Lawrence Grant Leslie (17 March 1935 – 4 June 2019) was a Scottish 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

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 ...

for Hibernian, Airdrie,

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

, Stoke City,

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

and

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

. Internationally, he represented

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

on five occasions.

Early life

Leslie was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

. As a boy, he was run over by a truck and advised by doctors that he may not regain the ability to walk.

Playing career

In Scotland

Leslie began playing football with Hawkhill Amateurs. In the early 1950s, he turned semi-pro and joined Newtongrange Star. He played for his regimental side at Oswestry after joining the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1956. Lawrie signed pro forms with Hibernian following a trial that Army compatriot and Hibs player Jock Buchanan had suggested he apply for. After initially competing for his place with

Tommy Younger Thomas Younger (10 April 1930 – 13 January 1984) was a Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Hibernian, Liverpool, Falkirk, Leeds United, Stoke City and the Scotland national team. Career Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Younger s ...

, he became the club's first choice 'keeper and was in the Hibs side that reached the 1958 Scottish Cup Final, which they lost 1–0 to

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

. After playing 98 matches for the

Easter Road Easter Road is a association football, football stadium located in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish Premiership club Hibernian F.C., Hibernian (Hibs). The stadium currently has an all-seated capacity ...

side he moved to Airdrie in November 1959 for £4,475. Leslie spent two seasons at Broomfield Park and became club captain. He was later inducted into the club's Hall of Fame.

In England

Leslie moved to

in 1961 for £14,000. He won '

Hammer of the Year West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

' at the end of his first season, becoming the first goalkeeper to earn the accolade. The following season, Leslie suffered a broken leg in a game against Bolton Wanderers on 3 November 1962, but managed to regain fitness for the final four games of the campaign. After falling out of favour at West Ham at the start of the 1963–64 season - by this time Leslie's replacement, Jim Standen had established himself as the Hammers' first choice goalkeeper-, he requested a transfer. After 61 league and cup appearances for the east London club, Leslie joined Stoke City for a fee of £14,000 in October 1963 and in his first season helped the club to reach the League Cup Final. Leslie played in the first leg of the final at Stoke's

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. History ...

, a 1–1 draw, but he was injured for the decisive second leg. Reserve 'keeper Bobby Irvine stepped in and Stoke lost the game 3–2. In the 1964–65 season, Leslie made the number one spot his own as the missed just two matches out of 50. He lost his first choice status in 1965–66 due to the emergence of John Farmer and he left in the summer of 1966 for

. He spent two seasons at

The Den The Den (previously The New Den) is a football stadium in New Cross, south-east London, and the home of Millwall Football Club. The Den is adjacent to the South London railway originating at , and a quarter of a mile from the Old Den, which i ...

before finishing his career with

International

Leslie won five

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for the Scottish national team while with Airdrie, all during the 1960–61 season. His international debut came on 22 October 1960, against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

; Scotland lost the game 2–0, but his performance earned many plaudits. He was due to play for Scotland in the infamous 9–3 defeat by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

, but he was injured one week beforehand and

Frank Haffey Francis Haffey (born 28 November 1938) is a Scottish former Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Celtic F.C., Celtic and the Scotland national football team, Scottish national team. ...

was selected instead.

Later life

After his retirement from playing, Leslie coached at Southend and went on to a role as trainer-coach at Millwall. He was later involved in coaching schools football. Leslie died in June 2019, aged 84.

Career statistics

Source:

International

Source:

References

External links

* *
London Hearts profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leslie, Lawrie 1935 births 2019 deaths Footballers from Edinburgh Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Scottish Football League representative players Scottish Junior Football Association players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Men's association football goalkeepers Newtongrange Star F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) players West Ham United F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Southend United F.C. non-playing staff Millwall F.C. non-playing staff Royal Artillery soldiers 20th-century British Army personnel