Biography
Left half Matt Lawrence joined the Tigers in September 1937 having played against the Tigers for his previous club Wrexham a week earlier. He had to wait until the week before Christmas 1937 for his first team debut and made his second Tigers appearance in mid-January 1938 in a 10-1 (ten) thumping of Southport. Encouraged by this result, manager Ernest Blackburn started Lawrence in all but one of the remaining matches that season, mostly at left half but occasionally at right inside forward.
Lawrence started two of the first three fixtures in the 1938/39 season before being dropped. He played only twice more for the Tigers first team, a 0-4 defeat at Rochdale in November 1938 and a 1-4 defeat at Oldham in April 1939, the last fixture of the 1938/39 season in which Lawrence scored his only goal for Hull City. He left the club in the 1939 close season ahead of the outbreak of World War Two.
Matthew Lawrence was born at Cefn-y-Bedd, an industrial village two miles north of Wrexham in North Wales. He joined Division Three North side Wrexham as an amateur player in October 1930, having been spotted playing for Wrexham Amateur League side Cross Street while working at nearby Llay Hall Colliery. Signed as a forward, Lawrence played in a variety of positions during his seven years at the Racecourse Ground. He made his first team debut in January 1931 against Accrington Stanley a few days after scoring five goals in a Reserves match against Ellesmere Port Town. he waited a year for his second start for Wrexham, once more against Accrington Stanley, and finished the 1931/32 season as Wrexham’s first choice left half. He retained this role for the next two seasons, in 1932/33 season Wrexham narrowly missed out on promotion and reached the Welsh Cup final only to lose to Swansea Town, in the 1933/34 season Wrexham again reached the Welsh Cup final only to lose again to Chester – Matt played in both finals. He was dropped from the first team in October 1934 and for the next three years Lawrence was in and out of the first team. By the time he left the Racecourse Ground in the 1937 close season he had scored four goals for Wrexham in 140 appearances.
After his playing days were ended abruptly by the War, Lawrence returned to his Wrexham roots and worked for 30 years at Brymbo Steelworks. He died in Wrexham in April 1999, a few weeks after his 90th birthday.
Details
Nationality: Wales
Date/Place of Birth: 3 April 1909, Cefn-y-Bedd
Hull City First Game: 18 December 1937, Tranmere Rovers A (Division Three North), 28 years, 259 days old
Hull City Final Game: 29 April 1939, Oldham Athletic A (Division Three North), 30 years, 26 days old
Clubs
Cross Street, Wrexham (1930-1937), Hull City (1937-1939)
Hull City Record
Career: 26 apps, 1 goals
Matt Lawrence| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1937/38 | 21 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1938/39 | 4 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0 |