Laurie Bell (footballer)

Laurence "Laurie" Bell (born 1 September 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Örebro Syrianska. Bell has also spent time with English sides Macclesfield Town and Hyde United.

For the earlier player, see Laurie Bell (Scottish footballer).

Laurie Bell
Personal information
Full name Laurence Bell
Date of birth (1992-09-01) 1 September 1992
Place of birth Poynton, England
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Örebro Syrianska
Youth career
2000–2004 Stockport County
2004–2009 Manchester City
2009–2011 Rochdale
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2014 Milwaukee Panthers 70 (26)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014 Ventura County Fusion 10 (2)
2015 Tulsa Roughnecks 23 (1)
2016 Hyde United 14 (1)
2016 Karlslunds 24 (11)
2016 Macclesfield Town 2 (0)
2016 → Hyde United (loan) 10 (1)
2017–2018 Karlslunds 52 (11)
2019 BK Forward 29 (7)
2020– Örebro Syrianska 13 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:33, 1 September 2020 (UTC)

Career

Early career

Bell joined Stockport County's School of Excellence at the age of eight, before moving to Manchester City's academy four years later. However, City let him go at the age of 16. After which he spent two years on a youth team apprenticeship at Rochdale, where he was part of a Football League Youth Alliance-title winning squad. However the club released him in May 2011.[1]

Bell played college soccer at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee between 2011 and 2014.[2] In 2013, he captained the Milwaukee Panthers to their victory in the Horizon League conference and qualification to the 2013 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship, scoring 13 goals along the way, and being named as the Horizon League's player of the year[3] and an NCAA First-Team All-American.[1] While at college, Bell also appeared for USL PDL club Ventura County Fusion in 2014.[4]

Bell was invited to the MLS 2015 Combine, but, hampered by a recurrence of patellar tendinitis which he had suffered during his teenage years,[1] went undrafted in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft.[5]

Professional

Bell signed with United Soccer League club Tulsa Roughnecks in March 2015.[6] After one season with the Roughnecks, and a spell with semi-professional side Hyde United in his native England, Bell joined Swedish second division club Karlslunds IF HFK on a one-year contract in April 2016.[3] He was named Player of the Year at Karlsunds IF HFK, after recording 11 goals and 10 assists in 24 matches and firing Karlslunds to 5th position in Division 2 - the club's highest finish for 7 years.

In December 2016, The Guardian published a blog by Bell about the challenges of pursuing a relatively low paying football career.[7] In January 2017 Bell joined English Conference side Macclesfield Town [8] before being sent out on loan to Hyde United.[9] In March 2017, Bell re-joined Swedish side Karlslunds IF HFK.[10] In January 2019, Bell left Karlslunds to join fellow Division 1 side BK Forward.[11] After a year with Forward, Bell joined newly promoted Division 1 side Örebro Syrianska on a one-year deal.[12]

References
  1. Bell, Laurie (25 May 2016). "From Manchester City to Oklahoma: how a rejected footballer kept the dream alive". theguardian.com. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  2. http://mkepanthers.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=971
  3. Zills, Chris (18 April 2016). "Laurie Bell Continues Professional Career In Sweden". Milwaukee Panthers. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  4. http://www.uslpdl.com/teams/2014/6188518.html#STATS Archived 4 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 20 July 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. http://www.wisconsinsoccercentral.com/news_article/show/495601?referrer_id=776837
  7. Bell, Laurence (24 December 2016). "Serious sacrifice and little money – welcome to the world of Jam footballers". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  8. "Silkmen Add Laurence Bell To Their Squad". Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  9. "Macclesfield Town Loan Round-Up". Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  10. "LAURIE BELL - News - Hyde United Football Club". www.hydeunited.co.uk. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  11. "Laurie Bell till Forward" (in Swedish). BK Forward. 19 January 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  12. "ÖREBRO SYRIANSKA VÄRVAR MITTFÄLTAREN LAURIE BELL" (in Swedish). Örebro Syrianska IF. 15 January 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
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