Mark Lawrence (born 4 December 1958) 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

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

from 1977 to 1984. He also represented

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 ...

(on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

) and

Whitby Town Whitby Town Football Club is an English football club based in Whitby, North Yorkshire. The club participates in the Northern Premier League, the seventh tier of English football. Founded in 1880, Whitby are one of the oldest clubs from the Nor ...

. He helped the "Valiants" to win promotion out of 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 ...

in 1982–83.

Career

Lawrence began his career at

side

, who were forced to apply for re-election to 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 ...

in the 1977–78 campaign.

Billy Horner William Horner (born 7 September 1942 in Cassop, England) is an English footballer and manager. Horner played at Middlesbrough from 1960 to 1969, primarily as a defender. He moved on to Darlington where he played until 1975. He joined York ...

's "Pools" rose to 13th place in 1978–79, before dropping back down to 19th in 1979–80. They rose up to ninth place in 1980–81, then posted 14th and 22nd-place finishes in 1981–82 and 1982–83. Lawrence was

ed out to John McGrath's

in March 1983. He played eleven games, helping the "Valiants" to finish third and gain promotion from the Fourth Division in 1982–83. He left Vale Park and returned to

Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to: Places Australia * Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales * Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse * Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...

in May. Hartlepool had to apply for re-election once again after finishing second-from-bottom in 1983–84; Lawrence then left Hartlepool and joined non-League

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

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, Mark 1958 births Living people Footballers from Middlesbrough English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Hartlepool United F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Whitby Town F.C. players English Football League players