Matt Lawrence (footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Matthew James Lawrence[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 19 June 1974 | ||
| Place of birth | Northampton, England | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Right back, Centre back | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1992–1995 | Hartwick Hawks | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1995–1996 | Grays Athletic | ||
| 1996–1997 | Wycombe Wanderers | 16 | (1) |
| 1997–1998 | Fulham | 59 | (0) |
| 1998–2000 | Wycombe Wanderers | 63 | (4) |
| 2000–2006 | Millwall | 226 | (0) |
| 2006–2010 | Crystal Palace | 121 | (1) |
| 2010–2012 | Gillingham | 69 | (0) |
| 2012–2014 | Whitehawk | 35 | (1) |
| 2014–2015 | Burgess Hill Town | 0 | (0) |
| Total | 589 | (7) | |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Matthew James Lawrence (born 19 June 1974) is an English former footballer who played as a centre back.
Playing career
Lawrence began his career as a midfielder, starting out late at Grays Athletic in August 1995, age 21, having taken an American literature degree whilst playing college soccer in the United States for Hartwick College. In February 2009, Hartwick inducted Lawrence into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame.[2][3]
Five months later, Lawrence became a
He had a more successful spell at The Chairboys this time, before going to Millwall in March 2000 for £200,000. At Millwall, he began a new role as a right-back, and starred, only missing one game and being voted the fans' Player of The Year, as Millwall were promoted to Division One as champions in 2000–01 season. He started the 2001–02 season well, but sustained a concussion, the results of which kept him out of the side for some time. On his return, he found his best form to date for the club, as they reached the Division One play-offs.
At the start of the
Wise left the club at the end of the 2004–05 season, and defensive partner Ward left for Crystal Palace, and Lawrence found himself playing in a number of positions under a variety of different managers during the disastrous 2005–06 campaign, as the Lions were relegated back to League One.
In July 2012 he joined non-League side Whitehawk.[6]
In 2014, he joined Burgess Hill Town; however, he did not make an appearance in either the league or any cup competitions for the club.[7]
Career statistics
| Club | Season | Division | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Wycombe Wanderers | 1995–96 |
Division Two | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Wycombe Wanderers | 1996–97 |
Division Two | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 |
| Total | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 | ||
| Fulham | 1996–97 |
Division Three | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| Fulham | 1997–98 |
Division Two | 45 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3[a] | 0 | 54 | 0 |
| Fulham | 1998–99 |
Division Two | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 59 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 69 | 0 | ||
| Wycombe Wanderers | 1998–99 |
Division Two | 34 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 39 | 2 |
| Wycombe Wanderers | 1999–2000 |
Division Two | 29 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 38 | 2 |
| Total | 63 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 77 | 4 | ||
| Millwall | 1999–2000 |
Division Two | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| Millwall | 2000–01 |
Division Two | 45 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 54 | 0 |
| Millwall | 2001–02 |
Division One | 26 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2[b] | 0 | 32 | 0 |
| Millwall | 2002–03 |
Division One | 33 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 0 |
| Millwall | 2003–04 |
Division One | 36 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 0 |
| Millwall | 2004–05 |
Championship | 44 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | 48 | 0 |
| Millwall | 2005–06 |
Championship | 31 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 0 |
| Total | 226 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 261 | 0 | ||
| Crystal Palace | 2006-07 |
Championship | 34 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 0 |
| Crystal Palace | 2007-08 |
Championship | 37 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[b] | 0 | 41 | 1 |
| Crystal Palace | 2008-09 |
Championship | 32 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 0 |
| Crystal Palace | 2009-10 |
Championship | 18 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
| Total | 121 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 135 | 1 | ||
| Gillingham | 2010-11 |
League Two | 43 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 0 |
| Gillingham | 2011-12 |
League Two | 26 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 0 |
| Total | 69 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 73 | 0 | ||
| Whitehawk | 2012-13 |
Isthmian League Premier | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| Whitehawk | 2013-14 |
Conference South | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[d] | 0 | 29 | 0 |
| Total | 35 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 38 | 1 | ||
| Burgess Hill Town | 2014-15 |
Isthmian League Division One South | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career total | 589 | 7 | 40 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 673 | 7 | ||
Life outside football
In preparation for the 2007–08 season, Lawrence wrote a weekly "pre-season diary" for The London Paper. This appeared every Monday for five weeks, a popular piece which led to him being given a regular column in the matchday programme over the season. He was signed up to write a weekly column for The Mirror.
Lawrence joined the Sporting Kansas City broadcast team as a color commentator ahead of the 2017 Major League Soccer season.[11]
Honours
Fulham
- Football League Third Division: 1996–97[12]
Millwall
- Football League Second Division: 2000–01[13]
- FA Cup runner-up: 2003–04[14]
Individual
- Millwall Player of the Season: 2000–01
- PFA Team of the Year: Second Division 2000–01[15]
Notes
- ^ Football League Trophy
- ^ a b Appearance(s) in Division One play-offs
- UEFA Cup
- ^ Appearance(s) in FA Trophy
References
- ^ "Matt Lawrence". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
- ^ "Hartwick College to Induct Eight into Athletic Hall of Fame". Hartwick College. 17 February 2009. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
- ^ "Hartwick Athletics Hall of Fame". Hartwick College. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
- ^ "Sheff Wed 2–2 Crystal Palace". BBC. 22 March 2008. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
- ^ "Gills snap up Palace defender". Gillingham F.C. 7 October 2010. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
- ^ "Lawrence coup for Hawks". NonLeagueDaily.com. 10 July 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
- ^ "Burgess Hill Town | Appearances | 2014-2015 | Football Web Pages". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
- ^ "Matt Lawrence | Football Stats | No Club | Age 49 | 1995-2012 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
- ^ "England - M. Lawrence - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
- ^ "Burgess Hill Town | Appearances | 2014-2015 | Football Web Pages". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
- ^ Bergabo, Patrik. "Sporting Kansas City announces 2017 broadcast team". SportingKC.com. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
- ^ "Good, Bad & Ugly: Former Millwall defender Matt Lawrence". The League Paper. 8 March 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
- ^ "Millwall Club History – Millwall FC". millwallfc.co.uk. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
- ^ "Glory Glory Man United". The FA. 22 May 2004. Archived from the original on 30 May 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
- ^ "Teams of the year". 29 April 2001. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
External links
- Matt Lawrence player profile at cpfc.co.uk
- Matt Lawrence at Soccerbase
