Jamie Lawrence
Encyclopedia
Jamie Lawrence is an English
-born Jamaica
n professional footballer and former manager of Southern League
side Ashford Town
. He is currently signed as a player for Cobham
.
He notably played Premier League football for both Leicester City
and Bradford City
, having also played as a professional for Sunderland
, Doncaster Rovers
, Walsall
, Wigan Athletic
, Grimsby Town
and Brentford
before playing in the Non-League game for Worthing
, Harrow Borough
and Margate
. He also represented Jamaica
24 times.
, and then while playing for them spotted by Sunderland
manager Terry Butcher
.
A brief spell at Doncaster Rovers
followed, before he joined Premier League strugglers Leicester City in the 1994–95 season
and just before leaving in 1997 he helped them win the Football League Cup
, coming on as an extra time substitute during the replay. Further to his contribution in the final, he also scored two goals (one in each leg) against Scarborough in an earlier round of the competition. Although he was unable to save them from Premier League relegation in his first season at Filbert Street
, Lawrence helped Leicester City win promotion at the first attempt via the Division One
Football League play-offs
.
He cost Bradford City
manager Chris Kamara
just £50,000 when he signed from Leicester City
in 1997. Lawrence played a part in Bradford's promotion to the Premier League. Lawrence was also well known for his multi-coloured hair ofter drawing comparisons to the famous basketball
player Dennis Rodman
. He also helped Bradford City win promotion to the Premier League as Division One runners-up in 1999, though they lasted just two seasons in the top flight, and he remained with them until finally leaving in 2003, by which time he was one of their longest-serving players. After brief spells with Walsall
, scoring once against Nottingham Forest, and Wigan Athletic
, his next port of call was to sign for Grimsby Town
for the final few months of the 2003-2004 season, scoring on his debut against Chesterfield. However, when The Mariners were relegated at the end of the season, Lawrence, and Town striker Isaiah Rankin
signed for Brentford
.
After making only 14 league appearances for Brentford during the 2004-2005 season, Lawrence departed at the end of the season. He remained a free agent throughout the 2005-2006 campaign, and in this year, he became the author of his own autobiography From Prison to the Premiership, published in 2006, which was co-authored with Ron Shillingford. At the start of the 2006-2007 season, he signed with non league outfit Worthing
,where he remained for one season. He then went on to play for Harrow Borough
during the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 seasons. On 9 December 2008, Lawrence was carried off the pitch during a Middlesex Senior Cup between Harrow and Enfield
following a collision with another player. Following the incident, he underwent surgery for treatment on a cut in his right knee; surgeons left two stitches in the wound, and as a result Lawrence contracted the MRSA superbug.
whilst at Harrow he also opened a football school in Tooting
, London
.
He joined Margate
at the start of the 2009–10 season. He made two appearances for Margate before being appointed player–manager of Ashford Town
. He retired from the playing side of the game at the end of the 09-10 season and took up position as the clubs full time manager until departing in 2011. He came out of retirement in September 2011 and signed for Cobham
as a player.
came in a 1–0 victory over Trinidad & Tobago
on 28 February 2001.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
-born Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n professional footballer and former manager of Southern League
Southern Football League
The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...
side Ashford Town
Ashford Town F.C.
Ashford Town F.C. are an English football club based in Ashford, Surrey. The club are currently members of Division One Central of the Southern League and play at Short Lane...
. He is currently signed as a player for Cobham
Cobham F.C.
Cobham F.C. are a semi-professional football club based in Cobham, Surrey, England. They were established in 1892 and were among the founding members of the Home Counties Football League in 1978. They have reached the third round of the FA Vase twice in their history...
.
He notably played Premier League football for both Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...
and Bradford City
Bradford City A.F.C.
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, playing in League Two....
, having also played as a professional for Sunderland
Sunderland A.F.C.
Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...
, Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers F.C.
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is an English football club, based at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The team currently competes in the Football League Championship, after being promoted via the League One play-offs in 2008, and have remained there since.The club was founded in...
, Walsall
Walsall F.C.
Walsall Football Club are an English association football club based in Walsall, West Midlands. They currently play in League One. The club was founded in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts, an amalgamation of Walsall Town F.C. and Walsall Swifts F.C. The club was one of the founder members of the Second...
, Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic F.C.
Wigan Athletic Football Club is an English Premier League Association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, having been promoted from the Championship in 2005. Wigan's current spell in the Premier League is the only top flight run in the club's history.They have played at the DW...
, Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town F.C.
Grimsby Town Football Club is an English football club based in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, in North East Lincolnshire, England, who compete in the Conference National. They were formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham and later became Grimsby Town...
and Brentford
Brentford F.C.
Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....
before playing in the Non-League game for Worthing
Worthing F.C.
Worthing Football Club are an English association football club based in Worthing, West Sussex, currently playing in the Isthmian League Division One South...
, Harrow Borough
Harrow Borough F.C.
Harrow Borough Football Club is a semi-professional English association football club based in Harrow, in Greater London. The club are currently members of the Isthmian League Premier Division and play at Earlsmead Stadium....
and Margate
Margate F.C.
Margate Football Club is an English football team based in the seaside resort of Margate, Kent, currently playing in the Isthmian League Premier Division. The club was known for a number of years during the 1980s as Thanet United....
. He also represented Jamaica
Jamaica national football team
The Jamaica national football team is the national team of Jamaica and is controlled by the Jamaica Football Federation. After decades in CONCACAF obscurity, they gained many fans throughout the world after they qualified for the 1998 FIFA World Cup...
24 times.
Playing career
Lawrence was, as a youth, involved in crime and in 1990 received a four-year prison sentence for a bank robbery. While playing for his prison side he was spotted by Cowes SportsCowes Sports F.C.
Cowes Sports F.C. is a football club based in Cowes, Isle of Wight, England. They were established in 1881.The history of Cowes Football Club can be traced back to 1881, when the club was originally formed, although competitive action did not arrive until 1886 in the shape of the Hants and Dorset...
, and then while playing for them spotted by Sunderland
Sunderland A.F.C.
Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...
manager Terry Butcher
Terry Butcher
Terence Ian "Terry" Butcher is an English football manager and former player. He was a highly successful football player and made his name as an uncompromising defender with Ipswich Town and Rangers in the 1980s. He was also a captain of England and won 77 caps in a ten-year international career...
.
A brief spell at Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers F.C.
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is an English football club, based at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The team currently competes in the Football League Championship, after being promoted via the League One play-offs in 2008, and have remained there since.The club was founded in...
followed, before he joined Premier League strugglers Leicester City in the 1994–95 season
1994-95 in English football
-Premiership:Blackburn Rovers ended their 81-year wait for the league title thanks to the strike partnership of Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton which scored a total of more than 50 league goals. Manchester United would have made it three league titles in a row if they had been able to turn a 1-1 draw...
and just before leaving in 1997 he helped them win the Football League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
, coming on as an extra time substitute during the replay. Further to his contribution in the final, he also scored two goals (one in each leg) against Scarborough in an earlier round of the competition. Although he was unable to save them from Premier League relegation in his first season at Filbert Street
Filbert Street
Filbert Street, in Leicester, England, was a football stadium, and the home of Leicester City from 1891 to 2002. Although officially titled "The City Business Stadium" in the early 1990s, it remained known almost exclusively by its address, like many English football stadia.- Early years :The club,...
, Lawrence helped Leicester City win promotion at the first attempt via the Division One
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
Football League play-offs
Football League Play-Offs
The Football League play-offs are an annual series of football matches to determine some of the promotion places within the Football League. Essentially, each division of the league offers a certain number of automatic promotion places to the top two or three clubs. A further promotion place is...
.
He cost Bradford City
Bradford City A.F.C.
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, playing in League Two....
manager Chris Kamara
Chris Kamara
Chris Kamara is a retired English footballer. He ended his playing career in 1995 and last managed a club in 1998. He is now a presenter and football analyst on Sky Sports.-Playing career:...
just £50,000 when he signed from Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...
in 1997. Lawrence played a part in Bradford's promotion to the Premier League. Lawrence was also well known for his multi-coloured hair ofter drawing comparisons to the famous basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
player Dennis Rodman
Dennis Rodman
Dennis Keith Rodman is a retired American Hall of Fame professional basketball player of the National Basketball Association's Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, he was nicknamed "Dennis the Menace" and "The...
. He also helped Bradford City win promotion to the Premier League as Division One runners-up in 1999, though they lasted just two seasons in the top flight, and he remained with them until finally leaving in 2003, by which time he was one of their longest-serving players. After brief spells with Walsall
Walsall F.C.
Walsall Football Club are an English association football club based in Walsall, West Midlands. They currently play in League One. The club was founded in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts, an amalgamation of Walsall Town F.C. and Walsall Swifts F.C. The club was one of the founder members of the Second...
