James Lawrence (footballer)


James Alexander Lawrence is a professional footballer who plays for Anderlecht and the Wales national team.
Lawrence has previously played for St. Pauli, Anderlecht, AS Trenčín and youth teams at Arsenal, Queens Park Rangers, Ajax Amsterdam and Sparta Rotterdam.

Club career

Early career

Lawrence's early youth career included English clubs Enfield, Arsenal and Queens Park Rangers. In 2008 his family moved to the Netherlands where he joined Haarlem. In 2009 Lawrence left Haarlem to join Ajax with whom he won the Netherlands U19 First Division Championship in 2010–11 and was coached by Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp. Lawrence then had spells with Jong Sparta Rotterdam and Jong RKC Waalwijk whilst he was enrolled at the Johan Cruyff Institute in Amsterdam.

AS Trenčín

Lawrence transferred to AS Trenčín on 13 August 2014 aged 21 and scored on his debut the same day in a Slovnaft Cup match against ŠK Strážske. Four days later, Lawrence made his Fortuna Liga debut in a 4–2 win against Košice. On 1 May 2015 Lawrence helped AS Trenčín to a maiden Slovak Cup, beating Senica in the final. In May 2015 AS Trenčín became Fortuna Liga Champions for the first time with Lawrence thus achieving the league and cup double in his first senior season.
The AS Trenčín champions of 2014–15, with an average age of 21.74, were recognised as having been the youngest champions across 31 top division European leagues from 2009–2017 by the CIES Football Observatory.
Lawrence missed the end of the 2014–15 season and the beginning of the 2015–16 season due to an injury sustained in the 2015 Cup Final, returning on 13 October 2015 when he scored in a 3–0 win over Blava Jaslovské Bohunice in the 4th round of the Slovak Cup. A 3–1 win over Slovan Bratislava in the Slovnaft Cup Final on 29 April 2016 secured a second Slovak Cup for Lawrence and AS Trenčín. On 8 May 2016, AS Trenčín beat Slovan Bratislava 4–0 to become Fortuna Liga Champions for the second year in succession.

Anderlecht

On 29 August 2018, Lawrence joined Anderlecht. Lawrence played 23 league matches for Anderlecht during the 2018–19 season with Anderlecht finishing in fourth place in the Jupiler Pro League and in sixth place in the play-offs, missing out on UEFA competition for the first time in 56 years.

FC St. Pauli

On 22 August 2019, Lawrence joined 2. Bundesliga side St. Pauli on loan from Anderlecht until the end of the 2019–20 season. Lawrence made his debut for St. Pauli on 26 August 2019, scoring in a 2–1 win over Holstein Kiel.

International career

On 5 November 2018 Lawrence was called up for the Wales squad for the first time and he started his first game for the national side in a friendly against Albania on 20 November 2018. His first competitive game for Wales was in a 1–0 win against Slovakia at Cardiff City Stadium on 24 March 2019.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

AS Trenčín