A legend of the Hawthorn Football Club and extremely popular with all football fans, Chris Langford ranks amongst the best full backs of all time.
He epitomised the spirit of Hawthorn – a proud, strong and yet humble man who let his deeds do the talking. Like the club he represented so magnificently for 303 games, he had a slow, stuttering start to his career, but eventually blossomed to be an awesome force in the competition.
Langford also continued the fine tradition of Hawthorn’s recruiting from Melbourne’s private school system. A product of Melbourne Grammar, Langford came on board in the early years of the 1980s, quickly garnering the nickname ‘Frank’ from his teammates thanks to his propensity for mishap and self-injury, much like Michael Crawford’s ‘Frank Spencer’ from Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em.
This clumsiness was in evidence in his early career at Hawthorn, as the match committee struggled to find him a regular home. Nominally a wingman on his arrival, Langford couldn’t muscle past Robert Dipierdomenico or Rodney Eade for a midfield gig, and he was also unsuccessful in his forays into ruck work (best – or worst – illustrated by the ill-fated rucking venture in the 1985 Grand Final).
There was early heartbreak for Langford, a last-minute withdrawal from the 1983 premiership side. Langford couldn’t bear to stay at the ground to watch the game, and was clearly deeply hurt by the omission.
There was no place for Langford in the 1984 Grand Final team, and he was only a bit-part performer in 1985, but a grand honour was bestowed upon him at the end of that season. Peter Knights retired at the conclusion of that season and anointed Langford as his successor in the number 24 guernsey. Langford cast aside the number 28 and never looked back.
Finally securing a permanent spot in defence in 1986, Langford quickly earned a reputation as one of the league’s best and most dashing key defenders. Equally at home at full back or centre half back, he forged an excellent partnership with Chris Mew, the two of them swapping positions regularly with Mew handling the taller, rangy forwards and Langford taking care of the fast-leading or strong-bodied types.
Langford’s rise to prominence coincided with the arrival of Stephen Kernahan at Carlton, and the two built a rivalry akin to the Wayne Carey/Glen Jakovich battles that followed. Throughout a decade of battles between the two, the honours were split fairly evenly and both spoke highly of and with great respect for each other.
Langford’s fine defensive form filled the final gap in Hawthorn’s structure in the mid-80s, and the side went on to dominate the next six years of the competition, with Langford a key component of the all-conquering force. Playing in such an accomplished team also gave Langford licence to run forward and create, and his dashing runs from defence became a trademark.
Through the next decade Langford locked horns with the most brilliant array of forwards seen in the VFL/AFL for decades. Apart from his career-long battles with Kernahan, Langford was the regular match-up for the likes of Tony Lockett, Gary Ablett, Wayne Carey, Tony Modra, Brian Taylor, Paul Salmon, Gary Lyon and Peter Sumich. He mastered most of them, broke even with them all and was rarely beaten.
Langford played in four premierships – a fine 1986 effort where he subdued Kernahan, 1988, 1989 where he restricted a previously rampant Ablett, and 1991 where, after a shaky start, he shut down Sumich. He also played in the losing 1987 Grand Final side, with Kernahan extracting revenge for the previous year’s defeat.
Recognised as the premier defender in the competition for several seasons, Langford was an automatic selection for Victoria for many years, and proved his worth on that big stage by winning two E.J. Whitten Medals (1987 and 1993). Only Paul Roos, Dale Weightman, Robert Harvey and Langford have won the award more than once. Langford also earned All-Australian honours in 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1994.
Langford was installed as captain upon Gary Ayres’ retirement, and he led the club to sixth place and a brave finals loss to North Melbourne in 1994. Business commitments meant that he could not give the leadership role the attention it required, and he relinquished the job to Jason Dunstall for the 1995 season.
Age and business commitments began to impact on Langford’s football career, but he remained a redoubtable and dependable figure in Hawthorn’s defence over the final years of his career. Even when business meant that he had to live in Sydney and miss the first third of the season in 1997, Hawthorn kept him on the list and immediately re-inserted him into the backline when he became available for selection. Such was Langford’s professionalism that even though he had not trained with his teammates for the entire year, he still made a valuable contribution in what proved to be his final year of football. He became the fifth Hawk to chalk up 300 games for the club against West Coast in Round 19 1997, and bowed out against the Western Bulldogs in Round 22.
If his magnificent catalogue of achievements wasn’t enough to endear him to Hawthorn fans, Langford went a step further by being the most visible and high profile opponent to the proposed Melbourne/Hawthorn merger in 1996. Langford broke ranks with club policy and teammates to publicly state his opposition to the merger, and memorably took off his jumper at the conclusion of the epic Round 22 clash with Melbourne, brandishing his guernsey to the crowd as a pointed message to Hawthorn members.
Langford earned life membership for Hawthorn in 1989, and was selected in the club’s Team Of The Century on interchange. He was awarded life membership of the AFL in 1996, and today sits on the AFL Commission, the youngest member of the eight-person board. |
fjrigjwwe9r1Achievements:Achievement Captain - 1994 | fjrigjwwe9r2Achievements:Achievement Selected as Interchange in the Hawthorn Team of the Century | fjrigjwwe9r1Achievements:Achievement Life Member - 1989 | fjrigjwwe9r2Achievements:Achievement fjrigjwwe9r1Achievements:Achievement AFL Life Member - 1996 | fjrigjwwe9r1Achievements:Achievement All Australian - 1987 (Vic), 1987 (Full back), 1988 (Full back), 1989 (Full back), 1994 (Back pocket) | fjrigjwwe9r1Achievements:Achievement fjrigjwwe9r2Achievements:Achievement E.J. Whitten Medal - 1987, 1993 | fjrigjwwe9r2Achievements:Achievement Premierships - 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991 |
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