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.
Five months later, Lawrence 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 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 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 2003–04 campaign, Lawrence fell out with Lions boss Mark McGhee, and looked to be on his way out of 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 duo stood out, with the Lions reaching the 2004 FA Cup final, for which Lawrence was captain, and thus qualifying for the UEFA Cup.
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. 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, and made his debut for them in goalless draw away to Hereford United on 14 August.
In July 2012 he joined non-League side Whitehawk.
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.
Career statistics Sources:
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueFA CupLeague CupOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsWycombe Wanderers1995–96Division Two3000000030Wycombe Wanderers1996–97Division Two131004000171Total16100400201Fulham1996–97Division Three130000000130Fulham1997–98Division Two45020403Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy0540Fulham1998–99Division Two1000100020Total59020503690Wycombe Wanderers1998–99Division Two34230002Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy0392Wycombe Wanderers1999–2000Division Two29240401Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy0382Total63470403774Millwall1999–2000Division Two110000000110Millwall2000–01Division Two45030402Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy0540Millwall2001–02Division One26020202Appearance(s) in Division One play-offs0320Millwall2002–03Division One330401000380Millwall2003–04Division One360701000440Millwall2004–05Championship440101020480Millwall2005–06Championship310201000340Total226019010062610Crystal Palace2006-07Championship340201000370Crystal Palace2007-08Championship37110102Appearance(s) in Division One play-offs0411Crystal Palace2008-09Championship320301000360Crystal Palace2009-10Championship180300000210Total1211903021351Gillingham2010-11League Two430100000440Gillingham2011-12League Two260201000290Total69030100730Whitehawk2012-13Isthmian League Premier9100000091Whitehawk2013-14Conference South26000003Appearance(s) in FA Trophy0290Total35100003381Burgess Hill Town2014-15Isthmian League Division One South0000000000Career total58974002701706737
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.
Honours Fulham Football League Third Division: 1996–97
Millwall Football League Second Division: 2000–01 FA Cup runner-up: 2003–04
Individual Millwall Player of the Season: 2000–01 PFA Team of the Year: 2000–01 Second Division
Notes
References
External links Matt Lawrence player profile at cpfc.co.uk