James Lawrence (footballer)

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James Lawrence
20210330 James Lawrence Wales v Czechia.png
Lawrence playing for Wales in 2021
Personal information
Full name James Alexander Lawrence[1]
Date of birth (1992-08-22) 22 August 1992 (age 29)
Place of birth Henley-on-Thames, England
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.87 m)[2]
Position(s) Centre back, defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
 FC St. Pauli
Number 3
Youth career
2001–2003 Arsenal
2005–2006 Queens Park Rangers
2008–2009 HFC Haarlem
2009–2011 Ajax
2011–2012 Sparta Rotterdam
2012–2014 RKC Waalwijk
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2018 AS Trenčín 86 (5)
2018–2020 Anderlecht 23 (0)
2019–2020 → FC St. Pauli (loan) 14 (1)
2020– FC St. Pauli 34 (0)
National team‡
2018– Wales 11 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:43, 22 January 2022 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:15, 5 September 2021 (UTC)

James Alexander Lawrence (born 22 August 1992) is a professional footballer who plays for FC St. Pauli and the Wales national team.

Lawrence has previously played for Anderlecht, AS Trenčín and youth teams at Arsenal, Queens Park Rangers, Ajax and Sparta Rotterdam.[3]

Club career[]

Early career[]

Lawrence's early youth career included London clubs Enfield, Arsenal and Queens Park Rangers. In 2008 his family moved to the Netherlands where he joined HFC Haarlem.[4] In 2009 Lawrence left Haarlem to join Ajax with whom he won the Netherlands U19 First Division Championship in 2010–11 and was coached by Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp.[4] Lawrence then had spells with Jong Sparta Rotterdam and Jong RKC Waalwijk whilst he was enrolled at the Johan Cruyff Institute in Amsterdam.[5]

AS Trenčín[]

Lawrence transferred to AS Trenčín on 13 August 2014 aged 21 and scored on his debut the same day in a Slovak Cup match against ŠK Strážske.[6] Four days later, Lawrence made his Fortuna Liga debut in a 4–2 win against Košice. On 1 May 2015 Lawrence helped AS Trenčín to a maiden Slovak Cup, beating Senica in the final in Poprad.[7] In May 2015 AS Trenčín became Fortuna Liga Champions for the first time[8] with Lawrence thus achieving the league and cup double in his first senior season.[9]

Lawrence with the Slovak Cup, Poprad 2015

The AS Trenčín champions of 2014–15, with an average age of 21.74, were recognised as having been the youngest champions across 31 top division European leagues from 2009–2017 by the CIES Football Observatory.[10]

Lawrence missed the end of the 2014–15 season and the beginning of the 2015–16 season due to an injury sustained in the 2015 Cup Final, returning on 13 October 2015 when he scored in a 3–0 win over Blava Jaslovské Bohunice in the 4th round of the Slovak Cup. A 3–1 win over Slovan Bratislava in the Slovak Cup Final on 29 April 2016 secured a second Slovak Cup for Lawrence and AS Trenčín. On 8 May 2016, AS Trenčín beat Slovan Bratislava 4–0 to become Fortuna Liga Champions for the second year in succession.[11] Two seasons later, on 16 August 2018, Lawrence's role in the elimination of Robin van Persie's Feyenoord from the UEFA Europa League qualifying round brought him to the attention of Anderlecht who went on to negotiate his transfer from Trenčín just 13 days later.[12]

Anderlecht[]

On 29 August 2018, Lawrence joined Anderlecht, Belgium's most successful league club.[13] Lawrence played 23 league matches for Anderlecht during the 2018–19 season with Anderlecht finishing in fourth place in the Jupiler Pro League and in sixth place in the play-offs, missing out on UEFA competition for the first time in 56 years.[14] On 19 May 2019 it was announced that Manchester City and Belgium left centre-back Vincent Kompany would be taking over as player-manager of Anderlecht and loan arrangements were subsequently made for Lawrence, also a left centre-back, to join FC St. Pauli on loan.[15][16][17]

FC St. Pauli[]

On 22 August 2019, Lawrence joined 2. Bundesliga side FC St. Pauli on loan from Anderlecht until the end of the 2019–20 season.[18][19] Lawrence made his debut for St. Pauli on 26 August 2019, scoring in a 2–1 win over Holstein Kiel.

