Remembering Johnny Lawrenson

It’s Our Heritage by Keith Sutch

John Lawrenson – Heritage Number 413

John Lawrenson more commonly known as Johnny was born on 29th March 1921.

Lawrenson was a centre three-quarter and first attracted the attention of the Wigan scouts whilst playing schoolboy football and signed for Wigan RLFC on 18th October 1938 from Wigan Old Boys RUFC for a fee of £100.

Wigan Old Boys RUFC – up to season 1960-61 – supplied eight players who eventually appeared in the Wigan first team. Lawrenson along with Gordon Ratcliffe became the most distinguished and successful of them all.

Lawrenson, like many others before him, established his skills in the Wigan A team and made his first team debut on 10^th December 1938 v Leigh at Central Park, playing in the centre position. Wigan won the game by a score of 25 points to 4.

His playing career at Wigan spanned some ten seasons and he confirmed his potential and the faith Wigan had in him when he became an international player at the age of 18, representing England against Wales at Odsal, Bradford.

This was the start of Lawrenson’s international career as he later went on to play three matches for Great Britain in the test series v Australia in 1948-49. Great Britain won the series 3-0, as Lawrenson scored two tries in the second test at Station Road, Swinton. 

Along with his England and Great Britain appearances, Lawrenson had two outings with the Other Nationalities side whilst at Workington.

He was a member of the losing team for the 1944 wartime Challenge Cup final v Bradford Northern which was then played over two legs, Wigan losing 8-3 on aggregate.

Lawrenson missed the entire 1945-46 season due to his military service in India and his untimely absence for a full season most probably contributed to the fact he was not selected for the 1946 tour.

However, the following season 1946-47 he regained his place in the first team and enjoyed success with the Club – winning the Championship Play-Off defeating Dewsbury 13-4 at Maine Road, Manchester in which he scored a try. Earlier in the season, Wigan won the Lancashire Cup with a 9-3 win over Belle Vue Rangers at Station Road, Swinton with Lawrenson scoring three goals.

He added to his medal collection with further triumphs in the Lancashire Cup in 1948, another Championship Final Play-Off in 1944 again over two legs, beating Dewsbury 25-14 on aggregate and two Lancashire League titles.

Lawrenson’s final two seasons with Wigan proved difficult which, perhaps wasn’t helped due to injuries that saw him omitted from two finals the 1947 Lancashire Cup and 1948 Challenge Cup. 

He played his last game for Wigan at Central Park in the Championship Semi-Final Play-Off against Huddersfield, losing the game 5 points to 14 on 30th April 1949. 

Lawrenson’s returned 187 tries in 219 matches overall at Wigan and he achieved the feat of scoring three or more tries for Wigan on 14 occasions, with his best single return of five tries against Halifax on 20th March 1948.

After stints with Working and Swinton between 1949 and 1953, Lawrenson called time on his career and returned to Wigan as a trained physiotherapist under the coaching know-how of the legendary Jim Sullivan.

Lawrenson took over as caretaker coach of the Club alongside Eric Ashton when Jim Sullivan was struck down with illness in 1961, taking charge for nine matches he won seven and lost two – eventually handing over the reins to Griff Jenkins in November 1961.

Lawrenson was a great and loyal servant to the Wigan Club – both on and off the field – and was given the ultimate recognition, becoming a life member of the Club.

He died on 28th March 2010, one day before his 89th birthday.