Players - Tommy Lawrence

Tommy Lawrence
Birthdate: 14 May 1940
Birthplace: Dailly, Scotland
Date of death: 9 January 2018
Other clubs: Tranmere Rovers (1971-74), Chorley (1974-75)
Signed from: None
Signed for LFC: 17.04.1957
International debut: 09.06.1963 vs. Republic of Ireland
International caps: 3/0 - 03.05.1969
Liverpool debut: 27.10.1962
Last appearance: 26.04.1971
Contract expiry: 08.11.1971
Win ratio: 51.28% W:200 D:98 L:92
Honours: League Championship 1963/64, 1965/66; FA Cup 1965
League games / goals: 306 / 0
Total games / goals: 390 / 0
League clean sheets: 98
Total clean sheets: 133

Player Profile

Strong, brave and consistent, Lawrence was a fearless goalkeeper, even if he was affectionately dubbed "The Flying Pig" by supporters who felt he was carrying a bit too much weight! He went on trial as an outfield player for local Stockton Heath Albion that in 1961 became known as Warrington Town but he didn't impress. They would have been surprised to see Tommy sign as an amateur for Liverpool on 17 April 1957 as a keeper! His growth spurt did evidently wonders. Lawrence signed professional forms at Liverpool on 30 October 1957, a few months after his seventeenth birthday. He had been at Anfield for five years when he got his opportunity in Liverpool's first season in the top-flight for eight years. Jim Furnell got injured 13 games into the 1962/63 season and Lawrence grabbed his chance with both hands. He typically didn't let go of the shirt for the next eight years. Ray Clemence had to wait over two years to get the number 1 shirt off him. Lawrence only missed four league matches in six seasons as Liverpool won the first division championship twice plus the FA Cup for the first time in the club’s history. Lawrence's captain at Liverpool, Ron Yeats, told LFChistory.net a priceless story about the 'keeper he played with for nine years. "Tommy Lawrence was frightened to death of Shanks. He was just a young boy. He had been there since he was 16 years old. I’ll always remember we were playing Arsenal and we were winning 1-0 with 20 minutes to go and I thought, ‘What a good win this will be at Arsenal.’ Joe Baker hit the ball from 25 yards. I am not joking, but he stubbed his toe first and then hit the ball. It trickled by me and I went ‘It’s yours, Tommy!' Tommy was on the line and opened his legs and the bloody ball went right through him. I couldn’t believe it. They put the pressure on us for the last five minutes, but we held out. I am thinking to myself all this time, ‘When we get into that dressing room I am going to get into the bath before Shanks comes in the door.’ Little did I know that the ten players I was playing with thought the same thing. When the final whistle went... if we had sprinted that much during the game we would have won it easily. Everybody was trying to hurry into the dressing room but it wasn’t quick enough. The door opened and in came Shanks. His face was blue and I am thinking, ‘Here it goes.’ He went: ‘Where is he?’ I didn’t realise but big Tommy Lawrence was behind me. I was three inches bigger than him and didn’t know where he was. His finger went up and he said, ‘I am here, boss.’ ‘Where?’ ‘I am here, boss.’ He said, ‘Before you say anything, boss, I want to apologize to you and the lads. I should have never opened my legs to that ball.’ Shankly went, ‘it’s not your fault. It’s your f****** mother who should have never opened her legs.’"  

Bill Shankly was reluctant to break up the team that had brought so much success to the club in the middle of the 1960’s but a humiliating FA Cup quarter-final defeat to second division Watford proved to be Lawrence’s penultimate appearance in the Liverpool first team. Clemence, who had made his League debut at Nottingham Forest at the end of January 1970, was picked for the next League match after the cup exit. Lawrence knew that he would have to move to get first-team football again and made the short trip across the river Mersey at the age of 31 to join Tranmere Rovers, shortly to be joined by his old Liverpool skipper Ron Yeats. Lawrence added 80 Football League appearances to his total before moving on to non-league Chorley as player-coach. Twelve months later he returned to the Rylands wire factory in Warrington, where he'd worked as a youngster, as a quality controller until his retirement.

