Jamie Lawrence is a former professional football player having made 70 appearances in the Premier League. He played as a right winger for Sunderland, Doncaster Rovers, Leicester City, Bradford City, Walsall, & Wigan Athletic. He also has 24 caps for the Jamaican National team. His route to professional football was very different to many others, having led a very troubled lifestyle as a teenager with a period of time in prison. He then went onto play for teams in the lower pyramid on his release and build his career in the game.

Jamie now has developed his own academy where he takes young players who have been released from professional clubs at the age of 16 years old. He helps them develop by coaching them on the pitch and helps with their physical conditioning required for senior football. Another aspect Jamie goes onto speak about is improving young players attitude and work ethic which he believes is missing in a lot of young players he meets. He is also a big believer in teaching life skills and holds time management in high regard. Jamie’s academy has now been going for the past 10 years and recently one of the players he supported Zavon Hines made the move back into professional football with Chesterfield.

On this interview, Robin Shroot features who is another one of Jamie’s players he has worked with. Robin was released by Wimbledon and then went onto play for clubs such as Birmingham City, Walsall, Burton Albion, Cheltenham Town. He has had a period of time in Norway and now currently plays for Nashville in America.