LIAM LAWRENCE can still picture his shirt hanging up with his name on the back as he walked into Mansfield’s dressing room for his debut on January 11, 2000.
It was the start of the winger’s 17-year journey playing for ten clubs and more than 550 club games with FIVE promotions plus his ultimate career dream of playing international football at the highest level.
He even had to write off almost £800,000 while playing for Portsmouth, so the South Coast club could stay afloat.
The 41-year-old is now a key member of the coaching staff at Stoke City and has been working with the Championship side’s academy for the last three years.
Lawrence said: “The moment I saw that shirt hanging up I treated my career like a ladder.
“Here I was on the bottom rung. But my top step was playing international football — something I am proud to say I achieved for the Republic of Ireland.”
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Sadly, one of Liam’s biggest lows was for the Republic in their World Cup play-off game in 2009 when they were cruelly robbed by Thierry Henry’s handball before William Gallas’ equaliser.
He added: “We lost the first leg 1-0 against the French and we didn’t play that well.
“But we were deservedly winning the second leg in Paris before Thierry’s intervention.
“With VAR in operation today that would have definitely been chalked off.
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“We were cheated out of a World Cup finals place, something I dreamed about as a kid growing up.”
His first taste of the big time came when he moved from Mansfield to Sunderland in 2004.
He said: “With no disrespect to Mansfield — who I can never thank enough for giving me my first start — the switch to Sunderland blew me away in terms of how big the club and the infrastructure.”
Lawrence may have played for ten clubs in his career but Stoke is where his heart is, so returning to the club in a coaching capacity in 2020 has been a seamless switch.
He said: “I have had great times with every other team I have played for, but Stoke has just been home for me.
“When I joined them in 2006 on loan, we set up our family home in the city and have been here ever since. It’s just a brilliant place.
“Working with manager Tony Pulis in 2006 was so rewarding with a great bunch of players. To help the club to promotion to the Premier League in 2008 was special.”
After Stoke he suffered a horror time when moving to financially crisis-hit Portsmouth in 2010.
He recalled: “I was told new owners were coming in and the money problems would disappear. Sadly they got worse.
“As captain of the side I had to act almost as a union rep to keep the players on board — even though none of us were being paid. I lost almost £800,000.
“But the one consolation is that the club are now back on their feet.
“I am convinced without the efforts of the players and staff writing off wages, the club would have gone under.”
Lawrence had a short spell at Cardiff in 2011 before moving to PAOK in northern Greece for two seasons. He said: “It was difficult spending two years away from my family but it was a great experience.
“The fans over there are completely different to here — completely off the scale in terms of fanatical support.
“I had the weirdest move — switching from Barnsley to Shrewsbury in 2014.
“I was away on a family summer break and on the way home bumped into Micky Mellon who was on the same flight.
“Micky was one of my coaches at Barnsley and had just been made manager with the Shrews and talked about the possibility of me becoming his captain.
“I thought it would be a great opportunity — it was only 40 miles away from home so it would give me an opportunity to be back with the children.
“I have been very lucky that every club I played for during my career I really enjoyed — earning promotions with Mansfield, Sunderland, Stoke, Shrewsbury and Bristol Rovers.
“While I was at Barnsley in 2014, I was 32 and knew niggling injuries were becoming more frequent and I was starting to slow down a little bit.
“I started to do my coaching ‘B’ licence during my two years at Shrewsbury.
“At the end of the 2016-17 season — when I was at Bristol Rovers — I knew I had to start making plans outside of playing.
“I began working in the media on TV and radio and on co-commentary. I really enjoyed it.
“Compared to coaching it’s chalk and cheese in terms of workload.
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“With the media work it’s a little bit of prep, giving your opinion as honestly as you can be, then pack up and go home. But I loved every moment of it.
“As much as I have great job satisfaction in coaching, it’s all-consuming in terms of early starts, late finishes, training and working with the academy off the pitch on the laptop to ensure they are fully prepared for what lies ahead.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
