Lawrie Wilson

Wilson began his career as a trainee with Charlton Athletic, and was a regular in the club's under-18 team, where he played in defence.[4][5][6] He progressed through the club's youth system, and featured in Charlton's reserve team throughout the club's 2005–06 campaign,[7] making 16 appearances for the reserve side as a second-year scholar.[8] However, he did not make any first-team appearances and was subsequently allowed to search for a new club.[2] In February 2006, he played for Luton Town's reserve team in a match against Stevenage Borough reserves at Kenilworth Road, although no transfer materialised.[9] He was officially released by Charlton in April 2006.[2] A month later, Wilson went on trial at League Two club Shrewsbury Town, and played the whole match in Shrewsbury's 2–1 pre-season friendly home win against Rotherham United,[10] although he was unsuccessful in his attempt to earn a professional contract with the club. In August 2006, Wilson signed a one-year deal with Colchester United.[2] Similarly to his time at Charlton, Wilson featured regularly for the club's reserve side throughout the 2006–07 season,[11] but failed to make any first-team appearances, making the substitute's bench once in a 1–0 loss to MK Dons in the League Cup.[12] He was loaned out to Conference South club Welling United in December 2006.[13] He made his debut for Welling in the club's 1–0 win away at Cambridge City, but was sent-off after just 27 minutes for violent conduct.[14] He returned to first-team action in Welling's 0–0 draw with Basingstoke Town at Park View Road in the FA Trophy,[15] and went on to play four times for Welling during his one-month loan spell at the club.[16] On returning to Layer Road, Wilson was released at the end of the 2006–07 season, without making a first-team appearance for Colchester.[2] Ahead of the 2007–08 season, Wilson spent pre-season trialling at Brentford and Stockport County respectively, training with Stockport for a number of weeks and playing in several pre-season friendlies, but was ultimately not offered a contract.[17]

Wilson signed for Stevenage of the Conference Premier on 16 August 2007, joining on a one-year contract.[18] Manager Mark Stimson gave Wilson his Stevenage debut just a day after signing for the club, coming on as an 86th-minute substitute in Stevenage's 3–0 win against Weymouth.[19] Wilson played 27 times during his first season at Stevenage, with the majority of his appearances coming in the second half of 2007–08 season.[20] The following season under the new management of Graham Westley, Wilson featured regularly in both the full-back position and at right midfield.[21] In August 2008, Wilson scored his first professional goal in Stevenage's 3–1 away win at Barrow, taking advantage of a goalkeeping error in the 75th minute of the match to seal Stevenage's first win of the 2008–09 season.[22] He was also sent-off for the first time in Stevenage colours in the club's 3–1 home defeat to Histon in November 2008, picking up the red card for "offensive language".[23] Wilson returned to the first-team at the start of December and remained in the first-team until the end of the season.[21] He subsequently played in both of Stevenage's Conference Premier play-off games against Cambridge United, as the club lost 4–3 on aggregate.[24] Wilson's versatility also came into use during the club's successful FA Trophy campaign during the same season, as he played in four different positions in six of Stevenage's FA Trophy fixtures.[25][26] He was deployed at left midfield in Stevenage's 2–0 win against York City in the Final at Wembley Stadium.[27]

Wilson started in Stevenage's first game of the 2009–10 season in a 1–1 draw against Tamworth, adopting a much more attacking midfield role on the right wing.[28] He scored his first goal of the season in a 3–0 win over Ebbsfleet United on 18 August 2009, latching onto Ronnie Henry's ball before lashing the ball past the goalkeeper to give Stevenage a three-goal lead.[29] Two weeks later, in Stevenage's 2–1 victory against Rushden & Diamonds, Wilson suffered a "career threatening injury" following a tackle from Michael Corcoran, which resulted in Wilson suffering a dislocated ankle and broken leg in three places. Wilson had a successful operation the following day and was expected to miss the rest of the 2009–10 season.[30][31] Wilson returned earlier than expected, playing in a reserve match against Ipswich Town in March 2010,[32] and he made his return to the first-team a week later against Luton Town, coming on as a 65th-minute substitute.[33] Two days later, Wilson started his first game in just over eight months against AFC Wimbledon. He scored Stevenage's second goal, scoring a half volley from Joel Byrom's chipped pass in Stevenage's 3–0 win at Kingsmeadow.[34] He also played in the club's 2–0 win against Kidderminster Harriers at Aggborough in April 2010 – the game that secured Stevenage's place in Football League for the first time in the club's history.[35] Wilson played 13 matches during the season, scoring twice.[36] At the end of the season, Wilson signed a contract to keep him at the club until July 2011.[36]

