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By Ron Shillingford
 WHEN
JAMIE Lawrence (pictured) was sentenced to four years jail
for robbery back in 1990 who would have thought that within a few
years he would be playing in the Premiership?
At the time he was already 20 and
not attached to a professional club, so diminishing his chances of
any sort of pro career, and with his career choices diminishing
with every brush with the law, his future looked bleak.
But his talent as a footballer
became very evident whilst behind bars. On his release the south
Londoner had trials of a different kind. He impressed all that
watched him play before being offered his big chance to start a
new career in professional football.
Lawrence spent most of the
Nineties playing at the top level, then Jamaica came calling. The
Reggae Boyz needed a strong, quick, tough tackling, mid-fielder.
He fitted the bill perfectly.
On international duty Lawrence
travelled to many countries around the world, showing off his
no-nonsense style which finds him very much in demand today, even
though he is now considered to be veteran at 35. He also impressed
in a friendly against the mighty Brazil two years ago, subduing
the inimitable Ronaldo with aplomb.
A much-travelled player, recent
stints have included Grimsby, Wigan, Walsall and Bradford.
Division One side Brentford is the latest club to employ his
services, but there are several clubs in the UK and abroad
interested in offering Lawrence an extension to his playing
career. He is still picked for Jamaican internationals as well.
Lawrence’s wholehearted
commitment has always endeared him to team-mates, managers, fans
and even opponents alike. He won awards as player of the year at
Bradford City and Player of the World Cup Campaign 2002 for
Jamaica. Not bad for a former bad boy!
It’s no wonder his former manager
at Wigan, Paul Jewell, once said when Lawrence arrived at the
club: ‘Jamie is a bit flamboyant but on the pitch he gives
everything. He is full of energy and he’ll even chase the waste
paper! I know what he can do from my Bradford days and I’m sure we
can get the best out of him.
‘I agreed to let another player
leave providing we got cover and it was suggested Jamie came in
exchange. Jamie turned up for his first day’s training at Wigan in
sunglasses. I’m not quite sure where he had come from but there
was certainly no sunshine in Wigan!’
Lawrence is philosophical about
his life from prison to the Premiership.
He says: ‘I can’t blame any of my
bad stuff on other people. My mum and dad went back to Jamaica
when I was 17 and suddenly I was in the big wide world with
nothing. So I went and lived with my sister in Croydon. She’d just
had a child and neither of us had much money; the easiest way for
me to survive was through crime. I’d started playing football when
I was only three. My parents encouraged me but, because there were
eight of us, they worked hard and their time was limited. Although
I was always involved with local teams around Battersea, I never
attracted the interest of a professional club.
‘Just after my parents left this
country, I was arrested for the first time. A friend and I were
caught driving a car stolen. From here, I went steadily downhill
and, when I was 19, I was sent to prison for theft, assault and
numerous robberies.
‘I went to Feltham young
offenders institute. Although I was scared, many of my friends
were there. That made it easier. I went to the gym every day, I
worked out in my cell, I did some courses, and I played football
constantly because I still believed I could make it.
‘I spent a year there. Did I
think about what I’d done? Being honest, most of my crimes were
against people like myself - never against women or old people -
and so I thought they deserved what they got.
‘I was released a month before my
21st birthday and, just six weeks later, I was back in trouble.
This was with a guy I’d had problems with over the years, He was
having a go at a friend of mine so I beat him up, then robbed him.
‘He didn’t go to the police
immediately. Instead, he went around telling everyone he was going
to kill me. I waited for him one day and said: "I heard you were
after me?" He turned and ran off and that was when he got the
police involved.
‘What happened next was
startling. The friend, whom I’d stuck up for, did a deal with the
police. He agreed to give evidence against me in return for being
let off. I went on the run for six weeks, hiding out at my
sister’s. ‘It wasn’t fair on her and when you’re in hiding the
only way of earning is to commit more crime. Also, I still wanted
to make it as a footballer.
‘The first time I’d gone to
prison my parents did not find out but while I was on remand, my
mother came over from Jamaica. She visited me and said, "Son, why
are you doing this to me?" She began to cry, which made me cry as
well - the only time I cried through all of this.
‘At the trial, my so-called best
friend stood in the dock and spoke against me. I got four years
for robbery with violence, and was sent to the Isle of Wight.
There, unlike in young offenders’ institutions, men are not trying
to prove themselves, even if I did have one problem early on with
someone who threatened me. I beat him up and had no more trouble
after that.
‘Even at this stage, I knew I
could make it as a footballer. Then something happened that
convinced me it was meant to be. On Boxing Day 1993, I played for
the prison against a semi-professional team, Cowes Sports. I
scored two goals and then their manager asked the prisoner
governor if I could play for them.
‘I took it from there. For the
first month or so I played against teams on the island and became
a bit of a local celebrity. I continued playing well and
professional clubs started to watch me. This was my big
opportunity, but I was never nervous. Nervous, for me, is standing
in a courtroom waiting to be sentenced.
‘I was released in 1993 after 26
months inside. Ninety days later I went up to Sunderland for a
trial and managed to do well enough for Terry Butcher [then
Sunderland’s manager] to offer me a one-year contract.
‘It was difficult to take in. I
signed on the Friday and on the Sunday appeared as a substitute in
an away game at Middlesbrough. They played Jailhouse Rock on the
PA as I warmed up, which made me laugh. To come on as a
substitute, to have the chance actually to play professionally,
was an amazing experience.
‘The following Tuesday, in front
of 18,000 at Roker Park, I played from the start. I was shaky at
first but soon settled down. When I came off, I received a
standing ovation.
‘It was unbelievable. I’d gone
from one extreme to another. Now, a decade later, I’ve appeared in
more than 250 matches, won the Littlewoods Cup with Leicester, and
have 13 caps for Jamaica. If it were not for prison, I would never
have made it as a professional footballer.
‘When I am finished, I’d like to
work in the community with young people. I’d like to use my
experience to show them that, if you get into trouble as a young
person, your life is not necessarily over. You can always fight
back and make something of your life.’
The life of Jamie Lawrence will
soon be featured in a book, which will provide huge inspiration to
many young-sters across the world.
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