Tommy Lawrence
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Thomas Johnstone Lawrence | ||
| Date of birth | 14 May 1940 | ||
| Place of birth | Dailly, Ayrshire, Scotland | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Warrington Town F.C. | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1957–1971 | Liverpool | 306 | (0) |
| 1971–1974 | Tranmere Rovers | 80 | (0) |
| Total | 386 | (0) | |
| National team | |||
| 1962 | Scotland Under-23 | 1 | (0) |
| 1963–1969 | Scotland | 3 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Thomas Johnstone "Tommy" Lawrence (born 14 May 1940) is a former Scottish professional footballer who was goalkeeper for Liverpool and Tranmere Rovers in the 1950s through to the 1970s.
Born in Dailly, Ayrshire the Lawrence family moved to the north-west of England when Tommy was a child. On leaving school he worked at Rylands wire factory and played for Warrington Town F.C. as an amateur, before joining Liverpool in 1957 at age 17.
After retiring from professional football, Lawrence returned to work at Rylands as a quality controller. He has a son, Stephen.
In February 2015, Lawrence was inadvertently interviewed in the street by BBC journalist Stuart Flinders who was asking elderly people if they remembered the 1966–67 FA Cup Fifth Round game between Liverpool and Everton. Lawrence replied "I do, I played in it. I was the goalkeeper for Liverpool."
In 1957 Liverpool manager Phil Taylor offered him a professional contract. He made his first team debut under manager Bill Shankly, playing against West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns on 27 October 1962, in a 1–0 loss. His first clean-sheet came on 17 November, when Liverpool beat fellow promotion hopefuls Leyton Orient at Anfield 5–0, with Roger Hunt scoring a hat-trick.
Lawrence went on to retain the No.1 jersey that season making 35 appearances, including 6 ties in Liverpool's run to the FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough. Leicester City were their opponents and prevented the Reds from reaching the 1963 FA Cup Final by winning the game 1–0. Liverpool had finished in a very respectable 8th place in their first season back in the 1st Division. However, this achievement was tempered by the fact that their Merseyside rivals Everton won the 1962-63 league championship. The following season Lawrence played 40 times out of a possible 42. He also played in 5 cup ties as Liverpool got the better of their local rivals Everton. They also won the 1963-64 league championship, 4 points clear of Manchester United.
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