Arthur Langley (

né The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Longbottom; 30 January 1933 – 15 September 2023) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. An inside-forward, he scored 118 goals in 360 league and cup appearances in an 11-year career in the bottom two divisions of the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

. He changed his surname from Longbottom to Langley after he retired from football. Longbottom spent 1954 to 1961 at

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

before he was sold on to

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

in May 1961 for a £2,000 fee. He was sold on to

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

for another £2,000 in January 1963 before joining

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

in the summer. He

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies * ...

red to

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

in October 1964 and then moved into

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

with

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

in May 1965. Though he never won any honours and was never promoted, he finished as top-scorer in seasons at QPR, Port Vale, and Oxford United.

Career

Longbottom signed for Jack Taylor's

from Methley United in 1954 and made his debut in a 3–0 defeat against

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

in March 1955. QPR finished 15th in the Third Division South in 1954–55. They then posted an 18th-place finish in 1955–56. Taking over Conway Smith's mantle as the club's key attacker, Longbottom finished as the club's top-scorer in 1956–57 with 15 goals, helping the club to a top ten finish. He scored 18 goals in 1957–58 to become the club's top-scorer once again; another tenth-place finish ensured Rangers a place in the restructured Third Division the following season. He hit 20 goals in 1958–59, becoming the club's top-scorer for a third consecutive season. New

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Alec Stock Alec William Alfred Stock (30 March 1917 – 16 April 2001) was an English footballer and manager. He briefly managed AS Roma, between long spells at Leyton Orient and Queens Park Rangers. At QPR, he won successive promotions, leading the club ...

's new signing

Brian Bedford Brian Bedford (16 February 1935 – 13 January 2016) was an English actor. He appeared in film and on stage, and was an actor-director of Shakespeare productions. Bedford was nominated for seven Tony Awards for his theatrical work, winning once ...

then took over as the club's main source of goals, as QPR finished eighth in 1959–60, before finishing third in 1960–61 – missing out on

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

by just one place and two points. Longbottom played at

inside-left In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

and scored 62 goals in 201 league appearances during his seven years at

Loftus Road Loftus Road, currently known as MATRADE Loftus Road Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Shepherd's Bush, West London, Greater London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers F.C., Queens Park Rangers Football Club, w ...

. Longbottom

red to

Norman Low Norman Harvey Low (23 March 1914 – 21 May 1994) was a Scottish football player and manager. He was the son of Scottish international footballer, Wilf Low. A central defender, he played for Newcastle United between 1931 and 1933, before three ...

's Third Division

for a £2,000 fee in May 1961. He scored in his debut on 19 August, in a 4–2 defeat to

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

Gay Meadow Gay Meadow was a football ground in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, serving as the home ground of Shrewsbury Town. Located on the banks of the River Severn, it opened in 1910. The ground closed at the end of the 2006-07 Football League seas ...

. He bagged 20 goals in 49 games in the 1961–62 season to become the club's joint- top-scorer (with

Bert Llewellyn Herbert Arthur Llewellyn (5 February 1939 – 8 September 2016) was an English footballer. A centre-forward, he scored 114 goals in 239 league and cup appearances in a nine-year career in the Football League. He began his career at Everton i ...

). He scored twice in 11 games in 1962–63, but new boss Freddie Steele sold him on to league rivals

in January 1963 for a £2,000 fee. He scored one goal in ten league games for Ron Gray's "Lions", before leaving

The Den The Den (previously The New Den) is a football stadium in Bermondsey, south-east London, and the home of Millwall Football Club. The Den is adjacent to the South London railway originating at , and a quarter-of-a-mile from the Old Den, whic ...

in the summer. Longbottom joined up with Fourth Division side

and finished as the club's top-scorer in the 1963–64 season with 14 goals in 34 games. This tally included two goals in six games as Oxford became the first Fourth Division side to reach the sixth round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

. Having performed well in Arthur Turner's team, he earned a move away from the Manor Ground and back into the Third Division. Longbottom joined

in October 1964 and went on to score 13 goals in 36 appearances in 1964–65 – one goal less than top-scorer Billy Stark. The "U's" suffered

relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

however, and manager

Neil Franklin Cornelius "Neil" Franklin (24 January 1922 – 9 February 1996) was an English footballer who played for Crewe Alexandra F.C., Crewe Alexandra, Hull City A.F.C., Hull City, Stockport County F.C., Stockport County and Stoke City F.C., Stok ...

allowed Longbottom to leave

Layer Road Layer Road was a Football League stadium in Colchester, England. It was the home of Colchester United Football Club from its inception in 1937, up until the club relocated to Colchester Community Stadium in 2008, resulting in its closure. The ...

on a free transfer to

Midland League The Midland Football League, officially known as the Capelli Sport Midland Football League since January 2025 for sponsorship reasons, is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midl ...

club

in May 1965.

Later life and death

Following the end of his football career, he changed his surname via

deed poll A deed poll (plural: deeds poll) is a legal document binding on a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an intention or create an obligation. It is a deed, and not a contract, because it binds only one party. Etymology Th ...

to Langley. He had trained to be a

hairdresser A hairdresser is a person whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques. A hairdresser may also be re ...

whilst a player at QPR in preparation for a career after his retirement as a player. He settled in

with wife, Jean, with whom he had three children. Longbottom died on 15 September 2023 at the age of 90.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Longbottom, Arthur 1933 births 2023 deaths Footballers from Leeds English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Scarborough F.C. players English Football League players Midland Football League players 20th-century English sportsmen