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Les Lawrence
Personal information
Full name	Leslie Oliver Lawrence
Date of birth	18 May 1957 (age 67)
Place of birth	Wolverhampton, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
	Stourbridge
Senior career*
Years	Team
1975–1977	Shrewsbury Town
1977	Telford United
1977–1982	Torquay United
1982–1983	Port Vale
1983–1984	Aldershot
1984–1985	Rochdale
1985–1986	Burnley
1986–1988	Peterborough United
1988	Cambridge United
1988	Kettering Town
1988–1989	Aylesbury United
1990–1991	Bourne Town
1992–1994	Bourne Town
Total
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Leslie Oliver Lawrence (born 18 May 1957) is an English former footballer who played as a forward. He scored 105 goals in 395 league and cup games during a twelve-year career in the Football League, most of which was spent in the Fourth Division.

Lawrence began his career at Stourbridge before joining Shrewsbury Town in 1970. Two years later, he joined Torquay United via Telford United. After 54 goals in 215 league and cup games for Torquay, he signed with Port Vale in July 1982. He played eight games of their promotion winning campaign before transferring to Aldershot in July 1983. Leaving the "Shots" in 1984, he then spent a season each at Fourth Division sides Rochdale, Burnley, Peterborough United, and Cambridge United, before moving into non-League football with Kettering Town, Aylesbury United and Bourne Town.

Early life

Leslie Oliver Lawrence was born in Wolverhampton on 18 May 1957 to a Jamaican immigrant.^[3]

Career

Early career

Lawrence played for Southern League side Stourbridge before joining Shrewsbury Town of the Third Division. He made his debut at Gay Meadow against Swindon Town on 6 September 1975, becoming the first black player to represent Shrewsbury Town.^[3] He played 19 league games in 1975–76 and 1976–77, as the "Shrews" lifted the Welsh Cup in 1977 under Alan Durban's stewardship.

Torquay United

He then signed with Mike Green's Fourth Division club Torquay United via non-League Telford United for the 1977–78 campaign. He became the club's top scorer during the 1978–79 season with 19 goals.^[4] After finishing ninth in 1979–80, Torquay dropped to 17th in 1980–81. He played 215 games in all competitions, scoring 54 goals.

Port Vale

Lawrence joined John McGrath's Port Vale in July 1982.^[5] He made his debut as a substitute in a League Cup round one match against Rochdale on 30 August 1982.^[5] He made his full debut in a 2–0 home win over Hereford United on 9 October 1982 but failed to establish himself in the first-team and made just eight appearances in the 1982–83 Fourth Division promotion winning campaign.^[5]

Later career

He went on a free transfer in July 1983. He moved on to Aldershot.^[5] With 22 goals in 39 league games, he helped Len Walker's "Shots" to a fifth-place finish in the Fourth Division in 1983–84, though they were seven points short of Bristol City in the promotion zone. He spent 1984–85 with Vic Halom's Rochdale, scoring four times in 15 league games. He was signed to Burnley for a £20,000 fee in November 1984.^[6] He became the first black player to represent Burnley when he debuted against Bradford City at Turf Moor on 24 November 1984.^[3] He played 31 league games in 1985–86, scoring eight goals. Lawrence then signed with Peterborough United and scored eight goals in 33 league games in 1986–87 under John Wile and Noel Cantwell. In January 1988, he moved to his seventh different Fourth Division club after putting pen to paper with Chris Turner's Cambridge United. After 13 goalless league games in 1987–88 he departed the Abbey Stadium for Conference club Kettering Town. He later played for Aylesbury United and Bourne Town before retiring.

Career statistics

Source:^[7]

Club	Season	Division	League		FA Cup		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Shrewsbury Town	1975–76	Third Division	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
	1976–77	Third Division	9	2	1	0	0	0	10	2
	Total		14	2	1	0	0	0	15	2
Torquay United	1977–78	Fourth Division	34	5	1	0	3	1	38	6
	1978–79	Fourth Division	45	17	3	1	2	1	50	19
	1979–80	Fourth Division	42	14	3	1	4	2	49	17
	1980–81	Fourth Division	26	5	1	1	2	0	29	6
	1981–82	Fourth Division	42	5	2	1	5	0	49	6
	Total		189	46	10	4	16	4	215	54
Port Vale	1982–83	Fourth Division	8	0	0	0	1	0	9	0
Aldershot	1983–84	Fourth Division	39	23	2	0	5	2	46	25
Rochdale	1984–85	Fourth Division	15	4	1	0	2	1	18	5
Burnley	1984–85	Third Division	10	2	0	0	2	0	12	2
	1985–86	Fourth Division	21	6	0	0	2	1	23	7
	Total		31	8	0	0	4	1	35	9
Peterborough United	1986–87	Fourth Division	12	4	1	0	3	0	16	4
	1987–88	Fourth Division	21	4	2	1	5	1	28	6
	Total		33	8	3	1	8	1	44	10
Cambridge United	1987–88	Fourth Division	13	0	0	0	0	0	13	0
Aylesbury United^[8]	1988–89	Conference	19	1	3	1	0	0	22	2
	1989–90	Isthmian League Premier Division	5	2	1	0	0	0	6	2
	Total		24	3	4	1	0	0	28	4
Bourne Town	1990–91^[9]	United Counties League Premier Division	18	16	0	0	0	0	18	16
	1992–93^[9]	United Counties League Premier Division	38	27	0	0	0	0	38	27
	1993–94^[9]	United Counties League Premier Division	15	2	0	0	0	0	15	2
	Total		71	45	0	0	0	0	71	45
Career total			437	139	21	6	36	9	494	154

Honours

Shrewsbury Town

Welsh Cup: 1977

Port Vale

Football League Fourth Division third-place promotion: 1982–83^[10]

References

^ "Les Lawrence". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
^ Rollin, Jack, ed. (1980). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1980–81. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 282. ISBN 0362020175.
^ ^a ^b ^c Hern, Bill; Gleave, David (2020). Football's Black Pioneers. Leicester: Conker Editions. pp. 168–169. ISBN 9781999900854.
^ Edwards, Leigh (1997). The Definitive Torquay United F.C. The Association of Football Statisticians. p. 57. ISBN 1-899468-08-0.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 168. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
^ "Les Lawrence*". Clarets Mad. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
^ Les Lawrence at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
^ "Les Lawrence Profile | Aylesbury United FC". aylesburyunitedfc.co.uk. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c Jeremy Biggs Hereward Sports UCL Review 1991 p38
^ Kent, Jeff (1990). "From Rags to Riches (1979–1990)". The Valiants' Years: The Story of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 258–290. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.