Republic of Ireland international footballer
Mark Thomas Lawrenson
(born 2 June 1957) is a former professional
footballer
who played as a
defender
for
Liverpool
, among others, during the 1970s and 1980s. After a short career as a manager, he then became a radio, television and internet
pundit
for the
BBC
,
TV3
,
BT Sport
and
Today FM
, retiring at the end of the 2021?22 football season.
[2]
Born and raised in England, Lawrenson qualified to play for the
Republic of Ireland
through his grandfather, Thomas Crotty, who was born in
Waterford
.
Club career
[
edit
]
Preston and Brighton
[
edit
]
Mark Lawrenson was born in Preston and attended St Teresa's Catholic Primary School in
Penwortham
[3]
and, later,
Preston Catholic College
, a
Jesuit
school. His father, Tom, had been a winger for
Preston North End
. He always wanted to be a footballer, although his mother, Theresa, wanted him to become a priest.
[4]
He began his career, as a 17-year-old, with his hometown club,
Preston North End
in 1974 who were then managed by
World Cup
winner
Bobby Charlton
. Lawrenson was voted Preston's
Player of the Year
for the
1976?77 season
.
After 73 league appearances for the
Deepdale
club he moved to
Alan Mullery
's
Brighton & Hove Albion
in the summer before the start of the 1977?78 season for £100,000. Ironically, the then Second Division side outbid First Division Liverpool who also showed interest in the 19-year-old Lawrenson. Lawrenson made his Brighton debut on 20 August 1977 in a 1?1 draw against
Southampton
at
The Dell
. He settled in at the
Goldstone Ground
and made 40 league appearances by the end of his first season of the club. He went on to make 152 league appearances by the end of the 1980?81 season. However the club entered a financial crisis in 1981 and Lawrenson was forced to leave the club to make funds available. A number of clubs were interested in signing Lawrenson after his resilient performances for both Preston and Brighton, but it was Liverpool manager
Bob Paisley
who secured his signature.
Liverpool
[
edit
]
Liverpool offered a club transfer record of £900,000, and Lawrenson joined in the summer of 1981. He was to form a formidable central defensive partnership with
Alan Hansen
after
Phil Thompson
suffered an injury. He was also used occasionally at left-back. He made his first start for the team at left-back in a 1?0 league defeat at the hands of
Wolverhampton Wanderers
at
Molineux
on 29 August 1981.
[5]
He scored his first goal a month later during the 7?0
European Cup
1st round 2nd leg trouncing of Finnish team
Oulun Palloseura
at
Anfield
on 30 September. Lawrenson came on for
Ray Kennedy
in the 64th minute scoring in the 72nd. Also coming off the bench to score his first goal for the club was
Ian Rush
.
In Lawrenson's first full season, 1981?82, Liverpool won the
League championship
and the
League Cup
, defeating
Tottenham Hotspur
in the final. The team retained both titles for the next two seasons (in the League Cup finals defeating
Manchester United
in
1983
and
Everton
in
1984
), becoming the third club in history to win three league titles in a row. They also added the club's fourth European Cup in
1984
, the last time Liverpool would win Europe's most prestigious club prize until 2005. Lawrenson dislocated his shoulder three weeks before the
1985 European Cup final
, the
Heysel Stadium Disaster
. He started the game, which Liverpool lost 1?0 to
Juventus
, but was injured after a few minutes and had to be substituted.
[6]
Lawrenson earned a reputation as an accomplished player and in the 1985?1986 season he was an integral part of the Liverpool side who completed the third league championship and
FA Cup
double of the 20th century. They overtook
derby
rivals
Everton
to win the league by two points and later came from behind to defeat Everton 3?1 in the
1986 FA Cup final
at
Wembley
. After 1986, Lawrenson's first team place came under threat from the younger
Gary Gillespie
. Lawrenson's partnership with team captain Hansen continued for one more season before he, already out through a minor injury, suffered
Achilles tendon
damage in 1988 which prematurely ended his career. He earned a fifth and final title medal when that season ended. His Liverpool career ended after 332 appearances and 18 goals in all competitions ? one of which was the fifth goal in a 5?0 defeat of
Merseyside
rivals Everton on 6 November 1982, a game in which
Ian Rush
scored four of the five goals.
