Ex-Premier League Star Was Scouted While Serving Prison Sentence
There are many different routes to the Premier League but Jamie Lawrence has experienced perhaps the most unusual of the lot.
That's because the former Sunderland, Leicester and Bradford star is the only player in Premier League history to be scouted while serving a prison sentence.
Lawrence, who is now 55, made the remarkable journey from jail to the top flight of English football thanks in part to his own talent and determination, but also an extraordinary show of faith from prison authorities.
Born in south London, Lawrence first got into trouble with the police at 17 after his parents moved back to Jamaica.
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"When they were here I wasn't getting into trouble. I was a good boy, going to school and getting educated," he told Stephen Howson's The Warm Down.
"And then they left, and I got wrapped up in certain things round my area that I'm not proud of."
Lawrence was sent to prison for three years, but then reoffended just three months after his release in May 1991. A four-year sentence would follow for armed robbery, with the budding footballer sent to HMP Camp Hill on the Isle of Wight to serve his time.
His football career looked to be all but over before an incredible twist of fate occurred during a match for the prison team.
After the team played a game against semi-professional local side Cowes Sports, in which Lawrence scored twice, the opposing manager asked prison authorities to allow the prisoner to play for them on a regular basis.
Remarkably, the prison governor granted that request.
"There was no security," Lawrence told The Athletic.
"I'd get let out at 10am on a Saturday if the match was on the mainland, play the game and then be back inside by evening.
"If I had a Guinness or three, the lads would give me mints and chewing gum to hide the smell before dropping me off at the prison."
Lawrence revealed his Cowes Sports manager at the time had written to clubs up and down the country to try and get him a professional trial, with TV cameras and newspaper journalists coming to the prison to report on his remarkable story.
A successful trial at Sunderland when later out on parole led to him being offered a one-year contract, with his professional debut following a few weeks later against Middlesbrough - live on ITV.
The Athletic report that 'Jailhouse Rock' was played over the Ayresome Park PA system before kick-off as a cheeky nod to Lawrence's unusual career path.
The winger would later join Doncaster Rovers and then Leicester City, with his Premier League debut for the Foxes coming 17 months after his release from prison.
He would go on to win the League Cup with Leicester in 1997, although arguably the pinnacle of his career was representing Jamaica 24 times, scoring once in international football.
Lawrence said none of that would have been possible without Camp Hill's physical training instructor, Eddie Walder, who convinced the prison's governor to allow him to play football while serving his sentence.
"I owe Mr Walder and the governor everything. They saved my life," he told The Athletic.
"Nothing had ever been done like that before. Or since, to be fair. I’ve been told the reason why is I never retaliated when kicked.
"That's what they saw in me, making me different from all the other really good footballers in prison."
Speaking in 2024, Lawrence said there were plans to turn his remarkable story into a film.
"We've been talking to a company in Soho about a film covering my life. There's been quite a few meetings and they seem keen," he said.
"If that gets off the ground, it'll be the icing on the cake."
When asked who he'd want to play him, he added: "That's a good question. I'm honestly not sure.
"Oh hang on. Ashley Walters, the actor from Top Boy. He'd be good as me!"
Topics: Premier League, Football
Rory O'Callaghan