Lawrence Adam Michael Abrahams (born 3 April 1953) is an English retired 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 ...

who played as a striker in England, the United States, and Australia. In a career which lasted from 1977 to 1987, Abrahams played 283 career league games, and scored 142 league goals.

Career

Playing career

Abrahams was born in

Stepney Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appli ...

, in the East End of London. His family moved to

Alfold Alfold is a village and civil parish in Surrey, England on the West Sussex border. Alfold is a dispersed or polyfocal village in the Green Belt, which is buffered from all other settlements. The Greensand Way runs north of the village along t ...

in Surrey and he started his football career in the youth team at Alfold F.C., once scoring 101 goals in a single season)Loyalty Points
David Bauckham He returned to London and joined non-league club

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...

, also working in a tailor's shop. He signed a professional contract in 1977 with

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

. He spent one season at Charlton, making sixteen appearances. After leaving Charlton in 1978, Abrahams moved to the United States and played in the North American Soccer League for the New England Tea Men, Tulsa Roughnecks, and

California Surf The California Surf were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1978 to 1981. The team was based in Anaheim, California and played their home games at Anaheim Convention Center and the Long Beach ...

. The Surf folded at the end of the 1981 season and on 6 October 1981, the Tulsa Roughnecks selected Abrahams in the Dispersal Draft. He played the 1982 and 1983 outdoor seasons in Tulsa followed by the 1983–1984 NASL indoor season. He was the Offensive MVP of

1983 NASL Grand Prix of Indoor Soccer The 1983 NASL Grand Prix of Indoor Soccer was an indoor soccer tournament staged by four franchises of the North American Soccer League. Overview The NASL franchises from Fort Lauderdale, Tampa Bay, Montreal, and Tulsa opted to play the Grand ...

, posting 12 goals and 6 assists in 8 games. In May 1984, the Roughnecks traded Abrahams to the

San Diego Sockers San Diego Sockers may refer to: *San Diego Sockers (1978–1996) The San Diego Sockers were a soccer and indoor soccer team based in San Diego, California. The team played in the indoor and outdoor editions of the North American Soccer League ( ...

in exchange for Peter Skouras and two used soccer balls. He began the season paired with

Ade Coker Ade Coker (born 19 May 1954) is a Nigerian-American former football player who played as a striker. Coker began with English club West Ham United then moved to the North American Soccer League and the Major Indoor Soccer League. He also ear ...

up front, but was relegated to the bench after the Sockers acquired

Steve Zungul ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

and

Branko Segota Branko (Cyrillic script: Бранко; ) is a South Slavic male given name found in all of the former Yugoslavia. It is related to the names Branimir and Branislav, and the female equivalent is Branka. People named Branko include: * Branko Babić ...

. On 17 October 1984, the Sockers sold Abrahams's rights to the

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Independ ...

for $25,000. The Cosmos entered the Major Indoor Soccer League in the fall of 1984, but sold his contract to the Kansas City Comets in January 1985. He remained with the Comets through the 1985–1986 season. Abrahams spent the 1986 season in Australia with the

Melbourne Knights Melbourne Knights Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the suburb of Sunshine North, Melbourne. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, the second-tier of the Australian soccer league ...

, where he made 9 appearances, before returning to America to play with the Wichita Wings during the 1986–1987 MISL season.

Coaching career

Abrahams is currently the Assistant Soccer Coach at

Irvine Valley College Irvine Valley College (also known as IVC or Irvine Valley) is a public community college in Irvine, California. It is part of the California Community Colleges System. The college inherited its name from the Irvine family and the Irvine Compan ...

References

External links

NASL/MISL career stats

Abbas to Alberton {{DEFAULTSORT:Abrahams, Laurie 1953 births Living people Alfold F.C. players Barking F.C. players California Surf players Charlton Athletic F.C. players English expatriate footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Australia English expatriate sportspeople in the United States English footballers Expatriate soccer players in Australia Expatriate soccer players in the United States Men's association football forwards Kansas City Comets (original MISL) players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Melbourne Knights FC players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players New England Tea Men players New York Cosmos (MISL) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players National Soccer League (Australia) players Footballers from Stepney San Diego Sockers (1978–1996) players Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984) players Wichita Wings (MISL) players