Kemar Lawrence

Kemar Michael Lawrence (born 17 September 1992) is a Jamaican international footballer who plays for Anderlecht and the Jamaica national football team as a full back.

Kemar Lawrence
Personal information
Full name Kemar Michael Lawrence[1]
Date of birth (1992-09-17) 17 September 1992
Place of birth Kingston, Jamaica
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Position(s) Left back
Club information
Current team
 Anderlecht
Number 92
Youth career
2003–2007 Rae Town F.C.
2007–2011 Harbour View
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2014 Harbour View 62 (2)
2015–2019 New York Red Bulls 118 (5)
2020– Anderlecht 12 (0)
National team‡
Jamaica U17
2010–2011 Jamaica U20 3 (0)
2013– Jamaica 60 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 7 February 2021
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17 November 2020 (UTC)

His nickname is Taxi.[2] In January 2014, Lawrence was announced as a brand ambassador for PepsiCo[3] as part of the 2014 FUTBOLNOW campaign featuring footballers such as Lionel Messi and Sergio Agüero.[2]

Early life

Lawrence is the son of former goalkeeper Orville 'Tutus' Edwards,[4] rated among the best goalkeepers in the Caribbean during his career,[5] who played for Santos FC and the Jamaica national team during the 1970s, and who died in 2005 at 53 years of age from kidney failure.[6]

Career

Harbour View

Lawrence began his career in the youth ranks of Rae Town football club. In 2007, he signed for Harbour View,[7] and was part of their National Premier League-winning teams in the 2009–2010[8] and 2012–2013[9] seasons. In 2009 Lawrence was briefly part of the residency program of the Vancouver Whitecaps, then of the American USL First Division. In 2014 he was selected for the inaugural MLS Caribbean Combine.[7] In July 2014, Lawrence went to the United States for a two-week trial with MLS club D.C. United[10] but was not offered a contract.[11]

New York Red Bulls

On 16 March 2015 it was announced that Lawrence had signed with New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer after impressing during a preseason trial.[12] On 22 March 2015, Lawrence made his debut for New York playing the full 90 in a 2–0 victory over rival D.C. United at Red Bull Arena.[13] After strong performances at left-back, Lawrence beat out long time defender Roy Miller for the starting spot. On 18 October 2015, Lawrence scored his first goal for New York in a 4–1 victory over Philadelphia Union, helping the club clinch the Eastern Conference regular season title.[14]

On 29 April 2017 Lawrence scored the game-winning goal in New York's 2–1 victory over Chicago Fire.[15] On 23 June 2018 Lawrence scored his first goal of the season in a 3-0 victory over FC Dallas.[16] A week later, on 1 July, Lawrence scored the lone goal in New York's 1-0 victory over Toronto FC.[17]

Anderlecht

On 31 January 2020, Lawrence moved to Anderlecht for an undisclosed fee.[18]

International

At the international level, Lawrence has represented the Jamaica under-17 team, the Jamaica under-20, and the national team of Jamaica, the Reggae Boyz.[7]

Lawrence competed in the 2011 CONCACAF U-20 Championship in Guatemala, taking part in Jamaica's two first-round defeats, and receiving a yellow card in the second match against Honduras.[19]

After being part of national team training camps in 2013,[20] Lawrence was first selected for the Reggae Boyz for the CONCACAF Fourth Round qualifying match against Panama in Panama City in September 2013.[21] Lawrence received his first cap in a friendly against Trinidad and Tobago at the Montego Bay Sports Complex in Montego Bay in November 2013.[22]

Lawrence appeared in all four matches of the Jamaica national team's international tour in the summer of 2014, which saw them play 2014 FIFA World Cup-bound France and Switzerland, along with Serbia and Egypt.[4]

In September 2014, Lawrence scored his first goal for Jamaica in a 3–1 friendly defeat against Canada.[23] Later that year, in November, he scored Jamaica's first goal against Antigua and Barbuda, which came in the final group stage match of their 2014 Caribbean Cup-winning campaign.[24]

Lawrence played at the 2015 Copa América and, despite Jamaica losing all three matches 1–0, Lawrence was deemed the best left-back in the tournament by Rio-based football writer and broadcaster Tim Vickery.

