Laurence Lunn (1896 – 1946) was an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He played in the

Football League Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated In sports leagues, promotion and ...

for

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

, Barrow and

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete history ...

, making 33 appearances in total.

Career

Born in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

, Lunn played for Royton Amateurs as a youth before having an unsuccessful trial period at

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

. He started his professional career at the age of 25 when he joined

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

side

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

in 1921. However, he failed to make a senior appearance during his sole season with the

Boundary Park Boundary Park is a football stadium in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Its name originates from the fact that it lies at the northwestern extremity of Oldham, with Royton and Chadderton lying immediately north and west respectively. Bound ...

outfit and moved into Cheshire League football with Ashton National. After a second spell with Royton Amateurs, Lunn returned to the professional ranks, signing for Crewe Alexandra ahead of the 1923–24 campaign. He made his Football League debut in the 1–3 defeat to Durham City on 10 November 1923 and went on to make 13 appearances in all competitions during the campaign, although only one of those matches ended in victory, a 2–1 win away at Barrow on 19 January 1924. In the summer of that year, Lunn joined

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

, who had just been relegated to the Third Division North from the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. He remained with Nelson throughout the 1924–25 season but was unable to displace established first-choice goalkeeper Harry Abbott and did not play a single game for the club. Lunn joined fellow Third Division North side Barrow in June 1925 and made 12 league appearances for the club during the first half of the 1925–26 campaign, including a 1–0 victory against his former employers Nelson. He then had a brief spell in Welsh football with

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2011 UK census, the community – which includes Gogarth, Penrhyn Bay, Craigsi ...

before returning to England with Accrington Stanley, where he played five league games. Lunn re-signed for Crewe Alexandra in the summer of 1926 and made a further four appearances for the club that season. 1926–27 season saw him join Mossley in the Cheshire County League and he made 41 appearances and even scored a goal from a penalty kick before retiring from football in 1927.

References

*
Laurence Lunn Mossley profile
at Mossley Web * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lunn, Laurence 1896 births 1946 deaths Footballers from Huddersfield English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Ashton National F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Nelson F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Llandudno F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. (1891) players English Football League players Mossley A.F.C. players