Wilson played in Stevenage's first fixture of the 2010–11 season, playing 72 minutes in the club's 2–2 draw with Macclesfield Town.[37] In September 2010, he was sent-off in a game against Cheltenham Town at Whaddon Road, receiving a red card for two bookable offences.[38] He signed a new contract with the club on 24 September 2010, keeping him at Stevenage until 2012.[39] He scored his first goal of the 2010–11 season in Stevenage's 2–2 draw against Accrington Stanley on 5 February 2011.[40] A month later, Wilson scored both of Stevenage's goals in a 2–1 home win against Lincoln City on 19 March 2011, his second goal coming from 25 yards out after an interchange with John Mousinho.[41] He scored his fourth goal of the season on 9 April, netting an injury-time equaliser in a 2–2 draw at Stockport County.[42] Wilson scored his fifth goal of the season on 25 April, scoring the only goal of the game in Stevenage's 1–0 home win against Port Vale.[43] He scored five goals in 50 appearances during the club's 2010–11 campaign, as Stevenage earned promotion to League One for the first time in their history.[44]

Wilson was part of the starting eleven in Stevenage's first League One fixture at the start of the 2011–12 season, playing the whole game as the club drew 0–0 at home to Exeter City.[45] Wilson signed a contract extension at the club on 19 August 2011.[46] Wilson scored his first goal of the 2011–12 season in a 5–1 home win over Sheffield Wednesday, scoring Stevenage's fourth goal of the match just before half-time. In the same game, Wilson provided the run and pass to assist Darius Charles' second-half goal, Stevenage's fifth of the game.[47] He added a second goal to his goal tally in Stevenage's Football League Trophy penalty loss against League Two club AFC Wimbledon — opening the scoring after seven minutes when Brett Johnson's clearance cannoned off of Wilson's leg and beat the stranded Seb Brown in the AFC Wimbledon goal.[48] In the club's last game of 2011, on 31 December, Wilson scored the only goal of the game as Stevenage defeated Wycombe Wanderers 1–0 at Adams Park. The goal came in the 82nd minute of the match, with Wilson powerfully beating Nikki Bull from close-range following Luke Freeman's precise cross.[49][50] He also scored two of Stevenage's five goals in a 5–1 victory against Rochdale at Spotland on 14 January 2012. Both of Wilson's goals came in the second-half; the first came shortly after the interval, when he ran onto Chris Beardsley's rolled pass to fire the ball into the net, with his second coming after he ran onto Mark Roberts' clearance to calmly beat Péter Kurucz in the Rochdale goal.[51][52] Wilson scored one further goal during the campaign, scoring a diving header in injury-time in a 1–0 win over Oldham Athletic at Broadhall Way.[53] It took Wilson's goal tally to six for the season,[54] with the player being ever-present during the campaign under both Westley and new manager Gary Smith, playing in all 56 of the club's games, as Stevenage narrowly lost in the play-off semi-finals.[54][55]

In the summer of 2012, Wilson was linked with a transfer to Peterborough United,[56] as well as Charlton Athletic.[57][58] Stevenage confirmed that they had received two bids for the player, both of which from Championship clubs.[59][60] In July 2012, Wilson signed for Charlton, the club he began his football career with, for an undisclosed fee.[61][62] He made his debut for Charlton in the club's opening game of the 2012–13 season, a 1–1 draw with Leyton Orient in the League Cup at The Valley on 14 August, which Charlton went on to lose 4–3 on penalties after extra-time.[63] Wilson scored his first goal for the club during his tenth league appearance, scoring from close range to restore parity in a 1–1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on 27 October.[64] After a month out of first-team action, Wilson returned for Charlton's 2–2 home draw with Brighton & Hove Albion on 8 December, and scored the first goal of the match courtesy of a glancing header from Dale Stephens' cross.[65] It turned out to be Wilson's last goal of the season, a campaign in which he made 32 appearances as Charlton finished in ninth position in the Championship, just three points behind the final play-off place.[66][67]

