Mark Lawrenson
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Mark Lawrenson (born Preston, England, June 2, 1957) was an elegant defender in the all-conquering Liverpool football team of the 1980s, who later became a successful pundit for the BBC.
Lawrenson began his career with his hometown club, Preston North End, before moving on to Brighton & Hove Albion where his form earned him a call-up to the Republic of Ireland squad, winning the first of 39 caps.
Liverpool then came in with a club transfer record offer of 900,000 pounds and Lawrenson joined in the summer of 1981, forming a watertight central defensive partnership with Alan Hansen, although he was also used frequently (and with equal aptitude) at full back or in midfield.
In his first season, Lawrenson won the League championship and the League Cup, retaining the latter for another two years and adding another League title and the club's fourth and final European Cup in 1984.
Lawrenson and Hansen had become renowned as the best central defensive partnership in English football by the time Liverpool clinched the League and FA Cup "double" in 1986. Lawrenson's timing in the tackle was also feted by football observers. The partnership continued for one more season before Lawrenson, already out through a different but minor injury, suffered Achilles tendon damage in 1988 which prematurely ended his career. He earned a fifth and final title medal when that season ended. His Liverpool career ended after 332 appearances and 17 goals - one of which was the "forgotten fifth" in a 5-0 victory over old enemy Everton in November 1982 in which Ian Rush took all the headlines by scoring four.
He managed Oxford United afterwards but resigned on principle after star striker Dean Saunders was sold by the board of directors without Lawrenson's blessing.
Lawrenson began doing punditry for the BBC but then left briefly to become a coach specialising in defensive tactics for Kevin Keegan at Newcastle United. This position did not last long, and he has since been established as one of the leading speakers on the game on BBC television and radio coverage, often finding himself sitting alongside his former playing partner Hansen.