James Lawrence (16 February 1879 – 21 November 1934) was a Scottish football player and manager. A goalkeeper, he played for Newcastle United between 1904 and 1922.

Jimmy Lawrence
Personal information
Date of birth 16 February 1879[1]
Place of birth Partick, Scotland
Date of death 21 November 1934(1934-11-21) (aged 55)
Place of death Glasgow, Scotland
Height 5 ft 8+12 in (1.74 m)[2]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1900–1902 Partick Athletic
1902–1904 Glasgow Perthshire
1904 Hibernian 3 (0)
1904–1922 Newcastle United 432 (0)
International career
1911 Scotland 1 (0)
Managerial career
1922–1923 South Shields
1923–1925 Preston North End
1925–1933 Karlsruher FV
Medal record
Newcastle United
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

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Playing career

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Born in Partick, Lawrence's first club was Partick Athletic, from where he moved to Glasgow Perthshire. Although still connected to Glasgow Perthshire, he played three matches in 1904[1] for Edinburgh side Hibernian when their regular custodian Harry Rennie was unavailable.[3] He played with Newcastle for eighteen years after joining the Tyneside club in 1904 and still holds the record for making the most appearances for them - 432 league appearances,[4] 496 matches in total.[5]

With Newcastle he won the English Championship in 1905, 1907 and 1909, and the FA Cup in 1910, also playing on the losing side in the finals of 1905, 1906, 1908 and 1911.[6]

In 1911, he also represented the Scotland national team on one occasion, a 1–1 draw with England at Goodison Park in Liverpool in the British Home Championship.[7]

Management

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Lawrence showed an aptitude for administration when acting as chairman of The Players' Union in his later days at Newcastle, and after his playing retirement he moved into management.[3] His first appointment was with then Second Division side South Shields (1922–23) before joining Preston North End. He stayed with the Lilywhites until 1925, when he relocated to Germany to manage Karlsruher FV. With this club he won the regional championship of Württemberg/Baden in 1926 and of Baden in 1928, 1929, 1931 and 1932 which qualified the club to participate in the matches for the German football championship.[8]

Lawrence later returned to Scotland and in 1933 was elected chairman of Stranraer.[3] He died while in office a year later.[9]

Personal life

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He was thought to have been born in 1885, and used this year in his registration documents with Newcastle United, but sports historian Andy Mitchell found that he was in fact born six years earlier (along with a twin sister); this discovery makes him Newcastle United's oldest ever player.[1]

Honours

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Player

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Newcastle United

Manager

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Karlsruher FV

References

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  1. ^ a b c Older than he looks - how Jimmy Lawrence 'lost' six years, Scottish Sport History, 28 October 2016
  2. ^ Tynesider (22 August 1921). "First Division prospects. Newcastle United". Athletic News. Manchester. p. 6.
  3. ^ a b c Lamming, Douglas (1987). A Scottish Soccer Internationalists Who's Who, 1872-1986. Hutton Press. ISBN 0-907033-47-4.
  4. ^ "The English National Football Archive".
  5. ^ Newcastle United FC: Appearance Records Archived 2010-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ England - FA Challenge Cup Finals, RSSSF
  7. ^ Scotland - International Matches, RSSSF
  8. ^ Karlsruher FV 1891: Chronik Archived 2010-10-11 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "Death of J. Lawrence". The Times. 23 November 1934. p. 5.
  10. ^ Germany - Championships 1902-1945, RSSSF
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INTERN 3
Note 1