The stockily-built Scotsman was the first sweeper-keeper as Lawrence explains. "Shankly said: 'Right Tommy, you're not playing on the six yard line. When the ball's on the halfway line, you've got to be on the 18-yard line. If the ball shoots through, you've got to be out to kick it - a sort of stopper," Lawrence said. "At first I was frightened to death. We did it at Melwood a few times, then we tried at Anfield. Well, I'm standing there and the Kop is giving me some stick. 'Get back on your line!', they're all yelling. No goalkeeper did that in those days. I thought 'Oh my God'. But it worked. I'd come out and do like they do today. You didn't get sent off in those days either. So I used to bring them down. If they pushed it past me, I'd just hit them."

Lawrence shot back to fame in 2015 when he was approached by a BBC journalist in Liverpool's Church Street and asked if he remembered the Everton v Liverpool cup tie in 1967. After his astonishing response, that he played in it and Alan Ball scored the winner, the video was viewed over 8 million times online.
Appearances per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 306 42 6 33 3 390
1962-1963 29 6 0 0 0 35
1963-1964 40 5 0 0 0 45
1964-1965 41 8 0 9 1 59
1965-1966 42 1 0 9 1 53
1966-1967 41 4 0 5 1 51
1967-1968 42 9 2 6 0 59
1968-1969 42 4 2 2 0 50
1969-1970 28 5 2 2 0 37
1970-1971 1 0 0 0 0 1
1971-1972 0 0 0 0 0 0
A more detailed look at the player's appearances
Apps Minutes Opponent
20 1830 WBA
20 1800 Leicester City
19 1740 Burnley
18 1620 Arsenal
18 1620 Tottenham
17 1530 Manchester United
16 1440 Everton
15 1350 Sheffield Wednesday
15 1350 Chelsea
14 1260 Stoke City
14 1260 West Ham United
14 1260 Nottingham Forest
12 1110 Leeds United
12 1080 Sheffield United
12 1080 Fulham
11 990 Sunderland
11 990 Aston Villa
10 900 Manchester City
9 810 Blackpool
9 810 Newcastle United
8 720 Wolves
7 630 Blackburn Rovers
7 630 Southampton
7 630 Coventry City
6 540 Bolton Wanderers
6 540 Birmingham City
6 540 Ipswich Town
4 360 Watford
3 300 Cologne
3 270 Petrolul Ploiesti
2 210 Port Vale
2 180 Anderlecht
2 180 KR Reykjavík
2 180 Stockport County
2 180 Leyton Orient
2 180 Walsall
2 180 Derby
2 180 Vitoria Setubal
2 180 Inter Milan
2 180 Juventus
2 180 Northampton Town
2 180 Standard Liege
2 180 Honved
2 180 Celtic
2 180 Malmo
2 180 Ajax
2 180 TSV Munich
2 180 Ferencvaros
2 180 Bournemouth
2 180 QPR
2 180 Athletic Bilbao
1 120 Borussia Dortmund
1 90 Doncaster Rovers
1 90 Crystal Palace
1 90 Swansea City
1 90 Wrexham
Total Started/substitutions
390 Started
15 On the bench
0 Substitute
0 Substituted
Total Venue
193 Away
190 Home
7 Neutral
Total Competition
306 League
42 FA Cup
14 European Cup
10 European Fairs Cup
9 European Cup Winners Cup
6 League Cup
3 Charity Shield
Total W D L Win % Manager
390 200 98 92 51.3% Bill Shankly
Clean sheets per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 98 20 1 13 1 133
1962-1963 8 2 0 0 0 10
1963-1964 12 3 0 0 0 15
1964-1965 6 5 0 5 0 16
1965-1966 19 0 0 4 0 23
1966-1967 13 2 0 2 1 18
1967-1968 10 3 0 2 0 15
1968-1969 21 2 1 0 0 24
1969-1970 9 3 0 0 0 12
1970-1971 0 0 0 0 0 0
1971-1972 0 0 0 0 0 0
Milestone Appearances
# Date Against Stadium Competition
1 27.10.1962 WBA The Hawthorns League
50 16.11.1963 Fulham Anfield League
100 14.11.1964 Nottingham Forest Anfield League
150 29.09.1965 Juventus Stadio Communale Europe
200 10.09.1966 Sheffield Wednesday Anfield League
250 09.09.1967 Chelsea Anfield League
300 04.05.1968 Leeds United Elland Road League
350 28.04.1969 Leeds United Anfield League
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Related Quotes

"Shankly said: 'Right Tommy, you're not playing on the six yard line. When the ball's on the halfway line, you've got to be on the 18-yard line. If the ball shoots through, you've got to be out to kick it - a sort of stopper.'

