| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Phillip Lawless | ||
| Date of birth | 17 June 1982 | ||
| Place of birth | Liverpool, England | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Burscough | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2002–2003 | Burscough | ||
| 2003–2004 | Aberystwyth Town | 30 | (8) |
| 2004–2005 | TNS | 22 | (7) |
| 2006 | Vauxhall Motors | ||
| 2007–2008 | Colwyn Bay | ||
| 2008–2009 | Marine | ||
| 2009 | Caernarfon Town | 1 | (0) |
| 2009 | Witton Albion | ||
| 2010 | Formby | (12) | |
| 2010 | Leigh Genesis | 18 | (8) |
| 2010–2011 | Formby | 2 | (1) |
| 2011– | Burscough | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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John Lawless (born 17 June 1982 in Liverpool, Merseyside) is an English footballer who currently plays for Burscough in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. He is a Striker.
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A talented footballer as a schoolboy, Lawless won a place at Liverpool FC's academy, where he found himself under the tutelage of Steve Heighway, the club's Academy director and former winger. However, the club released Lawless at the age of 15.[1]
He played for Burscough from August 2002 to July 2003. He had a key role in the club’s against-the-odds FA Trophy win in May 2003, helping to create both goals.[2]
In July 2003 he began an enduring association with Welsh football when he signed for Aberystwyth Town.[3]
After one season, he moved to TNS in August 2004.[4] It was an excellent season for the club, winning the Welsh Premier League and then, thanks to a Lawless goal, winning the Welsh Cup as well.[5]
In July 2005 Lawless played in a Champions League qualifier tie against his boyhood heroes, Liverpool FC.[6] Lawless is a lifelong Liverpool fan - he has the club's badge tattooed on his arm - and two months earlier he had travelled to Istanbul for the Champions League final where Liverpool won their fifth European Cup.[7]
TNS terminated his contract in December 2005 after he failed to appear for training for almost a month.[8] He moved to Vauxhall Motors where he played throughout 2006.[9][10]
He made his debut for Colwyn Bay in January 2007.[11] He stayed with the club for a year and a half, moving back to Liverpool to play for Marine in the summer of 2008.[12]
On 20 December 2008 Marine played an away match against F.C. United of Manchester. It was seen by sections of fans of both teams as a non-league extension of Liverpool F.C. and Manchester United F.C. rivalry. FC United were formed by Manchester United fans disgruntled with the ownership regime, and Marine's patron is Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish.
Reports allege taunts of 'murderers' from FC United fans,[13] referring to the Heysel disaster. Lawless and team-mate Shaun Tuck were alleged to have made aeroplane gestures to the crowd as a taunt about the Munich air disaster. The FA looked into the incident and, after viewing video of the whole match, issued the players with a written warning[14] but did not find evidence to warrant any disciplinary action.[15]
Lawless spoke out denying he had made such a gesture, saying it had been a palm extended vertically with all fingers pointing out meaning ‘five’ – a reference to Liverpool’s five European Cup wins.[15] Video footage of the incident shows the gesture to be ambiguous,[16] and Tuck's gesture after scoring a penalty - arm forwards, palm flat, fingers extended - is quite unlike an aeroplane. Lawless added that he had friends who play for FC United, and an FC United spokesperson said, "We have a brilliant relationship with Marine and what happened after the last fixture was over-played."[15]
Lawless' contract with Marine was terminated by agreement of both parties.[17]
He returned briefly to Welsh football, signing for Caernarfon Town but only played one game and left after 13 days to join Witton Albion by the end of January 2009.[18] He left them in April 2009.[19]
In January 2010 he signed for North West Counties Football League side Formby.[20] Despite only playing for the second half of the season, he was the club's top scorer.[21] In July 2010, Formby manager Mark Maddox moved to Leigh Genesis, and took Lawless[22] and eight other players from the Formby squad with him.[23]
After a dire start to the season[24] that saw the club greet December at the bottom of the table with just 7 points from 17 games, Maddox left Leigh Genesis in December 2010.[25] Lawless was swiftly re-signed by Formby,[26] who were now managed by Gary Martindale, the other forward with whom he created the two goals at Burscough’s 2003 FA Trophy triumph. He only played in two games before Martindale and the entire first team resigned in January 2011.[27] Lawless, with his Leigh Genesis and Formby team mate Adam Farley, was swiftly signed by Burscough.[28]