Born: Northampton, 19 June 1974
Position: Full back
Signed: 6 February 1997 from Wycombe Wanderers (£50,000)
Fulham debut: Lincoln City 2-0 Fulham, 8 February 1997
Fulham appearances: 72
Fulham goals: 0
Fulham honours: Third Division runners-up (1996/97)
Sold: 2 October 1998 to Wycombe Wanderers (free)
Classy defender Matt Lawrence was a late entrant to professional football having studied American Literature at Hartwich College in New York. He impressed enough as a midfielder at Gray’s Athletic to make a move to Wycombe but joined Fulham in February1997 after only making 21 appearances at Adams Park. Lawrence made fifteen league appearances, mostly deputising at full back for Paul Watson and Robbie Herrera, as Micky Adams masterminded a remarkable promotion on a sheostring budget.
He stayed at Craven Cottage for a further season, making 72 appearances in total, before returning to the Chairboys. Lawrence signed for Millwall in March 2000 and missed only one game at right back as the Lions were promoted to Division One as champions. He was voted the fans’ player of the season.
He made more than 250 appearances for Millwall, including in the 2004 FA Cup final against Manchester United, before signing for Crystal Palace in 2006 and amassed more than a hundred appearances for the Eagles. Lawrence then signed for Gillingham and spent two years with Whitehawk before eventually retiring from football in 2015.
After writing columns for the Football League Paper and the Mirror during his playing career, he became a regular radio pundit and was the lead analyst for Sporting Kansas City’s MLS coverage in 2017. The erudite Lawrence is a frequent commentator on American television and radio having relocated across the Atlantic.
