Arthur Trevor Lawless (23 March 1932 – 19 January 2018) was an English 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 lea ...

who played as a defender in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

and

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

. He then went into coaching, and acted as player-coach or

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

non-league Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

level.

Life and career

Lawless was born in Cottam,

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

, in 1932, and attended King Edward VI Grammar School in nearby

Retford Retford (), also known as East Retford, is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It lies on the River Idle and the Chesterfield Canal. Retford is located east of Sheffield, west of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Linco ...

. He was on the books of

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

club

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

as a junior, without breaking through to the first team, and also played

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

as a

fast bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is a type of bowling in cricket, in which the ball is delivered at high speed. The fastest bowlers bowl the ball at over . Practitioners of fast bowling are known as fast bowlers or quicks. Also ...

. In August 1952, he made a single appearance in the

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship or National County Championship is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national counties (previously ca ...

for

second eleven against Lancashire II at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

; he returned bowling figures of 2/35 and made a

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

. While a student at Worcester Teacher Training College, Lawless played football for Southern League club

Worcester City Worcester City Football Club is an English Association football, football club based in Worcester, England, Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Southern Football League Premier Division Central, the seventh tier of English football. ...

. In 1955, he had a successful trial with Second Division club

, and began the season not only in the first team but as its captain. He lost his place after just eight matches, and moved on to

of the

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

in July 1956 for what was reported as a small fee. After three months with no first-team football, he asked for a transfer. He eventually made his debut, playing at right back at home to Barrow on 1 December, and had a run of games at centre half in January, before submitting a second transfer request at the start of February because he wanted to return to the south of England. He took his appearance total to nine by the end of the season, and spent some of the close season on a

Football Association A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...

coaching course at

Lilleshall Lilleshall is a village and civil parish in the Telford and Wrekin borough of Shropshire, England. It lies between the towns of Telford and Newport, on the A518, in the Wrekin constituency. There is one school in the centre of the village. ...

, with the intention of becoming a full-time coach after his playing career ended. Lawless signed for

for the 1957–58 Third Division South season. Two minutes into the opening fixture, against

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

, his weak back-pass to his goalkeeper was intercepted by an opponent who scored the only goal of the match. Lawless lost his place, and his Aldershot career continued in the reserves until a dislocated elbow brought it to a temporary halt in November. He appeared once more for the first team, in February, but did not defend well, and was given a free transfer at the end of the season. His next club was

, newly placed in the Fourth Division when the regional third tiers were reorganised on a national basis. He initially signed as a full-time professional, but went part-time from 1 September when he was appointed to a teaching post in the town, and later acted as physical training instructor for the local

Air Training Corps The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British Youth organisations in the United Kingdom, volunteer youth organisation; aligned to, and fostering the knowledge and learning of military values, primarily focusing on military aviation. Part of the ...

. Lawless appeared at full back in the first 12 matches of the season but, just as at Aldershot, a defensive mistake against Port Vale cost him his place in the side. He returned to the side in January 1959, but was injured in his third game back. In February, he asked for a transfer because he was hoping to find a

role. He took a player-coach position at Welsh League club

Ton Pentre Ton Pentre () is a village in the Rhondda, Rhondda Valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Historic counties of Wales, Historically part of Glamorgan, Ton Pentre, a former industrial coal mining village, is a district of the comm ...

while teaching in

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

, but after a few months had to give it up because he was posted back to Southport. In May 1960, Lawless became player-manager of Loughborough United. He led Loughborough to runners-up in the

Central Alliance The Central Alliance was a football league in England, covering the East Midlands. History The league was established in 1911 with twelve clubs, most of which had previously been members of the Notts & Derbyshire League; Derby County Reserves ...

and to the first round proper of the

1960–61 FA Cup The 1960–61 FA Cup was the 80th season of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Tottenham Hotspur won the competition for the third time, beating Leicester City 2–0 ...

: they drew with

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

, but lost the replay, in which Lawless could not play because he was suspended after being

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

in the previous round. The club then joined the

Midland League The Midland Football League, officially known as the Capelli Sport Midland Football League since January 2025 for sponsorship reasons, is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midl ...

, and Lawless's contract was terminated in November 1961, not because of failings in his play or his management but because, in the opinion of the committee, his recent sending-off and suspension for use of abusive language brought the club into disrepute. From 1963 to 1966, he was player-manager of Stamford. He then moved on to another Midland League club, Sutton Town, where he was given full charge of all team-related matters, but resigned the following January, "tired of the frustrating struggle to gain players of the right standard." Lawless died in

Radcliffe-on-Trent Radcliffe-on-Trent is a village and civil parish in the Rushcliffe borough of Nottinghamshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the Census 2011 was 8,205, falling slightly at the Census 2021 to 8,144 Location Radcliffe has a po ...

, Nottinghamshire, in 2018 at the age of 85.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawless, Trevor 1932 births 2018 deaths People from Bassetlaw District Footballers from Nottinghamshire English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Blackpool F.C. players Worcester City F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Aldershot F.C. players Southport F.C. players Ton Pentre F.C. players Loughborough United F.C. players Stamford A.F.C. players Ashfield United F.C. players Southern Football League players English Football League players Midland Football League players English football managers Men's association football player-managers Stamford A.F.C. managers People educated at King Edward VI Grammar School, Retford Alumni of the University of Worcester 20th-century English sportsmen