Mark lawrenson retired, leaves bbc at the end of last season after 30 years as a pundit and co-commentator with the corporation.
Mark Lawrenson : Age | Leaves bbc | Paddy power
Lawrenson played his first competitive match on 12 October 1977 against Bulgaria in a 1978 World Cup qualifier. This match also ended 0–0, at Lansdowne Road (now Aviva Stadium).
Lawrenson scored his first of his five goals for Ireland against Cyprus in Nicosia on 26 March 1980 in a 1982 World Cup Qualifier.
He scored his second goal for Ireland in the next competitive match as Ireland beat Netherlands 2–1 at Lansdowne Road in the same qualification campaign.
This was also notable as it was Eoin Hand’s first match as manager of Ireland. In between these two matches Mark Lawrenson renewed his Preston acquaintance with Alan Kelly Snr as Kelly managed Ireland in a caretaker capacity for a friendly against Switzerland.
Lawrenson scored two goals in Ireland’s record victory – an 8–0 thrashing of Malta in a 1984 European Championship qualifier but the Irish goal that he is best remembered for is one against Scotland.
It was Jack Charlton’s first qualification campaign as Irish manager and Ireland were playing Scotland in Hampden Park in a 1988 Euro qualifier.
Age
Mark Lawrenson was born in Preston and attended St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School in Penwortham and, later, Preston Catholic College, a Jesuit school.
His father, Tom, had been a winger for Preston North End. He always wanted to be a footballer, although his mother, Theresa, wanted him to become a priest.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mark Thomas Lawrenson | ||
| Date of birth | 2 June 1957 | ||
| Place of birth | Preston, Lancashire, England | ||
| Age | 65 years | ||
He began his career, as a 17-year-old, with his hometown club, Preston North End in 1974 who were then managed by World Cup winner Bobby Charlton. Lawrenson was voted Preston’s Player of the Year for the 1976–77 season.
After 73 league appearances for the Deepdale club he moved to Alan Mullery’s Brighton & Hove Albion in the summer before the start of the 1977–78 season for £100,000.
Ironically, they outbid Liverpool who also showed interest in the 19-year-old Lawrenson.
Mark lawrenson leaves bbc
In an interview with Sunday Times, Lawrenson slammed BBC and said that they were the worst in delivering bad news.
He claimed that the media was apathetic in informing him that he wouldn’t be a part of Football Focus, a show that Lawrenson was a part of for about 25 years.
Lawrenson said that he would have appreciated it if BBC had informed him about the decision during the start of his previous annual contract.
The veteran British footballer, who claimed he was “anti-woke,” said he was sacked because he was 65 and a white male.
He further added that he was never asked at BBC to refrain from saying anything and that the “woke things” were driving him crazy.
He said that it felt like he was asked to play with his legs tied, and the first thing that came to his mouth could land him in trouble.
Lawrenson was not the only one to be axed by the broadcaster. Along with him, Mark Pougatch, Alan Green, and Cornelius Lysaght also left BBC, as the national broadcaster was looking to create a diverse panel of experts. However, Lawrenson remarked that BBC was afraid of upsetting anyone.
Regardless of Lawrenson’s comments, BBC has organized a farewell lunch for their former panelist, where he’d be allowed to invite 20 guests.
The footballer has accepted the invite and said that he was looking forward to recalling his expert career that lasted over 30 years.
Paddy power
Mark Lawrenson takes on Paddy Power punter in £150 challenge.
Lawro’s really hitting his straps now.
Soccer soothsayer Mark Lawrenson returns to Paddy Power News for another round of his Premier League betting competition – and there’s £/€150 on the line in his latest duel with a Paddy Power punter.
Every Premier League matchday we’re putting up £/€50 to anyone who can outsmart Lawro in predicting the outcome of all 10 games.
And with Lawro triumphing at the weekend and in midweek, we’ve rolled it over to TREBLE the prize for this week’s contestant.
So the rules are pretty simple: We’ll award one point for a correct result and three points for a correct score (max three points per game, there’s no four-pointers here).
Malcolm from East London came for the king and missed during the week with Lawro running out an easy winner and having it in the bag before the final match on Thursday.
This time around we’re gearing up for our own Merseyside derby as Everton fan Daniel from Cornwall takes Liverpool great Lawro.
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