Laurence Batty
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Laurence William Batty[1] | ||
Date of birth | 15 February 1964 | ||
Place of birth | Westminster, England[1] | ||
Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
Youth career | |||
1979–1982 | S.C. Farense | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1982–1983 | S.C. Farense | ||
1983–1984 | Maidenhead United | ||
1984–1991 | Fulham | 9 | (0) |
1987–1988 | → Crystal Palace (loan) | 0 | (0) |
1991 | → Brentford (loan) | 0 | (0) |
1991 | Brentford | 0 | (0) |
1991–2000 | Woking | 313 | (4) |
2000 | → Chesham United (loan) | ||
2000 | St Albans City | 10 | (0) |
Maidenhead United | |||
2001–2002 | Molesey | ||
2002–2003 | Walton & Hersham | ||
National team | |||
1993–1995 | England Semi-Pro | 4 | (0) |
Teams managed | |||
2003 | Walton & Hersham (player-manager) | ||
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only |
Laurence William Batty (born 15 February 1964), sometimes known as George Batty, is an English retired football goalkeeper who played in the Football League for Fulham.[2] He is best remembered for his nine years in the higher echelons of Non-League football with Woking, making over 420 appearances for the club and winning England Semi-Pro recognition at international level.[3] Later in his career, Batty player-managed Walton & Hersham and became a goalkeeping coach, most recently with Blackburn Rovers.[4]
Club career
S.C. Farense
A goalkeeper, Batty began his career in Portugal in the youth system at S.C. Farense.[5] He progressed to the first team squad for the 1982–83 Segunda Divisão season, but he failed to make an appearance and departed the club at the end of the campaign.[5]
Maidenhead United
Batty returned to England to sign for Isthmian League Division One side Maidenhead United in 1983.[5] He left the club at the end of the 1982–83 season.[5]
Fulham
Batty moved up to the Football League to sign for Division Two side Fulham in August 1984.[1] He managed just 9 appearances in a seven-year spell,[6] departing Craven Cottage in April 1991.
Crystal Palace (loan)
Batty joined Division Two side Crystal Palace on loan during the 1987–88 season, but failed to make an appearance.[5]
Brentford (loan and permanent signing)
Batty dropped down to Division Three to sign for Brentford on loan in February 1991, with Tony Parks going the other way on loan.[7] Two months later, he signed a contract until the end of the season.[1] He failed to receive a call into the first team squad and instead played for the reserves,[8] making five appearances before departing at the end of the 1990–91 season.[7]
Woking
Batty returned to Non-League football to sign for Isthmian League Division One side Woking in the summer of 1991.[3] He was an ever-present in the league in his first season and collected the first silverware of his career with the Division One title, which the Cards won at a canter.[3][5] Rarely for a goalkeeper, Batty also scored four goals during the season, three penalties and one from open play in a match versus Wivenhoe Town.[9] His performances also won him the club's Player of the Year award.[3] Playing in the Conference for the 1992–93 season, Batty made 39 appearances as the Cards consolidated their position with an eighth-place finish.[5][10] He continued to be a first team regular over the following three seasons, in which Woking challenged for promotion to the Football League with a third-place and two runners-up finishes in the Conference.[10] Despite frustration in the league, Batty won four cups during those three seasons, collecting two FA Trophies and two Surrey Senior Cups.[3]
Batty made 32 appearances during the 1996–97 season, an eventful campaign in which he missed six weeks with a fractured hand,[11] won his third FA Trophy and helped the Cards take Premiership side Coventry City to a replay in the third round of the FA Cup.[12][13] After his third FA Trophy win, he said "the first one is the most special but I was delighted to keep a clean sheet for the first time at Wembley".[14] Batty also netted another goal during the season.[15] As a recognition of Batty's continued service, he was awarded a testimonial versus former club Fulham in August 1999.[16] Batty continued to play on until the end of the 1999–00 season, having seen his appearance-count diminish over the previous two seasons with the emergence of young understudy Darryl Flahavan.[5][17] In the summer of 2000, Batty stalled over signing a new one-year contract and was then released by manager Colin Lippiatt in a summer clearout.[3] Batty made 422 appearances and scored five goals during his nine years with Woking.[3]
Chesham United (loan)
Batty joined high-flying Isthmian League Premier Division side Chesham United on loan in March 2000.[18]
St Albans City
Batty signed at two-year deal at Isthmian League Premier Division side St Albans City in July 2000.[19] He made 12 appearances for the club during the early part of the 2000–01 season, his final outing coming in a 0–0 FA Cup second qualifying round draw with Baldock Town on 30 September.[20] Batty was transfer-listed the following month.[21]
Return to Maidenhead United
Batty returned to Maidenhead United for a spell during the 2000–01 season.[5]
Molesey
Batty joined Isthmian League Division Two club Molesey towards the end of the 2000–01 season. He was transfer-listed in February 2002.[22]
Walton & Hersham
Batty signed for Isthmian League Division One side Walton & Hersham in March 2002.[23] He departed the club in December 2003 and retired from playing.
