Tommy Lawrence

Tommy Lawrence
Personnel
Surname	Thomas Johnstone Lawrence
birthday	May 14, 1940
place of birth	Dalry ,  Scotland
date of death	January 10, 2018
position	goalkeeper
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1960-1971	Liverpool FC	305 (0)
1971-1974	Tranmere Rovers	80 (0)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1963-1969	Scotland	3 (0)
1 Only league games are given.

Thomas Johnstone "Tommy" Lawrence (born May 14, 1940 in Dalry , North Ayrshire , † January 10, 2018 ) was a Scottish football goalkeeper . He was a longtime member of Liverpool FC's first team under coach Bill Shankly .

life and career

After moving to north-west England with his family as a child, he joined Liverpool as an amateur player. He worked in a metal factory until he was offered a professional contract at the age of 17.

After five years as a substitute, he made his debut on October 27, 1962 after an injury to Jim Furnell in the 1-0 loss to West Bromwich Albion in the First Division and should due to his consistently good performance and low injury susceptibility in the following eight years only a few Missing matches as a regular goalkeeper. He stood between the posts when Liverpool won the English championship in 1964 and 1966 and the first FA Cup in club history in 1965 . In 1966 he was in goal when his team at Hampden Park in Glasgow lost 2-1 to Borussia Dortmund in the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup , conceding Reinhard Libuda's decisive goal from over 30 meters away in extra time .

By his own supporters he was because of his corpulence and his flight deposits in their own penalty area The Flying Pig (German: the flying pig ) called. He was also known for often rushing far out of his goal to intercept an attack and thus acting as an additional defender . Because of this, and because of a good performance in a charity shield game against Everton FC at Goodison Park , Joe Mercer called him The Sweeper Keeper .

With the arrival in 1967 of the talented teenager Ray Clemence , who had been signed by Scunthorpe United from Liverpool , Lawrence was initially able to maintain his place in goal in an increasingly troubled and aging team. Lawrence was not one of the oldest players, and as a goalkeeper whose careers can usually last much longer than field players, he was predicted to stay longer in the club. Nevertheless, he was eliminated from the team after an FA Cup loss to Watford FC in 1970 and should never play for Liverpool again. He then moved to the Tranmere Rovers in 1971 and played amateur football in Chorley for some time before retiring from football. For the Scottish national team , he had completed three international matches.

Lawrence went back to the same factory where he had worked in his youth and was employed in quality assurance . In February 2015, he was accidentally approached in a street survey about the Liverpool FC cup match against Everton FC in 1967 and identified himself as the goalkeeper at the time.

successes

• English champion: 1964, 1966
• FA Cup winner: 1965
• Charity Shield winner: 1964 *, 1965 *, 1966 (* shared title)

Web links

• Profile page of Tommy Lawrence

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Chris Shaw: Tommy Lawrence: In his own words . Liverpool Football Club website January 10, 2018, accessed January 11, 2018.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} goalkeeper Tommy Lawrence: The fans sang "She loves you" behind his goal , Süddeutsche Zeitung , January 11, 2018
3. ↑ Tommy Lawrence's chance encounter with BBC reporter . BBC , accessed February 10, 2015 (Flash video).