Leslie Oliver Lawrence (born 18 May 1957) is an English former

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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He scored 105 goals in 395 league and cup games during a twelve-year career in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

, most of which was spent in the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

. He began his career at

Stourbridge Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The 20 ...

before joining Shrewsbury Town in 1970. Two years later he joined

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

via Telford United. After 54 goals in 215 league and cup games for Torquay, he signed with

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

in July 1982. He played eight games of their promotion winning campaign, before transferring to

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

in July 1983. Leaving the "Shots" in 1984, he then spent a season each at Fourth Division sides

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 ...

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

, Peterborough United, and Cambridge United, before moving into non-league football with

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

, Aylesbury United and Bourne Town.

Career

Lawrence played for Southern League side

, before joining Shrewsbury Town of the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

. He played 19 league games in 1975–76 and 1976–77, as the "Shrews" lifted the

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most ...

in 1977 under

Alan Durban William Alan Durban (born 7 July 1941) is a Welsh former international footballer and manager, whose career was at its peak between the 1970s and 1990s. He played in the Football League for Cardiff City, Derby County and was player-manager of ...

's stewardship. He then signed with Mike Green's

club

via non-league Telford United for the 1977–78 campaign. He became the club's top scorer during the 1978–79 season with 19 goals. After finishing ninth in 1979–80, Torquay dropped to 17th in 1980–81. He played 215 games in all competitions, scoring 54 goals. Lawrence joined John McGrath's

in July 1982. He made his debut as a substitute in a League Cup round one match against

on 30 August 1982. He made his full debut in a 2–0 home win over

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...

on 9 October 1982, but failed to establish himself in the first team, and made just eight appearances in the 1982–83 Fourth Division promotion winning campaign. He went on a free transfer in July 1983 and moved on to

. With 22 goals in 39 league games he helped

Len Walker Leonard Walker (born 4 March 1944) is a former English footballer and manager. He was the manager of Aldershot from July 1981 until November 1984, and then June 1985 until 11 April 1991. Playing career Walker was born in Darlington and started ...

's "Shots" to a fifth-place finish in the Fourth Division in 1983–84, though they were seven points short of

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

in the promotion zone. He spent 1984–85 with

Vic Halom Victor Lewis "Vic" Halom (born 3 October 1948 in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England) is a former footballer Biography Playing career Halom featured as a player most prominently for Sunderland and Oldham Athletic. He played as centre forw ...

, scoring four times in 15 league games. He then moved on to

under Martin Buchan and

Tommy Cavanagh Thomas Henry Cavanagh (29 June 1928 – 14 March 2007) was an English football player and coach. As a player, he was an inside-forward at six professional clubs, most notably Huddersfield Town, Doncaster Rovers and was player manager at Chelten ...

, playing 31 league games in 1985–86, scoring eight goals. Lawrence then signed with Peterborough United, and scored eight goals in 33 league games in 1986–87 under

John Wile John David Wile (born 9 March 1947) is an English former footballer and manager. Wile played as a central defender for Sunderland, although he did not play a Football League match for them. In 1967–68 he signed for Peterborough United, ha ...

and

Noel Cantwell Noel Euchuria Cornelius Cantwell (28 February 1932 – 8 September 2005) was an Irish footballer player and sometime cricketer. Club career Cantwell was born in Cork, Ireland, and was educated at the Roman Catholic Presentation Brothers College ...

. In January 1988, he moved to his seventh different Fourth Division club, after putting pen to paper with Chris Turner's Cambridge United. After 13 goalless league games in 1987–88 he departed the Abbey Stadium for

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

outfit

. He later played for Aylesbury United and Bourne Town before retiring.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Shrewsbury Town *

: 1977 Port Vale *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

third-place promotion: 1982–83

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Les 1957 births Living people Footballers from Wolverhampton Black British sportsmen English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Stourbridge F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Telford United F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Aldershot F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Aylesbury United F.C. players Bourne Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Southern Football League players Isthmian League players United Counties League players