Alex Lang

Alex Lang
Personal information
Date of birth	12 March 1888
Place of birth	Carlton, Victoria
Date of death	9 July 1943 (aged 55)
Place of death	Adelaide, South Australia
Original team(s)	Parkville Presbyterians
Debut	Round 1, 1906, Carlton v. Melbourne, at Princes Park
Height/Weight	175 cm / 73 kg
Playing career^1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1906–10, 1916–17	Carlton	105 (82)
^1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1917 season.
Career highlights
Carlton premiership player: 1906, 1907 & 1908

Alex 'Bongo' Lang (12 March 1888 – 9 July 1943) was an Australian rules footballer who played with the Carlton Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Despite being a three-time premiership player, Lang will be remembered by history as the joint record holder for the longest ban received from the tribunal.

Recruited by coach Jack Worrall in 1905, Lang debuted for Carlton in the opening round of the following season. He played as a rover, winning premierships in his first three years at the club and in 1909 was voted by The Australasian newspaper as the most 'Outstanding player in the VFL'.

During the 1910 final series he became involved in a match fixing scandal after being dropped from the side for their 2nd semi final against South Melbourne. It had been alleged that he had accepted a bribe to play poorly, along with teammates Doug Gillespie and Doug Fraser. Both Carlton and the VFL launched their own investigations and Lang admitted that an offer had been made to him. He claimed however that he did not intend on accepting it. Regardless of his plea of innocence he was found guilty along with Fraser and both were banned for 99 games, a total of five years. Doug Gillespie was exonerated and played in the club's losing Grand Final.

Lang returned to the game in 1916 and brought up his 100th game for Carlton. He retired the following season after playing only three games.

References

• Alex Lang's statistics from AFL Tables
• Alex Lang's profile from AustralianFootball.com
• Blueseum: Alex Lang