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Liam Lawrence (December 14, 1981 in Retford, England) is a football right winger, who currently plays for Stoke City.

Sunderland signed Lawrence from Mansfield Town F.C. in 2004 and he quickly won the fans over with his determined and committed style of play. Despite missing a penalty for Mansfield in the Division 3 Play-off final, it was clear that Lawrence was a great prospect and was spotted by Sunderland manager Mick McCarthy and his scouting staff. Lawrence had a promising first season at Sunderland, scoring 6 goals in 20 starts and 12 substitute appearances, including two superb strikes against Wolves at the Stadium of Light. He also helped create one of the most important goals in Sunderland's season, scored by Marcus Stewart, against Wigan at the JJB Stadium.

Following Sunderland's promotion to the Premiership in 2005, Lawrence found himself in and out of the first team squad for the first few months of the 05/06 season. Despite this, Lawrence still made 23 starts and 10 substitute appearances for the club, scoring stunning goals against Fulham, Chelsea, and Sunderland's bitter rivals Newcastle United at St James' Park. Although the season ended in disaster for Sunderland, who were relegated with a record low of 15 points; Lawrence ended the season as runner up to team-mate Dean Whitehead for the annual Player of the Year award, and was seen as one of Sunderland's better performers.

On February 16, 2006, Lawrence received his first international call-up, for the Republic of Ireland. in their friendly game against Sweden on March 3. He was one of four young Premiership players to receive their first international call-ups in Steve Staunton's first squad as Republic of Ireland manager, however, was only named as an unused substitute. Despite being a regular in Staunton's squads, he has yet to be capped by his country.

On August 1, 2006, Lawrence signed a new contract until 2010.

On December 7, 2006, tabloid newspaper The Sun reported Lawrence, along with team-mates Ben Alnwick and Chris Brown had filmed themselves in an orgy with a brunette girl referred to as 'Stevie.' In the video, Brown is said to give "Match of the Day" style commentary as his team-mates perform sexual acts on the girl. Former Sunderland midfielder Martin Woods also features on the tape, but remains fully clothed, along with two other men. In reference to the watching men, Brown reportedly comments “Here’s the boys — the watching faithful — every week without fail.”^[1]

On December 8, The Sun reported that the girl in the video was just 16 years old, with the girl claiming she had no idea she was being filmed.^[2]

In the January 2007 transfer window, Sunderland sold Lawrence to Stoke for an initial fee of £500,000.^[3] Lawrence has become a popular player at stoke after he gelled quickly with other on loan players and has also weighed in with some important goals.

1. ^ Ashford, Ben, Perrie, Robin. "Keane fury over roasting romp", The Sun, 2006-12-07. Retrieved on January 2, 2007.
2. ^ Perrie, Robin. "Girl in footie roast was just 16", The Sun, 2006-12-08. Retrieved on January 2, 2007.
3. ^ Alcock, Chris (2007-02-01). Lawrence Signs. Stoke City FC Official Website. Retrieved on January 2, 2007.

• Liam Lawrence career stats at Soccerbase