International career
Batty's good form while with Woking saw him win caps for England Semi-Pro at international level.
Managerial career
Molesey
While with Molesey, Batty combined his playing duties with that of the assistant manager's role.[24]
Walton and Hersham
After the sacking of Matt Alexander in December 2002, Batty was named as caretaker manager.[23] He accepted the manager's job on a full-time basis in January 2003, before being sacked in December that year.[25]
Coaching career
Batty has held goalkeeper coaching roles at Woking, Fulham (first team, academy and ladies),[16] Chelsea (youth team and academy) and Brentford.[26] He has a link with manager Paul Lambert, having served as first team goalkeeping coach under Lambert at Wycombe Wanderers, Norwich City and most recently Blackburn Rovers.[27][28] He holds FA Level 3 and UEFA B coaching badges.[27] He co-founded BedHead FC and the Guy Mascolo Football Charity.[27][29]
Personal life
Batty is the son of songwriter Steve Wolfe.[30] He moved with his parents to Portugal as a teenager.[9] Batty had a role in the 1992 BBC Screen One episode Born Kicking, playing the part of the goalkeeper.[31]
Honours
As a player
- Isthmian League Division One (1): 1991–92[3]
- FA Trophy (3): 1993–94, 1994–95, 1996–97[13]
- Surrey Senior Cup (3): 1993–94, 1995–96, 1999–00
As an individual
- Woking Player of the Year (1): 1991–92[3]
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Barry Hugman's Footballers – Laurence Batty". hugmansfootballers.com. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
- ↑ Fulham FC : Laurence Batty – Fulham FC Player Profile
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Shocked Batty given his Cards". getsurrey. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ↑ Williams, Mike; Williams, Tony, eds. (2013). Non-League Club Directory 2014. Tony Williams Publications. p. 1006. ISBN 978-1-869833-72-5.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "ForaDeJogo.net – Laurence Batty (Laurence William Batty)". ForaDeJogo. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ↑ "Laurence Batty". Fulhamweb. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- 1 2 Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2013). The Big Brentford Book Of The Nineties. Sunbury, Middlesex: Legends Publishing. pp. 44–46. ISBN 9781906796723.
- ↑ Croxford, Lane & Waterman 2013, p. 500.
- 1 2 Brentford Official Matchday Magazine versus Exeter City 01/05/99. Blackheath: Morganprint. 1999. p. 19.
- 1 2 "Football Club History Database – Woking". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ↑ "Soccer Vauxhall Conference: Winning Rovers return for bench-sore Ellis and Wye". getsurrey. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ↑ "Woking Football Club – History". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- 1 2 White, Alex (2012). The Fulham F.C. Miscellany. London: The History Press. ISBN 978-0752465265.
- ↑ "Soccer: How was it for you?". getsurrey. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ↑ "Woking Football Club – History – A Season To Remember – Page Four". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- 1 2 "Batty's raring to go". getsurrey. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ↑ "Latest News And Gossip". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ↑ "Soccer: Chesham KO Gulls' unbeaten run". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ↑ "Wye winging way back". getsurrey. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ↑ "St Albans City F.C. Statistics". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ↑ "Lippiatt facing up to game of finders-keepers". getsurrey. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ↑ "SEASON 2001–2002 NO: 30 – 3rd MARCH 2002" (PDF).
- 1 2 "Swans in hands of new manager ex-goalkeeper Batty". getsurrey. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ↑ "Sports Round-Up". Telegraph.co.uk. 15 April 2001. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ↑ "Woking dare not lose six-pointer – Chobham News and Mail Online". Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ↑ "Coaching duo move to Wycombe". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- 1 2 3 "Laurence Batty – Bed Head FC". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ↑ sport, Guardian. "Blackburn Rovers appoint Paul Lambert as new manager". the Guardian. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
- ↑ "Guy Mascolo Football Charity". guymascolofc.co.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
- ↑ "Six Degrees of Chelsea Separation!". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ↑ Laurence Batty – IMDb
External links
- Laurence Batty at Soccerbase