Laurence Stanley Slater Cumming (10 April 1905 – 19 November 1980) was a

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

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 ...

and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

, born in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Cumming played for

Alloa Athletic Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire. Formed as Alloa in 1880, the football club shortly changed its name to Alloa Association, and then to Alloa Ath ...

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

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 ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, Queen of the South, St Mirren and

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish association football, football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championshi ...

. All of his international appearances were at inside-left, though at club level he was capable of switching between the number eight and ten shirts. 5 foot 11 and 12 stone 4, Laurie Cumming's sand dancing, clever ball control and finishing ability made him a great attraction wherever he played. To quote one newspaper report: "His pirouetting, Charlie Chaplin swagger and complete control of the ball.... left us longing to see ten of his kind."

Playing career

Club

Cumming joined Huddersfield in March 1927. In season 1928-29 Cumming was equal fourth top scorer for Huddersfield with six goals along with Bob Kelly. Those who scored more were

George Brown George Brown may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter * George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist * George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor * G ...

, Alex Jackson and Johnny Dent. These were Cumming's only goals for the club in his 19 appearances. It was while at Huddersfield that he gained his first two full international caps. At Oldham he gained his third and final cap. Cumming was transferred to Southampton in June 1930 for £500, making his Saints debut in a 5–0 defeat by

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

on the opening day of the season, followed by a spell of four goals in nine games, including a brace in an away win over

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

. As winter set in and the pitches grew heavier his form dried up, and he never once found the net again in the Football League. He was dropped in February 1931, losing his place to

Peter Dougall Peter Dougall (21 March 1909 – 12 June 1974) was a Scottish footballer who played at inside left for various clubs in the 1920s and 1930s. He later managed in the Netherlands. Football career Dougall was born in Denny, Stirlingshire and play ...

. At the end of the season, Cumming was placed on the transfer list at his own request. Cumming returned to Scotland with Alloa in 1931 on a non-contract basis. Cumming joined

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

side Queen of the South in the autumn of 1933 in the club's debut season in Scottish Football's top division. Queens had been promoted as runners up to Hibernian the season before."Club History" on the official Queen of the South website
/ref> As a player Cumming was part of two landmark events in the history of Queen of the South: Queens highly successful first season in the top division finishing 4th - their highest finish to date. Queens also made it to the quarter finals of the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1936 overseas tour and the Algiers invitational tournament. Queens returned with the trophy after beating

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system ...

in the final. Queens were managed by

George McLachlan George Hardie McLachlan (21 September 1901 – September 1964) was a Scottish professional footballer and manager. He played for a number of amateur sides as a youth but began his professional career with Clyde in the Scottish Football League. ...

at the time of this adventure.George McLachlan profile and 1936 Overseas tour feature on "Queens Legends" on the official Queen of the South FC website
/ref> Cumming was the tour's top scorer. Other players at the club during this time included

Willie Savage William Savage (1888–1961) was a Scottish footballer who played as a full back for Queen of the South from 1932 to 1946. Early days Savage was a native of Burnbank, Lanarkshire, who began his football as an inside forward at the local St Cut ...

, Willie Culbert,

Willie Ferguson William Copeland Ferguson (13 February 1901 – 31 August 1960) was a Scottish footballer and manager best known for his time at Chelsea and Dumfries side Queen of the South. His position was usually as a left winger. Early years Ferguson ...

and

Joe Tulip Joe Tulip (died 1979) was an English footballer best known for his time at Dumfries club Queen of the South. Career Tulip was one of the first Englishmen to play in the Scottish League. His discovery was quite unique as he was spied by a Dumfri ...

. On 30 January 1937 with Cumming playing, Queen of the South condemned Rangers to a 1–0 first round

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Report of Queen of the South v Rangers, Scottish Cup, January 1937, in the "Queens Legends" career profile of Willie Savage on the official Queen of the South FC website
/ref> Cumming was at Queens until March 1937 making 105 appearances and scoring 55 goals. The club remained in the top division throughout his time at

Palmerston Park Palmerston Park is a football stadium on Terregles Street in Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish League One club Queen of the South, who have played there since 1919. South of Scotland League club He ...

. He then had short spells at St Mirren and

.Cumming, Lawrie (1938)
Hamilton Academical Memory Bank. Retrieved 27 March 2022

International

Cumming was capped three times for

. In the second of these

Hughie Gallacher Hugh Kilpatrick Gallacher (2 February 1903 – 11 June 1957) was a Scottish football player in the 1920s and 1930s. In 624 senior games, Gallacher scored 463 goals, playing senior league football for Airdrieonians, Newcastle United, Chelsea, ...

, previously a Queen of the South player, hit five goals for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

After football

After retiring from playing, Cumming worked as a newspaper reporter and wrote for the Scottish edition of the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'' for many years. He was a founder member of the

Scottish Football Writers' Association The Scottish Football Writers' Association (SFWA) is an association of Scottish football journalists and correspondents writing for newspapers and agencies. It was founded in 1965. Awards __NOTOC__ Every year the SFWA presents awards to outsta ...

(SFWA). In 1974 Laurie joined Glasgow Rangers as a scout and was responsible for spotting midfielder Bobby Russell from Shettleston Juniors. Laurie Cumming died in 1980.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cumming, Laurie 1905 births 1980 deaths Irish association footballers (before 1923) Pre-1950 IFA men's international footballers Sportspeople from Derry (city) Men's association football midfielders English Football League players Alloa Athletic F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Queen of the South F.C. players Scottish Football League players Hamilton Academical F.C. players Rangers F.C. non-playing staff Association football scouts St Mirren F.C. players Irish journalists 20th-century journalists Writers from Derry (city)