Aaron Lawrence (born 11 August 1970) is a Jamaican former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

, making over 60 appearances for the Jamaica national team.Jamaica International Matches Details 1998-2010
/ref> In some sources, his birth date is 10 October 1968.

Club career

Aaron played almost whole of his career in his homeland, playing initially for

Violet Kickers F.C. Violet Kickers F.C. is a club team in Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Ja ...

, having a brief spell at

Long Island Rough Riders The Long Island Rough Riders are an American soccer team based in South Huntington, New York, United States. Founded in 1994, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games at Hofst ...

at the United States and then returning to Jamaica to play for

Reno F.C. Football Club Reno is a Jamaican football team based in Savanna-la-Mar, the capital of the parish of Westmoreland, in western Jamaica. Their home stadium is Frome Sports Club, which can hold a capacity of up to 2,000. The club was known as Reno ...

He was on the verge of joining

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

after obtaining a work permit, but the move fell through after he has broken his leg.

International career

Lawrence had been a member of the

Jamaica national football team The Jamaica national football team, nicknamed the "Reggae Boyz", represents Jamaica in international football. The team's first match was against Haiti in 1925. The squad is under the supervising body of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF ...

for a little more than a decade. His role was primarily as backup to team captain Warren Barrett, until one memorable performance in 1998 at the World Cup finals in France. Starting in Jamaica's third and final game against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, Lawrence shut out the relentless

ese attackers until late in the game when one sneaked by him. He nevertheless protected Jamaica's slim lead and led them to their first World Cup Finals win, a 2–1 result. He attempted to secure an overseas contract with a European Club but it proved futile, but the player had emerged as Jamaica's first-choice keeper and had hoped to lead the Jamaica national team to another World Cup appearance. However, with the emergence of

Donovan Ricketts Donovan Ricketts (born 7 June 1977) is a Jamaican former professional association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper and is currently an assistant coach for FC Tulsa in the USL Championship. Ricke ...

, the under twenty-three goalkeeper at the time, Lawrence never managed to fight his way back to the starter's position. The 'Wild Boy' was a tall, athletic and fleet-footed professional. Although there was perhaps room for improvement in his positioning and handling of balls crossed into the six-yard box, in his defence he was known for pulling off spectacular and timely saves when it mattered most. His vast experience proved useful time and time again for the Jamaica national team in those tough away games. He scored a penalty for Jamaica against India in a friendly match in August 2002.

International goals

Coaching career

Lawrence coached Reno FC and also served as a goalkeeping coach for the national team, as well as the director of the Real Madrid Academy in Jamaica and manager of second tier Sandals Whitehouse. He is currently coach of the Jamaican national Under-15 team and Rusea's High School football team.

Personal life

Aaron's son, Ruel, was an attacking midfielder playing for

Portmore United Portmore United Football Club is a Jamaican football team in the top flight Jamaica National Premier League. The team trains and plays home matches at the Prison Oval. History Hazard United The club was formed as ''Hazard United'' and has bee ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Aaron 1970 births Living people People from Hanover Parish Jamaican men's footballers Jamaica men's international footballers 1998 FIFA World Cup players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Men's association football goalkeepers