On 1 October 2020, Lawrence made a permanent transfer from Anderlecht to FC St. Pauli.[20][21] On 6 March 2021 Lawrence captained St. Pauli for the first time in a 0-0 draw away at Karlsruher SC[22] and on 21 July 2021 he was named vice-captain of St. Pauli for the 2021–22 season.[23] On 18 January 2022 Lawrence captained St. Pauli in a 2-1 win at home against cup holders Borussia Dortmund in the DFB-Pokal which put St. Pauli into the cup quarter-finals for the first time in 16 years [24]

International career[]

On 5 November 2018, Lawrence was called up for the Wales squad for the first time and he started his first game for the national side in a friendly against Albania on 20 November 2018.[25] His first competitive game for Wales was in a 1–0 win against Slovakia at Cardiff City Stadium on 24 March 2019.[26] On 18 November 2020, Lawrence was in the starting line-up as Wales became UEFA Nations League, Group H, winners, beating Finland 3–1, ensuring a place in the Nations League top tier for 2022 and a fall-back play-off spot, if needed, for 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.[27] Lawrence was named in the Wales squad for the UEFA Euro 2020 competition on 30 May 2021 but had to withdraw on the day of the announcement following a calf muscle tear in the previous day's training session.[28]

Career statistics[]

Club[]

As of match played 21 January 2022[2]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
AS Trenčín 2014–15 Slovak Super Liga 18 0 7 1 0 0 25 1
2015–16 Slovak Super Liga 15 1 5 1 0 0 20 2
2016–17 Slovak Super Liga 25 3 4 1 5 2 34 6
2017–18 Slovak Super Liga 25 1 2 0 2 0 29 1
2018–19 Slovak Super Liga 3 0 0 0 6 1 9 1
Total 86 5 18 3 13 3 117 11
Anderlecht 2018–19 Belgian First Division A 23 0 0 0 3 0 26 0
FC St. Pauli (loan) 2019–20 2. Bundesliga 14 1 0 0 – 14 1
FC St. Pauli 2020–21 2. Bundesliga 19 0 0 0 – 19 0
2021–22 2. Bundesliga 15 0 3 0 – 18 0
Total 34 0 3 0 – 37 0
Career total 157 6 21 3 16 3 194 12

International[]

As of 11 October 2021[2]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Wales 2018 1 0
2019 4 0
2020 2 0
2021 4 0
Total 11 0

Honours[]

AS Trenčín

References[]

  1. ^ "European Championship 2020: Booking List before Qualifying Round Matchday 10" (PDF). UEFA. 17 November 2019. p. 5. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "J.Lawrence". soccerway.com. Soccerway. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  3. ^ "Welcome James Alexander Lawrence!". RSC Anderlecht. 29 August 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Who is James Lawrence? His heart scare at Ajax and life in Slovakia". Sky Sports. 5 November 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  5. ^ "The curious tale of the football international nobody ever heard of (because he was born in the wrong month)". De Correspondent. 14 April 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  6. ^ "www.futbalnet.sk". Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  7. ^ "AS Trenčín win maiden Slovak Cup". Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  8. ^ "Trenčín seal historic Slovakian double". Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  9. ^ "Jamie Lawrence has eyes on Slovakian double after mastering his own destiny". Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  10. ^ "Reports – CIES". CIES. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  11. ^ "Trenčín ... take title". Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  12. ^ "Feyenoord eliminated by Trencin after frustrating evening", ad.nl, 16 August 2018, retrieved 12 April 2021
  13. ^ "WELKOM JAMES ALEXANDER LAWRENCE!". Anderlecht. 29 August 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  14. ^ "Anderlecht miss out on Europe ahead of Kompany arrival". Reuters. 19 May 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  15. ^ "Vincent Kompany leaves Manchester City", mancity.com, 19 May 2019, retrieved 19 May 2019
  16. ^ "Vincent Kompany leaves Manchester City to become Anderlecht player-manager", BBC.co.uk, 19 May 2019, retrieved 19 May 2019
  17. ^ "Boys in Brown Seal Lawrence Loan Deal", fcstpauli.com, 22 August 2019, retrieved 12 April 2021
  18. ^ "James Lawrence: Anderlecht defender joins Bundesliga 2 side St Pauli". BBC. 22 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  19. ^ "Der FC St. Pauli leiht Innenverteidiger James Lawrence vom Anderlecht aus" (in German). FC St. Pauli. 22 August 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  20. ^ "FC St. Pauli sign James Lawrence". C St. Pauli. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  21. ^ "Verpflichtung von James Lawrence doch noch gelungen". kicker (in German). 1 October 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  22. ^ "2nd Bundesliga 2020/21, 24th matchday". kicker.de. 6 March 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  23. ^ "Ziereis new captain - Lawrence vice-captain". stpauli.com. 21 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  24. ^ "Bundesliga 2 leaders St. Pauli knock out DFB Cup holders Borussia Dortmund". bundesliga.com. 19 January 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  25. ^ "Mixed feelings for Wales debutant Lawrence". BBC Sport. 21 November 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  26. ^ "Line-ups". UEFA. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  27. ^ "A polished Wales overcame Finland's stubborn 10 men to win their Nations League group and clinch promotion to the competition's top flight", BBC.co.uk, 18 November 2019, retrieved 12 April 2021
  28. ^ "Wales defender James Lawrence ruled out of Euro 2020 with injury". ITV. 31 May 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  29. ^ a b "Brits Abroad: 8 Lesser Known Stars Making a Success of Their Footballing Careers Overseas". 90 Min. 15 September 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2019.

External links[]

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