He made 49 appearances across the 2013–14 campaign as Charlton posted an 18th-place finish under new manager José Riga. He competed with Chris Solly and Joe Gomez at the start of the 2014–15 season, but speaking in November manager Bob Peeters dismissed reports that he was willing to allow Wilson to leave on loan.[68] Wilson joined Championship rivals Rotherham United on an emergency loan on 20 March 2015.[69] Manager Steve Evans hinted that the loan move would allow him to evaluate whether or not to sign Wilson permanently in the summer.[70] However, he played just three games for Rotherham in a brief stay at the New York Stadium.

Wilson signed for Bolton Wanderers on 5 August 2015, joining on a two-year deal.[71] Initially the club's first choice right-back, he was frozen out of the first team picture by manager Neil Lennon after putting in a poor performance during a 4–1 defeat at Huddersfield Town on 19 September.[72] On 2 January 2016, Wilson joined League One side Peterborough United on a one-month loan.[73] He said that re-uniting with former Stevenage manager Graham Westley was a factor in the move to the London Road Stadium.[74] Wilson played just four times for the "Posh", starting as a substitute in their game with Sheffield United, and made his final appearance in the 2–2 draw with West Bromwich Albion in the FA Cup.[75] He was recalled to the first team at the Macron Stadium by interim manager Jimmy Phillips for the final two games of the 2015–16 season following injuries to Oscar Threlkeld and Josh Vela and a suspension for Niall Maher.[76]

Wilson regained his first team place at Bolton following an injury to Lewis Buxton in September, and then established himself at right-back under manager Phil Parkinson, who he said had a "good approach" to management.[77] However, he was ruled out of action for 10 weeks with a hamstring injury he picked up during a 1–1 draw at Milton Keynes Dons on 4 February.[78] The "Trotters" went on to secure promotion at the end of the 2016–17 campaign, though Wilson was released after the club decided not to offer him a new contract.[79][80]

Following his departure from Bolton, Wilson signed a two-year contract with newly relegated League Two side Port Vale on 15 July 2017, after manager Michael Brown needed to replace departing right-back and club captain Ben Purkiss.[81] However, he was frozen out of the first-team picture under new manager Neil Aspin, and was not in the matchday squad despite suspensions for James Gibbons and injuries to Adam Yates and Joe Davis.[82]

Having not played for Port Vale in over three months, Wilson joined National League club Ebbsfleet United on 9 January 2018.[83] He was signed by manager Daryl McMahon, his former teammate at Stevenage.[84] He made his Ebbsfleet debut on the same day his signing was announced, playing the whole match in a 2–1 victory at Maidstone United.[85] He made 17 appearances for the club during the second half of the season, including playing twice in the National League play-offs as Ebbsfleet lost at the semi-final stage.[86][87]

He made two appearances for Ebbsfleet in the opening two months of the 2018–19 season.[88] He subsequently joined fellow National League club Maidstone United on a month-long loan in order to get game-time.[89] He made his Maidstone debut in a 1–0 away victory at Aldershot Town on 25 September 2018,[90] making four appearances during the loan spell.[88] Wilson returned to Ebbsfleet upon the expiry of his loan agreement with Maidstone, and went on to make 28 appearances throughout the season.[88] He made 21 appearances for the "Reds" in the 2019–20 season, which was permanently suspended on 26 March due to the COVID-19 pandemic in England, with Ebbsfleet in the relegation zone in 21st-place.[91] Wilson left Ebbsfleet on 29 June 2020, upon the expiry of his contract.[92]

On 4 August 2020, Wilson joined National League South side Billericay Town.[93]