In 1989, Lawrenson spent one season with the
Florida
side
Tampa Bay Rowdies
in the
American Soccer League
.
[7]
Later career
[
edit
]
After his time at Liverpool, he was appointed
Oxford United
manager in 1988. His time at the club was frustrating and he resigned after star striker
Dean Saunders
was sold by the
board of directors
without Lawrenson's approval.
[8]
Over that winter, he made a brief playing comeback in the
Football Conference
, making two appearances for
Barnet
. Lawrenson also managed
Peterborough United
from 6 September 1989 until 9 November 1990.
Lawrenson returned to playing with non-league clubs
Corby Town
and
Chesham United
.
[9]
His final season as a player was as part of the Chesham team that won the
1992-93 Isthmian League
. The club was not promoted to the then
Football Conference
as this would have required ground improvements that could not be afforded, so he decided the time was right to retire from playing completely.
[10]
International career
[
edit
]
After Preston coach (and former Irish international goalkeeper)
Alan Kelly
became aware of the young player's Irish connections (and informed Irish international manager
Johnny Giles
), Lawrenson's solid performances earned him a call-up to the
Republic of Ireland national team
.
[11]
He won the first of 39 international caps at the age of 19, in a friendly with
Poland
on 24 April 1977 at
Dalymount Park
; the game ended 0?0. Ireland employed Lawrenson's versatility and burgeoning talent by playing him at fullback, in midfield, and occasionally in his favoured position at centre half.
Lawrenson played his first competitive match on 12 October 1977 against
Bulgaria
in a
1978 World Cup qualifier
. This match also ended 0?0, at
Lansdowne Road
(now
Aviva Stadium
). Lawrenson scored his first of his five goals for Ireland against
Cyprus
in
Nicosia
on 26 March 1980 in a
1982 World Cup Qualifier
. He scored his second goal for Ireland in the next competitive match as Ireland beat
Netherlands
2?1 at Lansdowne Road in the same qualification campaign. This was also notable as it was
Eoin Hand
's first match as manager of Ireland. In between these two matches Mark Lawrenson renewed his Preston acquaintance with Alan Kelly Snr as Kelly managed Ireland in a caretaker capacity for a friendly against
Switzerland
.
Lawrenson scored two goals in Ireland's record victory ? an 8?0 thrashing of
Malta
in a
1984 European Championship qualifier
but the Irish goal that he is best remembered for is one against
Scotland
. It was
Jack Charlton
's first qualification campaign as Irish manager and Ireland were playing Scotland in Hampden Park in a
1988 Euro qualifier
. A sixth-minute goal earned Ireland a precious away victory that went a very long way to helping Ireland to qualify for its first ever major football championship finals. Unfortunately for Lawrenson injury prevented him from making the Irish Euro 1988 squad for the finals.
Lawrenson played his last match for the Republic of Ireland against
Israel
on 10 November 1987. It was a friendly match at Dalymount Park and was also notable because
David Kelly
scored a hat trick on his international debut.
Media career
[
edit
]
After retiring from international football Lawrenson wrote for the
Irish Times
, initially providing analysis for the 1990 World Cup.
[12]
Lawrenson began his television career providing match analysis on
HTV West
's local football coverage,
[13]
before working as a pundit for the BBC but then left briefly to become a coach specialising in defensive tactics for
Kevin Keegan
at
Newcastle United
where he admitted in 2017 "I did nothing. Absolutely nothing"
[14]
[15]
However, the position was again short-lived and he returned to media work. He has since become established as a pundit, both on BBC television and radio, often finding himself sitting alongside his former defensive partner,
Alan Hansen
. Since the departure from the BBC of
Trevor Brooking
, he has been the main co-commentator on major national and international (FIFA) matches covered by the television network. He appears regularly on
Football Focus
and
Match of the Day
.
He is also often a co-commentator on
BBC Radio Five Live
, often working on the feature matches on Sunday afternoons. He previously worked as a pundit for Ireland's
TV3
between 2001 and 2007 for mid-week
Champions League
games alongside Welsh national (FA) team manager and former Liverpool striker,
John Toshack
. When the Champions League returned to TV3 in 2010 he no longer provided punditry. He was replaced in that role by
Tony Cascarino
and
Martin Keown
, and moved into the commentary box alongside TV3 commentator
Trevor Welch
. He works for Irish radio station
Today FM
on
Premiership Live
with presenter
Michael McMullan
in talking about football related topics, predicting scores and stating facts.
