Jamie Langfield Player Profile

Biography

Born in Paisley on December 22nd 1979, Jamie Langfield came through the youth system at Dens and made him first team debut as a 16 year old in a League Cup second round tie with Dumbarton at Dens in August 1996 in the absence of regular goalkeeper Billy Thomson and back up Gary McGlynn through injury, making him the youngest goalkeeper in Dundee’s history.

Despite performing well in the 2-1 win, Langfield had to wait a couple of years for his next appearance when came off the bench to replace the injured Robert Douglas in the 59th minute against Aberdeen at Pittodrie in October 1998. Within a minute of him coming on Eddie Annand equalised to make it 1-1 but wearing the number 40 shirt, his first job was to pick the ball out the net three minutes later when Eoin Jess scored his second. Annand however completed his double with 20 minutes left to secure an excellent 2-2 draw for the newly promoted side.

Douglas recovered to play in the next three games against Dunfermline, Hearts and Celtic but was unfit to face Kilmarnock at Dens on November 14th and so Langfield came in for his first league start in the 1-1 draw.

Langfield continued to be Douglas’ number two as Dundee secured fifth place in their first season back in the top flight and the following season made just two appearances against Ayr United in Scottish Cup in February in which The Dee crashed out on penalties in the replay at Somerset Park.

At the end of the season Jamie was called up to the Scotland Under-21 side and made his international debut in a 1-0 win over Wales in the Northern Ireland Under-21 tournament alongside fellow Dee Lee Wilkie and future Dees Darren Young and Kenny Miller. His second international honour came in August 2001 in a European Under-21 Championship qualifier against Croatia in Perth and kept another clean sheet with Kenny Miller netting the winner from the spot.

In October 2000 it was no surprise to see the popular Douglas leave Dens Park for Celtic for a then club record £1.2 million fee which meant that Langfield came into the side for Claudio Caniggia’s home debut against Motherwell.

New manager Ivano Bonetti decided however to bring in Italian goalkeeper Marco Rocatti on loan from Bologna to replace ‘Big Rab’ and Jamie returned to the bench in the next match away at Dunfermline.

In the penultimate game before the first ever split against Celtic in Glasgow, Langfield, who had been the subject of an abortive bid by Cardiff City, replaced Roccati in the starting XI after the Italian had injured his back in the pre match warm up. The youngster went on to make several superb saves but although Dundee looked to hold out for a well merited 1-1 draw, Johan Mjalby bundled home a last gasp winner.

Three days later Jamie started the match away at Pittodrie and kept his first Dark Blue clean sheet as The Dee won 2-0 and sneak into the top six after Dunfermline lost at Kilmarnock.

Langfield played in the remaining five games of the season which included a 2-0 win over champions at Celtic Park (which gave Dundee wins over both halves of the Old Firm in Glasgow in the same season; the last side to date to achieve this) but in the summer Bonetti brought in Argentinean goalkeeper Julián Speroni.

Langfield however moved to squad number one and started the season as first choice against FK Sartid Smederevo in the UEFA Intertoto Cup when Speroni was unable to play after he had problems obtaining an Italian passport that he qualified for through his grandfather.

It was Dundee’s first foray into Europe since facing RWD Molenbeek in the UEFA Cup in October 1974 and not only was Speroni missing but four key men were also absent. Beto Carranza was allowed to return home to Argentina for the birth of his daughter, Giorgi Nemsadze and Zurab Khizanishvili were given extra time off after playing in two World Cup qualifiers for Georgia at the start of the month and Steven Tweed was still recovering from a recent hernia operation.

The first leg took place on a beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon on June 16th 2001 and Langfield kept a clean sheet in a dull 0-0 draw in a somewhat surreal atmosphere at Dens. The Dark Blues had surprisingly started with just Juan Sara up front and the Yugoslavian defence were rarely tested.

Steven Milne was brought on at half time which brought a marked improvement but with Sartid blatantly time wasting, the closest Dundee came to scoring was substitute Fabian Caballero’s skidding drive in the final minute.

Mindful of the NATO airstrikes on Belgrade in the Kosovo conflict two years earlier, the UK Foreign Office advised Dundee fans not to travel to Serbia for the second leg due to take place in the recently renovated Smederevo Stadium seven days later.

Langfield retained his place with Caballero coming in for Mark Robertson being the only change from the first leg and just four minutes into the game, the Argentinean striker gave Dundee the lead.

However in a three minute spell Sartid converted two penalties past Langfield following dubious awards and then just before half time the unmarked Aleksic made it 3-1 from a corner.

After the break Sara pulled one back on the hour but with fifteen minutes left Caballero was sent off for retaliation and the Yugoslavs went on to win 5-2 to end Dundee’s brief foray into Europe after a 27 year wait.

It wasn’t until October that Speroni got his clearance through and Langfield would play in every game up until Christmas. Speroni sat on the bench until was given his chance against Falkirk in the Scottish Cup at Dens in January but Jamie returned to the side in the next league match against Motherwell. After a poor showing in the 4-2 defeat however, Speroni became the first choice keeper for the rest of the season.

When Jim Duffy replaced Bonetti in the summer he gave both keepers their chance in pre season on Tour in Romania and at home to Preston and Rapid Bucharest but when the competitive stuff kicked off against Hearts in August, it was Speroni who was handed the starting berth. The Argentinean was an ever present for the 2002/03 season with Langfield on the bench throughout including in the 2003 Scottish Cup Final against Rangers at Hampden.

Langfield was also on the bench for the four UEFA Cup matches against KS Vllaznia and AC Perugia but in November he was one of the twenty-five employees released when Dundee went into administration.

Thankfully Jamie wasn’t without a club for long as he was immediately picked up by Raith Rovers on a short term deal and in January joined Partick Thistle until the end of the season.

He made ten appearances for Thistle, including facing his old side Dundee three times but when The Jags were relegated in the summer, Langfield was freed.

After a year at Dunfermline where he failed to make a first team appearance, Langfield joined Aberdeen and would stay at Pittodrie for the next ten years, making 335 appearances and win a cap for the Scotland B team. In June 2011 Jamie suffered a brain seizure but thankfully recovered to resume his career and was part of the Aberdeen side which won the League Cup in 2014.

He was granted a testimonial against Brighton & Hove Albion in July 2015 and in August left The Dons to sign for his home town team St Mirren as a player coach. After a successful first season with Saints, Langfield dropped to the bench for most of 2016/17 and concentrated on his coaching role. He signed a new contract in May 2017 and was part of former Dee Jack Ross’ back room staff that won the SPFL Championship title and promotion back to the top flight and remains at St Mirren Park.