On 23 July 2017, Lawrence scored on a left-footed freekick from just outside of the box to eliminate tournament favorites Mexico and send Jamaica to a second straight Gold Cup Final.[25][26]

Style of play

Lawrence plays most often on the left side of defence, specialising in the role of a wing-back.[4] Ian Burnett, writing for The Jamaica Observer, described Lawrence as "a feisty wide defender who is solid in defence and on offence", while Winfried Schäfer, former manager of the Jamaica national team, said that Lawrence is a player with good pace and intelligence on the field, while stating his belief that he is a player with "a chance to play in Europe".[4] Leicester City captain and Jamaica teammate Wes Morgan noted Lawrence's defensive abilities in dealing with Switzerland and Bayern Munich winger Xherdan Shaqiri, and he was also praised for his technical quality and attitude by Jamaica teammate and Crystal Palace defender Adrian Mariappa.[4]

Career statistics
As of 7 July 2019
Club Season League MLS Cup US Open Cup CONCACAF Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
New York Red Bulls 2015 231400000271
2016 210100040260
2017 241303010311
2018 282202060382
2019 221100010100
Career total 1185110501201465

International goals
Scores and results list Jamaica's goal tally first.[27]
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.9 September 2014BMO Field, Toronto, Canada Canada1–01–3Friendly
2.14 November 2014Montego Bay Sports Complex, Montego Bay, Jamaica Antigua and Barbuda1–03–02014 Caribbean Cup qualification
3.23 July 2017Rose Bowl, Pasadena, United States Mexico1–01–02017 CONCACAF Gold Cup

Honors

Club

New York Red Bulls

Individual

References
  1. "40-Player National Team Roster: 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup: Jamaica" (PDF). CONCACAF. p. 9. Retrieved 21 May 2019 – via Bernews.
  2. "Kemar 'Taxi' Lawrence selected for Pepsi Campaign headed by Messi". Harbour View Football Club (hvfc.net). 16 January 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  3. Levy, Leighton (26 January 2014). "Harbour View's Lawrence Is Jamaica's Pepsi Ambassador". Jamaica Gleaner. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  4. Burnett, Ian (9 June 2014). "Destined for great things". The Jamaica Observer. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  5. "Orville Edwards Football Tomorrow". The Jamaica Gleaner. 24 April 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  6. "Orville Edwards Football Tomorrow". Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  7. "Woozencroft, Lawrence for MLS Combine". Jamaica Observer. 29 November 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  8. Raynor, Kayon (19 January 2010). "Palmer's strike hands H'View $250,000 bounty". Jamaica Observer. Archived from the original on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  9. Walker, Howard (22 April 2013). "All over – Lynch's brace gives Harbour View victory in RSPL". Jamaica Observer. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  10. Bailey, Robert (17 July 2014). "Lawrence at DC United For Trial". Jamaica Gleaner. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  11. Goff, Steven (28 July 2014). "D.C. United defender Jeff Parke sidelined by migraine headaches". The Washington Post. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  12. "Red Bulls sign Kemar Lawrence". newyorkredbulls.com. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  13. "RBNY blank conference rivals in home opener". newyorkredbulls.com. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  14. "FULL TIME: Four star Red Bulls down Union, clinch Eastern Conference regular season title". newyorkredbulls.com. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  15. "Game Notes: Lawrence Powers Red Bulls Past Fire". newyorkredbulls.com. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  16. "New York Red Bulls 3, FC Dallas 0". newyorkredbulls.com. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  17. "Lawrence, Robles, Inspire RBNY". newyorkredbulls.com. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  18. "New York Red Bulls Transfer Kemar Lawrence to R.S.C. Anderlecht | New York Red Bulls".
  19. Williams, Sean (2 April 2011). "Coach takes heart despite loss". Jamaica Observer. Archived from the original on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  20. Stamp, Marc (2 September 2013). "'Tuffy' Anderson, Marlon King in 27-Man Reggae Boyz Training Squad". Jamaica Gleaner. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  21. Boyd, Audley (7 September 2013). "Boyz Break Four-Match Losing Streak in Panama". Jamaica Gleaner. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  22. Reid, Paul A. (17 November 2013). "Schafer happy with Boyz secondhalf against Warriors, but..." Jamaica Observer. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  23. Williams, Gordon (10 September 2014). "Canada Stop Reggae Boyz". Jamaica Gleaner. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  24. Lawrence, Hubert (20 November 2014). "It's When You Win That Counts". Jamaica Gleaner. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  25. "Jamaica stun Mexico, set up USA final". FIFA. 24 July 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  26. "Mexico blocks out drama before Gold Cup semifinal vs. Jamaica". USA Today. Associated Press. 22 July 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  27. "Lawrence, Kemar". National Football Teams. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  28. "2018 MLS Best XI". MLS Soccer. 11 November 2018.
  29. "TSG reveals Gold Cup Best XI". goldcup.org.
  30. "2019 MLS All-Star Roster". Major League Soccer. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  31. "IFFHS MAN TEAM - CAF - OF THE DECADE 2011-2020". IFFHS. 28 January 2021.
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