[
citation needed
]
He also had a column on the BBC website where he gives his views and predictions on the Premier League's weekend fixtures. Lawrenson is one of a number of ex-Liverpool players who made up the BBC pundit team.
He also writes a regular Preston North End column for the
University of Central Lancashire
's
Students' Union
newspaper
,
Pluto
, and a weekly column for the
Liverpool Daily Post
. He worked with Japanese entertainment company
Konami
, recording commentary samples for the
Pro Evolution Soccer
series, alongside
ITV
commentator
Jon Champion
, from
Pro Evolution Soccer 2008
to
Pro Evolution Soccer 2010
. He was replaced by ITV pundit
Jim Beglin
for
Pro Evolution Soccer 2011
.
[16]
[17]
In addition, Lawrenson has also featured alongside
John Motson
as a commentator in
EA Sports
'
FIFA
series from
99
through
2001
and on the
Euro 2000 video game
.
In 2002, Lawrenson made a bet on
Football Focus
that
Bolton Wanderers
would be relegated from the Premiership in the 2001?02 season.
[18]
He lost the bet after
Sam Allardyce
's team stayed up, and shaved off his moustache as a result.
At the
2014 FIFA World Cup
, the BBC received 172 complaints after Lawrenson said that Swiss striker
Josip Drmi?
"should put a skirt on". The channel responded by stating "We acknowledge that the remark by commentator Mark Lawrenson about Switzerland's Josip Drmi? was inappropriate and we apologise for any offence caused by it".
[19]
At the end of the
2021-22 Premier League season
, and after a 30-year stint with the
BBC
, during which he covered a total of six
World Cups
, Lawrenson was told by the football head his typical one-year contract would not be renewed. He subsequently claimed that the cause was ostensibly BBC's "
woke culture
",
[20]
[21]
[22]
and stated that a "very early woke moment" occurred twenty-five years previously, in the aftermath of
Princess Diana
's death, when, as he alleged, an editor told him, before he was to cover a game, to “not mention the wall” if describing
free kicks
.
[23]
Personal life
[
edit
]
In 2003, Lawrenson was awarded an
Honorary Fellowship
from
Myerscough College
near Preston for his achievements in football.
[24]
In 2018, he was given the all-clear after having a cancerous growth removed from his face.
[25]
He was made aware of the seriousness of the growth when a concerned viewer contacted the editor of
Football Focus
.
[26]
Lawrenson later met the viewer, Dr Alan Brennan, on television.
[27]
Honours
[
edit
]
- Liverpool
Statistics
[
edit
]
Club
[
edit
]
[15]
[28]
International
[
edit
]
[28]
Ireland national team
|
Year
|
Apps
|
Goals
|
1977
|
2
|
0
|
1978
|
5
|
0
|
1979
|
0
|
0
|
1980
|
7
|
2
|
1981
|
3
|
0
|
1982
|
3
|
0
|
1983
|
5
|
2
|
1984
|
4
|
0
|
1985
|
6
|
0
|
1986
|
1
|
0
|
1987
|
3
|
1
|
Total
|
39
|
5
|
International goals
[
edit
]
Managerial statistics
[
edit
]
[30]
Team
|
Nat
|
From
|
To
|
Record
|
G
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
Win %
|
Oxford United
|
|
24 March 1988
|
25 October 1988
|
25
|
4
|
9
|
12
|
0
16.00
|
Peterborough United
|
|
6 September 1989
|
9 November 1990
|
64
|
25
|
23
|
16
|
0
39.06
|
Total
|
89
|
29
|
32
|
28
|
0
32.6
|
|
Notes
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987).
Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987?88
. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 222.
ISBN
978-0-356-14354-5
.
- ^
"Lawrenson's retirement marks the end of football punditry's era of innocence | Jonathan Liew"
.
TheGuardian.com
. 24 May 2022.
- ^
"The Big Interview: Mark Lawrenson"
.
www.lep.co.uk
. Archived from
the original
on 1 July 2019
. Retrieved
1 July
2019
.
- ^
Deborah Ross
(27 May 2002).
"Mark Lawrenson: The Deborah Ross Interview"
.
The Independent
. Archived from
the original
on 17 November 2009
. Retrieved
4 April
2013
.
