Joseph Daniel Laidlaw (12 July 1950 – 18 November 2021) was an English professional footballer who played as a midfielder for six league clubs over a 15-year period spanning three decades.

Career

Laidlaw was born in Whickham and started playing locally for

Swalwell Swalwell is a village in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England, in the United Kingdom. History On 27 August 1640, an encampment of soldiers was gathered in the fields north of Whickham church on the slope down to Swalwell. This was part of the Roy ...

before becoming an apprentice at Middlesbrough. He signed his first professional contract in August 1967 and went on to make over 100 appearances for the club. In July 1972 he moved on to begin a four-year stint with

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

before a three-year spell with

Billy Bremner William John Bremner (9 December 1942 – 7 December 1997) was a Scottish professional footballer and manager. Regarded as one of the game's great midfielders, he combined precision passing skills with tenacious tackling and physical stam ...

's Doncaster Rovers. In June 1979 he moved to Portsmouth for a fee of £15,000. Appointed club captain he quickly became a firm favourite with Portsmouth's fans, the ''

Fratton Fratton is a residential and formerly industrial area of Portsmouth in Hampshire, England. Victorian style terraced houses are dominant in the area, typical of most residential areas of Portsmouth. Fratton has many discount shops and "greasy spoo ...

Faithful''. In a memorable roller-coaster first season he led ''Pompey'' to promotion, this being achieved on the last day of the season after the club beat Northampton 2–0 and Bradford City lost 1–0 to Peterborough United. The following December Laidlaw was sold to Hereford United for £15,000, his last match having been a 1–0 defeat at

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

the preceding month. He played a further 62 league games for ''The Bulls'' scoring eight goals before ending his career with a very brief spell at Mansfield Town. After his professional career ended he returned to the south coast to live, and played for Waterlooville before then managing Selsey (initially as player-manager), Fareham Town and Chichester City United

Style of play

A combative player, Laidlaw was one of that generation who bridged the gap between terminological eras, beginning his career as a wing-half and ending it as a midfielder despite playing a similar role throughout.

Death

Laidlaw died on 18 November 2021, at the age of 71.Portsmouth mourning death of promotion-winning captain
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laidlaw, Joe 1950 births 2021 deaths People from Whickham Footballers from Tyne and Wear English footballers Association football midfielders Middlesbrough F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Waterlooville F.C. players English Football League players Fareham Town F.C. managers English football managers