- Matthew Lawrence (footballer)
-
Matt Lawrence Personal information Full name Matthew James Lawrence Date of birth 19 June 1974 Place of birth Northampton, England Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in) Playing position Right back, Centre back Club information Current club Gillingham Number 15 Youth career 1992–1995 Hartwick College Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1995–1996 Grays Athletic ? (?) 1996–1997 Wycombe Wanderers 16 (1) 1997–1998 Fulham 60 (0) 1998–2000 Wycombe Wanderers 63 (4) 2000–2006 Millwall 228 (0) 2006–2010 Crystal Palace 121 (1) 2010– Gillingham 59 (0) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 5 November 2011 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).Matthew James "Matt" Lawrence (born 19 June 1974 in Northampton, England) is an English footballer who plays for Gillingham in League Two. He is a right back and centre back.
Contents
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 football (soccer, to distinguish from American football) in the States for Hartwick College. In February 2009, Hartwick inducted Lawrence into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame.[1]
Five months later, he became a Football League player, when he joined Wycombe Wanderers, for £20,000. He made 21 appearances for Wycombe before moving on to Fulham, for an undisclosed fee. He spent a strong 20 months at the West-London side, making over 60 appearances, before going back to Wycombe, on a free transfer, following Fulham's failure to gain promotion to Division One.
He had a more successful spell at The Chairboys this time, before going to Millwall in March 2000, for £200,000. At The Lions, 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 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 Lions, as they reached the Division One play-offs.
At the start of the 2003–04 campaign, Lawrence fell out with Lions boss Mark McGhee, and looked to be on his way out The New Den. However, McGhee was replaced by Dennis Wise, and Lawrence got his place back. It was then that he switched to central defence, playing alongside Darren Ward, and the dynamic duo stood out, with the Lions reaching the 2004 FA Cup Final, and thus qualifying for the UEFA Cup.
Boss 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.
Nigel Spackman was appointed manager at the New Den, but Lawrence did not play competitively under him, as he moved to rivals Crystal Palace, to rekindle his partnership with Darren Ward. After an average first season, Lawrence began to excel under the leadership of Neil Warnock at Selhurst Park. He scored his first goal for Palace against Sheffield Wednesday on 22 March 2008.[2] His contract at Selhurst Park expired at the end of the 2009–10 season, and in August 2010 he joined Gillingham of League Two on a one year deal,[3] and made his debut for them in goalless draw away to Hereford United on 14 August.
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.
Club career statistics
- (correct as of 12 August 2010)