- ^
"Wolverhampton Wanderers 1?0 Liverpool"
. LFC History.net. 29 August 1981. Archived from
the original
on 22 June 2010
. Retrieved
13 August
2010
.
- ^
"Champions League Analysis"
.
BBC Sport
. 20 May 2008
. Retrieved
21 May
2008
.
- ^
1989 American Soccer League
. A-Leaguearchive. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
- ^
"How Dean Saunders' sale cost Mark Lawrenson the Oxford Utd job"
.
BBC Sport
. 7 December 2012
. Retrieved
8 December
2012
.
- ^
"Liverpool career stats for Mark Lawrenson"
. LFC History.net
. Retrieved
8 June
2020
.
- ^
Rogers, Steve (5 August 2014).
"Focus on Chesham United"
. Retrieved
8 June
2020
.
- ^
Regan, Jarlath
(26 September 2016).
"Mark Lawrenson"
.
An Irishman Abroad
(Podcast) (158 ed.).
SoundCloud
. Retrieved
27 September
2016
.
- ^
"Register"
.
The Irish Times
. Dublin. 31 May 1990.
ISSN
0791-5144
.
- ^
Phil Shaw (8 January 1993).
"Anfield heroes who turned Villans: Saunders, Staunton and Houghton are ready for a Mersey dash"
.
The Independent
.
- ^
"
'I did nothing. Absolutely nothing': Mark Lawrenson on his time as Newcastle's defensive coach"
.
www.chroniclelive.co.uk
. 20 October 2017. Archived from
the original
on 22 October 2017.
- ^
a
b
Mark Lawrenson profile
. LFC History.net. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
- ^
"PES 2011 loses Mark Lawrenson"
.
Computer and Video Games
. 1 June 2010
. Retrieved
7 July
2010
.
- ^
"Match of the Day's Mark Lawrenson joins Bespoke Radio"
. Bespoke Radio. July 2011. Archived from
the original
on 29 December 2011
. Retrieved
5 August
2011
.
- ^
Daniel Warren (11 May 2002).
"Where is Lawro's moustache?"
.
BBC News
. Retrieved
7 July
2010
.
- ^
Sheen, Tom (4 July 2014).
"World Cup 2014: BBC receive 172 complaints after Mark Lawrenson made a 'sexist' comment during Argentina vs Switzerland"
.
The Independent
. Retrieved
17 November
2014
.
- ^
Morgan, Tom (24 September 2022).
"Mark Lawrenson: I was axed by the BBC for being a 65-year-old white male"
.
The Financial Times
. Retrieved
18 March
2024
.
- ^
Draper, Samuel; Walker, Amy (25 September 2022).
"Mark Lawrenson claims he was sacked by the BBC because he is a 'white male'
"
.
Manchester Evening News
. Retrieved
18 March
2024
.
- ^
Newbould, Kyle (26 September 2022).
"Liverpool legend Mark Lawrenson slams 'woke' BBC and explains sacking phone call"
.
Liverpool Echo
. Retrieved
18 March
2024
.
- ^
"Mark Lawrenson claims BBC dropped him because he is '65 and a white male'
"
.
The Guardian
. 25 September 2022
. Retrieved
18 March
2024
.
- ^
"Honorary Fellows | Myerscough College"
.
www.myerscough.ac.uk
. Archived from
the original
on 3 December 2019
. Retrieved
1 July
2019
.
- ^
"Mark Lawrenson: BBC football pundit given cancer all-clear after scare"
. BBC Sport. 6 September 2018
. Retrieved
6 September
2018
.
- ^
"Mark Lawrenson: How Football Focus viewer alerted me to cancer scare"
. BBC Sport. 7 September 2018
. Retrieved
7 September
2018
.
- ^
"Mark Lawrenson's cancer diagnosis and other TV stars 'saved' by viewers"
. BBC News. 10 September 2018
. Retrieved
14 September
2018
.
- ^
a
b
"Lawrenson, Mark"
.
National Football Teams
. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann
. Retrieved
4 April
2013
.
- ^
Mark Lawrenson
. EU-football.info. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
- ^
"Mark Lawrenson's managerial career"
.
Soccerbase
. Retrieved
4 April
2013
.
External links
[
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]
Awards
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Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Player of the Year
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Players
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Managers
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Referees
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