At first I was frightened to death. We did it at Melwood a few times, then we tried at Anfield. Well, I'm standing there and the Kop is giving me some stick. 'Get back on your line!', they're all yelling. No goalkeeper did that in those days. I thought 'Oh my God'. But it worked. I'd come out and do like they do today. You didn't get sent off in those days either. So I used to bring them down. If they pushed it past me, I'd just hit them."

Liverpool keeper Tommy Lawrence recalling the good old days in the Matchday magazine

"He was a wonderful man and we got on very well. He was the best one-on-one keeper around, how he dealt with those situations was an education ad he was the first “sweeper-keeper”. It was frustrating, but I was playing in an excellent reserve side that had won the Central League six out of seven years."

Clemence on waiting for a place in the first team because of Tommy Lawrence

Scrapbook
1962
1962
1967
1967
Football Monthly poster
Football Monthly poster
Future for three hangs in balance - August 1970
Future for three hangs in balance - August 1970
Goal poster of Scotland's Lawrence
Goal poster of Scotland's Lawrence
Golden Greats line up in 15 years' anniversary of 1965 FA Cup final
Golden Greats line up in 15 years' anniversary of 1965 FA Cup final
Heavyweight of the top-flight keepers
Heavyweight of the top-flight keepers
King of the shut-out men
King of the shut-out men
Lawrence looks ahead to the 1965/66 season
Lawrence looks ahead to the 1965/66 season
Lawrence punching clear versus Sheffield Wednesday 8th December 1962 (image)
Lawrence punching clear versus Sheffield Wednesday 8th December 1962 (image)
LFC Official Matchday Magazine interview 2000/01
LFC Official Matchday Magazine interview 2000/01
My mate Roger - Liverpool Echo 1972
My mate Roger - Liverpool Echo 1972
Poster of Lawrence
Poster of Lawrence
Poster of Tommy Lawrence
Poster of Tommy Lawrence
Profile of Lawrence of Anfield on the cover of the Echo 13 April 1963
Profile of Lawrence of Anfield on the cover of the Echo 13 April 1963
Saved by Roger's tip - Football Monthly April 1970
Saved by Roger's tip - Football Monthly April 1970
Shankly was a schoolmaster to the players
Shankly was a schoolmaster to the players
Stars of Liverpool - Cover of Football Monthly June 1964
Stars of Liverpool - Cover of Football Monthly June 1964
The emerging Clemence - 27 February 1972
The emerging Clemence - 27 February 1972
The last straw for Shankly - 21 February 1970
The last straw for Shankly - 21 February 1970
The six Scots
The six Scots
The yo-yo transfer - 16 October 1971
The yo-yo transfer - 16 October 1971
Tommy Lawrence On Cover Of Kop Magazine
Tommy Lawrence On Cover Of Kop Magazine
Tommy Lawrence's record - from the 1968/69 season
Tommy Lawrence's record - from the 1968/69 season
Tommy marries Judith 15 July 1963
Tommy marries Judith 15 July 1963
Tommy's amazing record (1969)
Tommy's amazing record (1969)
Where are they now? - Liverpool club magazine
Where are they now? - Liverpool club magazine
Yeats leads out reserves with St John and Lawrence - 15 August 1970
Yeats leads out reserves with St John and Lawrence - 15 August 1970
Other Clubs
Club Season Club rank League apps League goals Total apps Total goals
Tranmere Rovers 1971-1972 England Third Division 35 0 42 0
Tranmere Rovers 1972-1973 England Third Division 37 0 40 0
Tranmere Rovers 1973-1974 England Third Division 8 0 12 0
Chorley 1974-1975 Cheshire County League N/A N/A N/A N/A
Total 80 0 94 0