Lawrie Sanchez

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Lawrie Sánchez
Image:Replace this image male.svg
Personal information
Full name Lawrence Philip Sánchez
Date of birth October 22, 1959 (1959-10-22) (age 48)
Place of birth    Lambeth, England
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Youth clubs
1974–?
 Southampton
Thatcham Town
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1978–1984
1984–1993
1993–1994
1994–1995		 Reading
Wimbledon
Swindon Town
Sligo Rovers		 261 (28)
270 (33)
008 0(0)
   
National team
1989 Northern Ireland 003 0(0)
Teams managed
1994–1995
1999–2003
2004–2007
2007		 Sligo Rovers
Wycombe Wanderers
Northern Ireland
Fulham

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only.
* Appearances (Goals)

Lawrence Philip Sánchez (born October 22, 1959 in London, England) is a Northern Irish football manager and former player. He is the son of an Ecuadorian father and a Northern Irish mother, and went to Presentation College, a private boys' school in Reading.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Club career

Sanchez had first played for Reading, between 1977 and 1984, before moving to Wimbledon for £30,000. He scored the goal that got the Dons promoted to the First Division in 1986. His most famous moment as a player came in 1988, when he scored the goal that won Wimbledon the FA Cup in 1988 against Liverpool, a match widely believed to be one of the biggest cup final upsets in history. In 1993 Sánchez left Wimbledon for newly promoted Swindon Town, but lasted only a year.

He is believed to be the first player to be sent off for a professional foul, after committing a deliberate handball in a Football League Trophy match against Oxford United in 1982.[1]

[edit] International career

Sánchez won three international caps for Northern Ireland, qualifying by virtue of his Northern Irish mother. He had also been invited to try out for the Ecuadorian national team, but declined on the grounds of distance.

[edit] Managerial and coaching career

[edit] Sligo Rovers

He became player-manager of League of Ireland club Sligo Rovers in 1994 [1] and in his first season led them to the semi-final of the 1995 FAI Cup.

[edit] Wimbledon

In 1995, he returned to Wimbledon and became reserve team manager, winning the Football Combination in his first season in charge. In all, he managed the reserves for under four years.

[edit] Wycombe Wanderers

Sánchez became manager at Wycombe Wanderers in 1999. He rescued the team from the threat of relegation that season, and in 2001 guided the club (then in the Second Division) to one of its greatest moments, playing Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-finals; Wycombe lost 2–1, having held Liverpool to 0–0 for most of the match.

However, Sánchez's side failed to meet the ensuing expectations generated by the cup run, finishing only 11th in 2001–02 and 18th in 2002–03. After a poor start to the 2003–04 season and a run of 1 win in 20 consecutive league matches stretching from the previous season, Sánchez was sacked by the club on 30 September 2003[2].

[edit] Northern Ireland national team

Sanchez was appointed manager of Northern Ireland in January 2004, with the side ranked 124th in the world, with a 1,298 minute-long goal drought and had not won a game for nearly three years. Northern Ireland improved markedly under Sanchez, and by the time he left, Northern Ireland were top of their Euro 2008 qualification group and were ranked 33rd in the world, equalling their best ever position.

Notable results during his tenure included a 1–0 victory against England in a World Cup qualifying match, a 1–1 draw against Portugal, who went on to reach the World Cup 2006 semi-finals, and a 3–2 win, with David Healy scoring a hat trick, against Spain in a Euro 2008 qualifying match. A book about his achievements with Northern Ireland was published in November 2007.[3]

[edit] Fulham

While still manager of Northern Ireland, Sanchez was named as caretaker manager of Fulham following the sacking of Chris Coleman in April 2007.[4] After helping the side avoid relegation, he was given the manager's job on a longer contract after resigning from his position with Northern Ireland.[5] His tenure at Craven Cottage came to a close in December 2007. On the 10th May 2008 on the eve of Fulham's final game of the season Sanchez wrote an article in 'The Times' newspaper claiming the team would already be safe if he was allowed to continue his job.

[edit] Honours

Wimbledon

  • F.A. Cup winner – 1988

[edit] Managerial stats

Team Nat From To Record
G W L D Win %
Wycombe Wanderers Flag of England February 5, 1999 September 30, 2003 255 87 97 71 34.11
Northern Ireland Flag of Northern Ireland January 21, 2004 May 11, 2007 32 11 11 10 34.37
Fulham Flag of England April 11, 2007 December 21, 2007 24 4 12 8 16.67

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Sánchez still has his moment of fame with Reading. Retrieved on 2007-11-18.
  2. ^ BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Wycombe Wanderers | Wycombe sack Sanchez
  3. ^ "Six months on, Lawrie's ready to lift the lid on 'Norn Iron'", Belfast Telegraph, 2007-10-30. Retrieved on 2007-10-30. 
  4. ^ "Coleman out as Sánchez takes over", BBC Sport, 2007-04-10. Retrieved on 2007-04-11. 
  5. ^ "Sánchez quits NI for Fulham job", BBC Sport, 2007-05-11. Retrieved on 2007-05-11. 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Wycombe Wanderers F.C. – Managers

McCormick (1951–52) • Cann (1952–61) • McDonald (1961) • G. Adams (1961–62) • Welsh (1962–64) • Darvill (1964–68) • Lee (1968–76) • Powell (1976–77) • Reardon (1977–78) • Williams (1978–80) • Keen (1980–84) • Bence (1984–86) • Gane (1986–87) • Suddaby (1987–88) • Kelman (1988–90) • O'Neill (1990–95) • Smith (1995–96) • Gregory (1996–98) • Smillie (1998–99) • Sanchez (1999–2003) • T. Adams (2003–04) • Gorman (2004–06) • Lambert (2006–08) • Taylor (2008–)
v • d • e
Northern Ireland national football team – Managers

Doherty (1951–62) • Peacock (1962–67) • Bingham (1967–71) • Neill (1971–75) • Clements (1975–76) • Blanchflower (1976–79) • Bingham (1980–94) • Hamilton (1994–98) • McMenemy (1998–99) • McIlroy (2000–03) • Sanchez (2004–07) • Worthington (2007–)
v • d • e
Fulham F.C. – Managers

Harry Bradshaw (1904–09) • Kelso (1909–24) • Ducat (1924–26) • Joe Bradshaw (1926–29) • Liddell (1929–31) • McIntyre (1931–34) • Hogan (1934–35) • Peart (1935–48) • Osborne (1948–49) • Bill Dodgin, Sr. (1949–53) • Osborne (1953–56) • Livingstone (1956–58) • Jezzard (1958–64) • Buckingham (1965–68) • Robson (1968) • Bill Dodgin, Jr. (1969–72) • Stock (1972–76) • Campbell (1976–80) • Macdonald (1980–84) • Harford (1984–86) • Lewington (1986–90) • Dicks (1990–91) • Mackay (1991–94) • Branfoot (1994–96) • Adams (1996–97) • Wilkins (1997–98) • Keegan (1998–99) • Bracewell (1999–2000) • Tigana (2000–03) • Coleman (2003–07) • Sanchez (2007) • Lewington (2007) • Hodgson (2007–)