Club Season League Cup[4] Europe Play-Offs Total Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Wycombe 1995–96 3 0 ? - - - - - - ? ? ? 3 0 ? Wycombe 1996–97 13 1 ? 5 0 ? - - - ? ? ? 18 1 ? Total 1995–1997 16 1 ? 5 0 ? - - - ? ? ? 21 1 ? Fulham 1996–97 14 0 ? - - - - - - ? ? ? 14 0 ? Fulham 1997–98 45 0 ? 6 0 ? - - - ? ? ? 51 0 ? Fulham 1998–99 1 0 ? 1 0 ? - - - ? ? ? 2 0 ? Total 1996–1999 60 0 ? 7 0 ? - - - ? ? ? 67 0 ? Wycombe 1998–99 34 2 ? 2 0 ? - - - ? ? ? 36 2 ? Wycombe 1999-00 29 2 ? 8 0 ? - - - ? ? ? 37 2 ? Total 1999–2000 63 4 ? 10 0 ? - - - ? ? ? 73 4 ? Millwall 1999-00 11 0 ? - - - - - - ? ? ? 11 0 ? Millwall 2000–01 45 0 ? 7 0 ? - - - ? ? ? 52 0 ? Millwall 2001–02 28 0 0 4 0 0 - - - ? ? ? 32 0 0 Millwall 2002–03 33 0 0 5 0 0 - - - ? ? ? 38 0 0 Millwall 2003–04 36 0 0 8 0 0 - - - ? ? ? 44 0 0 Millwall 2004–05 44 0 1 2 0 0 2 0 0 ? ? ? 48 0 1 Millwall 2005–06 31 0 2 3 0 0 - - - ? ? ? 34 0 2 Total 2000–2006 228 0 3 29 0 0 2 0 0 ? ? ? 259 0 3 Crystal Palace 2006–07 34 0 0 3 0 0 - - - - - - 37 0 0 Crystal Palace 2007–08 37 1 1 2 0 0 - - - 2 0 0 41 1 1 Crystal Palace 2008–09 32 0 0 4 0 0 - - - - - - 36 0 0 Crystal Palace 2009–10 18 0 0 3 0 0 - - - - - - 21 0 0 Total 2006–2010 121 1 1 12 0 0 - - - 2 0 0 135 1 1 Gillingham 2010–11 43 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 2010– 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Career totals 531 6 4 64 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 599 6 4 Honours
References
- ^ Hartwick College to Induct Eight Into Athletic Hall of Fame
- ^ "Sheff Wed 2–2 Crystal Palace". BBC. 22 March 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/7298114.stm. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
- ^ "Gills snap up Palace defender". Gillingham F.C.. 12 August 2010. http://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/page/PressReleases/0,,10416~2119585,00.html.
- ^ Includes FA Cup, League Cup and FA Community Shield
External links
- Matthew Lawrence player profile at cpfc.co.uk
- Matthew Lawrence player profile at millwallfc.co.uk
- Matthew Lawrence career stats at Soccerbase
2000–01 Football League Second Division PFA Team of the Year GK: Jimmy Walker · DF: Matt Lawrence · DF: Arjan de Zeeuw · DF: Andy Tillson · DF: Mickey Bell · MF: Scott Murray · MF: Graham Kavanagh · MF: Tim Cahill · MF: Brian Tinnion · FW: Neil Harris · FW: Martin ButlerMillwall F.C. – Player of the Year 1971: Bridges • 1972: King • 1973: Wood • 1974: Wood • 1975: Summerill • 1976: Kitchener • 1977: Brisley • 1978: Walker • 1979: Kitchener • 1980: Lyons • 1981: P. Roberts • 1982: Horrix • 1983: Neal • 1984: Otulakowski • 1985: Sansome • 1986: McLeary • 1987: Horne • 1988: Salman • 1989: Hurlock • 1990: Dawes • 1991: Sheringham • 1992: Davison • 1993: Keller • 1994: Stevens • 1995: A. Roberts • 1996: Thatcher • 1997: Neill • 1998: P. Shaw • 1999: Harris • 2000: Nethercott • 2001: Lawrence • 2002: Claridge • 2003: Warner • 2004: Ward • 2005: Ward • 2006: Livermore • 2007: R. Shaw • 2008: Robinson • 2009: Frampton • 2010: Dunne • 2011: Mkandawire
Gillingham F.C. – current squad 1 Flitney · 2 Fuller · 3 Frampton · 4 Lee · 5 King · 6 Richards · 7 Whelpdale · 8 J. Payne · 9 Kedwell · 10 Weston · 11 Oli · 12 Martin · 14 Rooney · 15 Lawrence · 16 Fish · 17 Spiller · 18 Jackman · 19 Montrose · 20 Davies · 21 Rance · 22 Essam · 23 S. Payne · 24 Evans · 25 Brown · 26 Hawkes · 27 Brunt · 28 Gazzaniga · 29 Nouble · 30 Birchall · 33 Kuffour · — Miller · Manager: Hessenthaler
Categories:- English footballers
- Association football central defenders
- The Football League players
- Crystal Palace F.C. players
- Fulham F.C. players
- Gillingham F.C. players
- Hartwick Hawks men's soccer players
- Millwall F.C. players
- Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players
- Grays Athletic F.C. players
- 1974 births
- Living people
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
