Lawrence kicking on his career

The former City scrapper, still regarded with much affection by Valley Parade fans for his whole-hearted approach to the game, is ready to try his hand at the contact sport.

Lawrence steps into the ring for the first time at the Cockerton Band and Music Institute in Darlington a week on Saturday.

"I won't know who I'm fighting yet until the night," he grinned. "It's an amateur show so I'll probably be up against some big geezer who walks in off the street.

"But it's something I've always wanted to do and I love that sort of challenge. I'm doing it for fun at the moment but you never know if I get on all right."

Lawrence was often in the gym as a youngster with the gloves on but only got into kick-boxing during his spell at Walsall after leaving City. Now it is a regular part of his daily routine.

He explained: "I've been doing it seriously for about three months now. I'm in the gym five days a week, I do kick-boxing in the morning and then my football.

"I also do a lot of padwork and training with boxers, working on fitness and weights. You always have to challenge yourself in life and it keeps me on the straight and narrow."

A year younger than Dean Windass at 37, Lawrence has been playing and coaching with Worthing in the Ryman League - the southern equivalent of the UniBond.

He is now looking increasingly towards a dug-out role and is currently taking his level three UEFA B coaching badge.

Lawrence said: "I can manage officially after that. I'm hopeful of getting on the ladder and trying to be fast-tracked through the system. In the long run, management is something I'm looking to do.

"People know my team would be passionate and trying to play the right way. Fans want to see passing football and none of this kicking the ball long and lumping it into the corners."

So would Lawrence fancy a crack at the Valley Parade hot-seat one day? He certainly retains a close interest in his former club and is desperate to see old pal Stuart McCall revive their fortunes in League Two.

Lawrence believes the crux of City's downfall last season was the use of too many loan players.

"Bradford had no stability at all and if you're always changing the side around, you can't expect to get that," he said.

"You need to get to know how your fellow team-mates play - what's their strengths and weakness, do they like the ball in behind or prefer it to their feet - little things like that which you learn over time.

"With that many players coming in, you don't get know their style. Everyone needs that settling-in period and after a month or so you can start to make your mind up about people.

"It's the same at every level. Look at Drogba at Chelsea. People wrote him off at first and now he's one of the best strikers in the world - but nobody was saying that a year ago because it took time for him to adapt to the system.

"If you've got loan players coming and going all the time, they haven't got that opportunity to get used to the team or their team-mates."

Lawrence is equally passionate about his community work, whether it's dealing with problem schools or visiting prisons to offer advice to inmates.

June 29 sees the launch of the Jamie Lawrence football academy in South London - a long way from his chequered past in the area. It may not rival the David Beckham version for glitz and glamour but Lawrence is immensely proud of the venture.

"It's part of the mentoring I do with youngsters, passing on life skills as well as the football," he said.

"Sport is a way of teaching people about discipline. You can have conversations with them through playing games. If they aren't behaving, you take that away and it hurts. It can be a very powerful way of getting through.

"I'm really excited about the launch of the academy. It's taking off so much and it won't be long before I earn more from that than I ever did in football."

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