Mark Lawrenson

Preston and Brighton

Mark Lawrenson was born in Preston and attended St Teresa's Catholic Primary School in Penwortham and, later, Preston Catholic College, a Jesuit school. His father, Tom, had been a winger for Preston North End. He always wanted to be a footballer, although his mother, Theresa, wanted him to become a priest. He began his career, as a 17-year-old, with his hometown club in 1974, who were then managed by World Cup winner Bobby Charlton. Lawrenson was voted Preston's Player of the Year for the 1976–77 season. After 73 league appearances for the Deepdale club, he moved to Alan Mullery's Brighton & Hove Albion in the summer before the start of the 1977–78 season for £100,000. Ironically, the then Second Division side outbid First Division Liverpool who also showed interest in the 19-year-old Lawrenson. Lawrenson made his Brighton debut on 20 August 1977 in a 1–1 draw against Southampton at The Dell. He settled in at the Goldstone Ground and made 40 league appearances by the end of his first season of the club. He went on to make 152 league appearances by the end of the 1980–81 season. However the club entered a financial crisis in 1981 and Lawrenson was forced to leave the club to make funds available. A number of clubs were interested in signing Lawrenson after his resilient performances for both Preston and Brighton, but it was Liverpool manager Bob Paisley who secured his signature.

Liverpool

Liverpool offered a club transfer record of…

After Preston coach (and former Irish international goalkeeper) Alan Kelly became aware of the young player's Irish connections (and informed Irish international manager Johnny Giles), Lawrenson's solid performances earned him a call-up to the Republic of Ireland national team. He won the first of 39 international caps at the age of 19, in a friendly with Poland on 24 April 1977 at Dalymount Park; the game ended 0–0. Ireland employed Lawrenson's versatility and burgeoning talent by playing him at fullback, in midfield, and occasionally in his favoured position at centre half. Lawrenson played his first competitive match on 12 October 1977 against Bulgaria in a 1978 World Cup qualifier. This match also ended 0–0, at Lansdowne Road (now Aviva Stadium). Lawrenson scored his first of his five goals for Ireland against Cyprus in Nicosia on 26 March 1980 in a 1982 World Cup qualifier. He scored his second goal for Ireland in the next competitive match as Ireland beat Netherlands 2–1 at Lansdowne Road in the same qualification campaign. This was also notable as it was Eoin Hand's first match as manager of Ireland. In between these two matches, Lawrenson renewed his Preston acquaintance with Kelly, as he managed Ireland in a caretaker capacity for a friendly against Switzerland. Lawrenson scored two goals in Ireland's record victory – an 8–0 thrashing of Malta in a 1984 European Championship qualifier but the Irish goal that he is best remembered for is one against Scotland. It was…

After retiring from international football Lawrenson wrote for the Irish Times, initially providing analysis for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. Lawrenson began his television career providing match analysis on HTV West's local football coverage, before working as a pundit for the BBC, but then left briefly to become a coach specialising in defensive tactics for Kevin Keegan at Newcastle United, where he admitted in 2017, that "I did nothing. Absolutely nothing". However, the position was again short-lived and he returned to media work. He became established as a pundit, both on BBC television and radio, often finding himself sitting alongside his former defensive partner, Alan Hansen. Since the departure of Trevor Brooking from the BBC, he was the main co-commentator on major national and international (FIFA) matches covered by the television network. He appeared regularly on Football Focus and Match of the Day. He was also often a co-commentator on BBC Radio 5 Live, often working on the feature matches on Sunday afternoons. He previously worked as a pundit for Ireland's TV3 between 2001 and 2007 for mid-week Champions League games alongside Welsh national team manager and former Liverpool striker, John Toshack. When the Champions League returned to TV3 in 2010, he no longer provided punditry. He was replaced in that role by Tony Cascarino and Martin Keown, and moved into the commentary box alongside TV3 commentator Trevor Welch. He worked for Irish radio station Today FM on…

In 2003, Lawrenson was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from Myerscough College near Preston for his achievements in football. In 2018, he was given the all-clear after having a cancerous growth removed from his face. He was made aware of the seriousness of the growth when a concerned viewer contacted the editor of Football Focus. Lawrenson later met the viewer, Dr Alan Brennan, on television.