Mark Lawrenson

After Preston coach (and former Irish international goalkeeper) Alan Kelly became aware of the young player's Irish connections (and informed Irish international manager Johnny Giles), Lawrenson's solid performances earned him a call-up to the Republic of Ireland national team.[10] He won the first of 39 international caps at the age of 19, in a friendly with Poland on 24 April 1977 at Dalymount Park; the game ended 0–0. Ireland employed Lawrenson's versatility and burgeoning talent by playing him at fullback, in midfield, and occasionally in his favoured position at centre half.

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. A sixth-minute goal earned Ireland a precious away victory that went a very long way to helping Ireland to qualify for its first ever major football championship finals. Unfortunately for Lawrenson injury prevented him from making the Irish Euro 1988 squad for the finals.

Lawrenson played his last match for the Republic of Ireland against Israel on 10 November 1987. It was a friendly match at Dalymount Park and was also notable because David Kelly scored a hat trick on his international debut.

After retiring from international football Lawrenson wrote for the Irish Times, initially providing analysis for the 1990 World Cup.[11] Lawrenson began his television career providing match analysis on HTV West's local football coverage,[12] before working as a pundit for the BBC but then left briefly to become a coach specialising in defensive tactics for Kevin Keegan at Newcastle United.[13] However, the position was again short-lived and he returned to media work. He has since become established as a pundit, both on BBC television and radio, often finding himself sitting alongside his former defensive partner, Alan Hansen. Since the departure from the BBC of Trevor Brooking, he has been the main co-commentator on major national and international (FIFA) matches covered by the television network. He appears regularly on Football Focus and Match of the Day.

He is also often a co-commentator on BBC Radio Five Live, often working on the feature matches on Sunday afternoons. He previously worked as a pundit for Ireland's TV3 between 2001–2007 for mid-week Champions League games alongside Welsh national (FA) team manager and former Liverpool striker, John Toshack. When the Champions League returned to TV3 in 2010 he no longer provided punditry. He was replaced in that role by Tony Cascarino and Martin Keown, and moved into the commentary box alongside TV3 commentator Trevor Welch. He works for Irish radio station Today FM on Premiership Live with presenter Michael McMullan in talking about football related topics, predicting scores and stating facts. He also has a column on the BBC website where he gives his views and predictions on the Premier League's weekend fixtures. Lawrenson is one of a number of ex-Liverpool players who make up the BBC pundit team.

He also writes a regular Preston North End column for the University of Central Lancashire's Students' Union newspaper, Pluto, and a weekly column for the Liverpool Daily Post. He worked with Japanese entertainment company Konami, recording commentary samples for the Pro Evolution Soccer series, alongside ITV commentator Jon Champion, from Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 to Pro Evolution Soccer 2010. He was replaced by ITV pundit Jim Beglin for Pro Evolution Soccer 2011.[14][15] In addition, Lawrenson has also featured alongside John Motson as a commentator in EA Sports' FIFA series from 99 through 2001 and on the Euro 2000 video game.

In 2002, Lawrenson made a bet on Football Focus that Bolton would be relegated from the Premiership in the 2001–02 season.[16] He lost the bet after Sam Allardyce's team stayed up, and shaved off his moustache as a result.

At the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the BBC received 172 complaints after Lawrenson said that Swiss striker Josip Drmić "should put a skirt on". The channel responded by stating "We acknowledge that the remark by commentator Mark Lawrenson about Switzerland's Josip Drmić was inappropriate and we apologise for any offence caused by it".[17]

In 2003, Lawrenson was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from Myerscough College near Preston for his achievements in football.[18]

In 2018, he was given the all-clear after having a cancerous growth removed from his face.[19] He was made aware of the seriousness of the growth when a concerned viewer contacted the editor of Football Focus.[20] Lawrenson later met the viewer, Dr Alan Brennan, on television.[21]

Liverpool

• Football League First Division (5): 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1987–88
• FA Cup: 1985–86
• League Cup: 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84
• FA Charity Shield: 1982, 1986
• Football League Super Cup: 1986
• European Cup: 1983–84

• List of Republic of Ireland international footballers born outside the Republic of Ireland

• Past players profile at LiverpoolFC.tv
• Player profile at LFC history.net
• Mark Lawrenson at Sporting Heroes.net
• Mark Lawrenson at Soccer-Ireland.com at the Wayback Machine (archived 18 October 2014)