James Hubert Lawrence (born 8 March 1970) is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former professional player who played as a

right winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He is a fitness coach for the Zambia national team. He notably had spells in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

with

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

and

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

, as well as playing in the

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 ...

with

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

and

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

. He also played non-league football for Cowes Sports, Fisher Athletic,

Worthing Worthing ( ) is a seaside town and borough in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 113,094 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Br ...

, Harrow Borough,

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

, Banstead Athletic, Cobham and

Lingfield Lingfield can refer to: * Lingfield, County Durham, England, a village * Lingfield, Surrey, England, a village ** Lingfield Park Racecourse ** Lingfield Cricket Club, prominent in the 18th century ** Lingfield railway station, serving the villag ...

. Born in England, he represented

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

at international level and was capped 24 times, scoring one goal. As a coach Lawrence managed Ashford Town between 2009 and 2011 where he served as player/manager. In 2018 he was appointed assistant manager at Kingstonian. He also worked on the coaching setups of

Whitehawk Whitehawk is a suburb in the east of Brighton, England, south of Bevendean and north of Brighton Marina. The area is a large, modern housing estate built in a downland dry valley historically known as Whitehawk Bottom. The estate was originall ...

and the Ghana national team.

Early life

Lawrence was born in

Balham Balham () is an List of areas of London, area in south-west London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, with small parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Lambeth. It has been settled since Saxon times and appears in t ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, before moving first to Totteridge House in

Battersea Battersea is a large district in southwest London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and also extends along the south bank of the Thames Tideway. It includes the Battersea Park. Hist ...

for a year before settling more permanently on the Latchmere Estate and attending John Burns Primary School. His parents were from Jamaica. As a youth he served two prison sentences.

Club career

He began his career in non-league with Cowes Sports in 1992, before turning professional with

. He made his professional debut for Sunderland on 20 October 1993. In 1993 Jamie Lawrence was handed his first professional football contract with Sunderland by manager

Terry Butcher Terry Ian Butcher (born 28 December 1958) is an English football manager and former player. During his playing career as a defender, Butcher captained the England national team, winning 77 caps in a ten-year international career that feature ...

. Within days of signing for the

Roker Park Roker Park was a football ground in Roker, Sunderland, England, which was the home of Sunderland from 1898 to 1997, before the club moved to the Stadium of Light. Its final capacity was around 22,500, with only a small part being seated; it h ...

club, he made his debut as a substitute in a televised match against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

. Although Middlesbrough beat Sunderland 4–1, Lawrence had made enough of an impression to be selected to start in the following match against

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

. Terry Butcher was sacked a month later and replaced by

Mick Buxton Michael James Buxton (born 29 May 1943, Corbridge) is a former association football, footballer and football Coach (sport), manager in England. He has managed Huddersfield Town A.F.C., Huddersfield Town, Scunthorpe United F.C., Scunthorpe Unite ...

where Lawrence was not part of the new managers' plans and he was sold to

for £20,000 on 17 March 1994. He also played professionally for

and

. While playing with Leicester he appeared as a substitute in the 1997 Football League Cup Final replay. He later played non-league football with Fisher Athletic,

, Harrow Borough,

, Ashford Town, Banstead Athletic and Cobham. While playing for Harrow Borough he cut his knee during a match, and later contracted

MRSA Methicillin-resistant ''Staphylococcus aureus'' (MRSA) is a group of gram-positive bacteria that are genetically distinct from other strains of ''Staphylococcus aureus''. MRSA is responsible for several difficult-to-treat infections in humans. ...

International career

Lawrence earned 24 caps for

between 2000 and 2004, scoring one goal. He appeared in 11 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches.

Coaching career

Lawrence was player-manager of Ashford Town between November 2009 and June 2011. In December 2014 he signed a six-week contract with the Ghana national team, to be their fitness coach for the

2015 Africa Cup of Nations The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men's football championship of Africa. It was org ...

, having previously worked in a similar role with

Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional association football club from Sutton, South London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Sutton started out playing in junior, ...

. Lawrence was appointed first-team coach at

National League South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National League (English football), National Leagues and step ...

in September 2017. He then had a spell as assistant manager at Kingstonian, leaving in February 2019. As of March 2023 he was a fitness coach for the Zambia national team.

Personal life

His autobiography ''From Prison to Premiership'' was released in 2006. It was re-released as an e-book in 2013. Lawrence started the Jamie Lawrence Football Academy in Tooting 2008. In April 2019 Lawrence spoke out against racism in football, revealing that during his playing career he had been racially abused by one of his own teammates. In May 2020 Lawrence began a charity online workout to raise funds during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Honours

Leicester City *

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

: 1996–97

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Jamie 1970 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Wandsworth People from Balham Jamaican men's footballers Jamaica men's international footballers Jamaican football managers English men's footballers English people of Jamaican descent Sportspeople of Jamaican descent Men's association football wingers Cowes Sports F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Fisher Athletic F.C. players Worthing F.C. players Harrow Borough F.C. players Margate F.C. players Ashford Town (Middlesex) F.C. players Ashford Town (Middlesex) F.C. managers Banstead Athletic F.C. players Cobham F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players English autobiographers Lingfield F.C. players