, scoring once against Nottingham Forest, and Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic F.C.
Wigan Athletic Football Club is an English Premier League Association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, having been promoted from the Championship in 2005. Wigan's current spell in the Premier League is the only top flight run in the club's history.They have played at the DW...
, his next port of call was to sign for Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town F.C.
Grimsby Town Football Club is an English football club based in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, in North East Lincolnshire, England, who compete in the Conference National. They were formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham and later became Grimsby Town...
for the final few months of the 2003-2004 season, scoring on his debut against Chesterfield. However, when The Mariners were relegated at the end of the season, Lawrence, and Town striker Isaiah Rankin
Isaiah Rankin
Isaiah Marcus Rankin is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Isthmian League Premier Division side Hendon....
signed for Brentford
Brentford F.C.
Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....
.
After making only 14 league appearances for Brentford during the 2004-2005 season, Lawrence departed at the end of the season. He remained a free agent throughout the 2005-2006 campaign, and in this year, he became the author of his own autobiography From Prison to the Premiership, published in 2006, which was co-authored with Ron Shillingford. At the start of the 2006-2007 season, he signed with non league outfit Worthing
Worthing F.C.
Worthing Football Club are an English association football club based in Worthing, West Sussex, currently playing in the Isthmian League Division One South...
,where he remained for one season. He then went on to play for Harrow Borough
Harrow Borough F.C.
Harrow Borough Football Club is a semi-professional English association football club based in Harrow, in Greater London. The club are currently members of the Isthmian League Premier Division and play at Earlsmead Stadium....
during the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 seasons. On 9 December 2008, Lawrence was carried off the pitch during a Middlesex Senior Cup between Harrow and Enfield
Enfield F.C.
Enfield F.C. is a football club, formed in June 2007 after Enfield F.C. ceased to exist....
following a collision with another player. Following the incident, he underwent surgery for treatment on a cut in his right knee; surgeons left two stitches in the wound, and as a result Lawrence contracted the MRSA superbug.
whilst at Harrow he also opened a football school in Tooting
Tooting
Tooting is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated south south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
He joined Margate
Margate F.C.
Margate Football Club is an English football team based in the seaside resort of Margate, Kent, currently playing in the Isthmian League Premier Division. The club was known for a number of years during the 1980s as Thanet United....
at the start of the 2009–10 season. He made two appearances for Margate before being appointed player–manager of Ashford Town
Ashford Town F.C.
Ashford Town F.C. are an English football club based in Ashford, Surrey. The club are currently members of Division One Central of the Southern League and play at Short Lane...
. He retired from the playing side of the game at the end of the 09-10 season and took up position as the clubs full time manager until departing in 2011. He came out of retirement in September 2011 and signed for Cobham
Cobham F.C.
Cobham F.C. are a semi-professional football club based in Cobham, Surrey, England. They were established in 1892 and were among the founding members of the Home Counties Football League in 1978. They have reached the third round of the FA Vase twice in their history...
as a player.
International career
His debut for JamaicaJamaica national football team
The Jamaica national football team is the national team of Jamaica and is controlled by the Jamaica Football Federation. After decades in CONCACAF obscurity, they gained many fans throughout the world after they qualified for the 1998 FIFA World Cup...
came in a 1–0 victory over Trinidad & Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago national football team
The Trinidad and Tobago national football team, nicknamed The Soca Warriors, is the national team of Trinidad and Tobago and is run by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation. It reached the first round of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Finals...
on 28 February 2001.
International goals
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 October 2001 | Foxboro Stadium Foxboro Stadium Foxboro Stadium was an outdoor stadium, located in Foxborough, Massachusetts... , Foxborough Foxborough, Massachusetts -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 16,246 people, 6,141 households, and 4,396 families residing in the town. The population density was 809.1 people per square mile . There were 6,299 housing units at an average density of 313.7 per square mile... , Massachusetts Massachusetts The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
1–2 | 1–2 | 2002 World Cup Qualifier 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification A total of 199 teams entered the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 32 spots in the final tournament. and , as the co-hosts, and , as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 29 spots open for competition.... |
Honours
Leicester City- League CupFootball League CupThe Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
: 19971997 Football League Cup FinalThe 1997 Coca-Cola Cup Final was played between Middlesbrough and Leicester City. The first game at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, 6 April 1997 ended in a 1–1 draw after extra time. Fabrizio Ravanelli opened the scoring only for Leicester's Emile Heskey to equalise in the last minute of extra time...