stamford Bridge' phone-in show. He is currently one of the semi-regular presenters on the show, Matchnight Live. He is also used as a co-commentator for Chelsea TV and is known to celebrate when Chelsea score important goals live on air. One such noted time was in Chelsea's 4–4 draw with Tottenham Hotspur, when Chelsea got the goal that gave them a 4–3 lead with three minutes to go, Langley let out a loud "YES". But when Spurs got the equaliser in stoppage time, a loud "NO" could be heard.

Immediately after leaving football, he joined Nashua in Bracknell where he was in dealer sales for copiers and fax machines. His colleague was his ex Aldershot team-mate, Graham Cox.

External links

• Tommy Langley on the Chelsea in America Celebrity Podcast (2009).
• Tommy langley stats at neilbrown