Frederick Ian Allison Lawson (24 March 1939 – February 2024) was an English 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 lea ...

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) ** Smal ...

for

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

and

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

in the 1950s and 1960s. He scored 34 goals in 99 league games in a 12-year career in the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

. He won the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

title with Burnley in 1959–60, and won the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

title with Leeds United in 1963–64.

Career

Burnley

Lawson started his career as an amateur at

after being

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

ed in a local School's cup final, along with James Robson. He scored four goals on his debut in a 7–0

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

victory over Chesterfield. He followed this up with a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

against New Brighton in the following round. Despite some good times, including a purple patch in the "Clarets"

1956–57 FA Cup The 1956–57 FA Cup was the 76th staging of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Aston Villa won the competition, beating Manchester United 2–1 in the final at Wem ...

run, Lawson found it hard to break into the highly successful first-team. During this period Burnley were competing at the top of the

and were crowned champions of the

in 1959–60 under the stewardship of

Harry Potts Harold Potts (22 October 1920 – 16 January 1996) was an English football player and manager. As a player he won promotion with both Burnley and Everton, and both from Second Division. As Burnley manager, he guided them to the First Division ...

. After spending six seasons at

Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C., Burnley Football Club since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in Footbal ...

, during which he made only 23 appearances, the 23-year-old was sold to

for £20,000 in March 1962.

Leeds United

Lawson joined Leeds as they battled to avoid

relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

to the Third Division and went straight into

Don Revie Donald George Revie (10 July 1927 – 26 May 1989) was an English footballer and manager. He is best known for managing Leeds United from 1961 until 1974, winning the Football League First Division twice and the FA Cup once, before being the Eng ...

's first team, where he scored once in eleven games. He made a bigger impact during the 1963–64

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

season when he scored eleven goals in 24 matches. Still, his place in the first team was taken by Alan Peacock, who joined Leeds in February 1964, and Lawson made only three further appearances at

Elland Road Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...

before joining

in June 1966 for a fee of £9,000.

Later career

Dick Graham Richard D. Graham (6 May 1922 – 7 March 2013) was an English footballer and football manager who played and coached in the Football League. He played as a goalkeeper for Crystal Palace, making over 150 league appearances. He went on to mana ...

's Palace team finished 11th in the Second Division in 1965–66, and Lawson scored six goals in 17 league games at

Selhurst Park Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst, in the London Borough of Croydon, England, which is the home ground of Premier League club Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted interna ...

. He was signed by

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Jackie Mudie John Knight Mudie (10 April 1930 – 2 March 1992) was a Scottish international footballer who played as a forward. He won 17 caps for his country, helping the Scotland national team to qualify for the 1958 FIFA World Cup. Starting his ...

in August 1966 for a £1,000 fee. He went straight into the first-team, making his debut at

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in the area of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, and it has been the home ground of Port Vale Football Club since its opening in 1950. It has a current capacity of 15,695, and was renovated durin ...

in a 2–1 win over

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

on 20 August. However, he lost his place the following month and was limited to one goal in ten league and cup games in the 1966–67 season. He was given a free transfer to Fourth Division rivals

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

in May 1967. He never made a first-team appearance for Johnny Steele's "Tykes" before announcing his retirement from professional football after leaving

Oakwell Oakwell is a multi-purpose sports ground in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England used by Barnsley Football Club for home fixtures, and those of their reserves. As of 2023, the Barnsley F.C. Women's team also play at the stadium. While the na ...

Personal life and death

Lawson married Maureen and had a daughter, Sharon, and a son, Michael. Ian Lawson died in February 2024 at the age of 84.

Career statistics

Honours

Burnley *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

: 1959–60 Leeds United *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

: 1963–64

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawson, Ian 1939 births 2024 deaths People from County Durham (district) English men's footballers Footballers from County Durham Men's association football forwards English Football League players Burnley F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players 20th-century English sportsmen