World Cup Swans: Dennis Lawrence

As the 2018 World Cup draws closer, the official website takes a look back at the players who have turned out for the Swans and played on the biggest stage of all.

Today, we focus on Dennis Lawrence. 

At 6ft 7in tall, Dennis Lawrence is one of the most imposing players ever to have graced the Liberty Stadium.
 
The towering centre-back had a long spell at Wrexham before spending three years with the Swans, before returning home to Trinidad & Tobago to see out his playing days at San Juan Jabloteh.
 
He also earned 89 caps at international level – the seventh-highest tally in the Soca Warriors’ history – scoring five goals, and returned to the national side as manager in January 2017.

 
AT THE SWANS

The Morvant-born defender joined the Swans from fellow Welsh side Wrexham for an undisclosed fee in August 2006.
 
Initially signed as cover for injured skipper Garry Monk, Lawrence marked his debut with a man-of-the-match performance in the 2-0 win over Doncaster Rovers at the Liberty.
 
He went on to establish himself as a regular in the heart of the Swans defence, and featured prominently during the League One title-winning campaign of 2007-08.
 
Overall, he played 93 times for the Swans in all competitions, scoring seven goals.

 
AT THE WORLD CUP

Lawrence wrote his name into Trinidad’s history books by scoring the goal that beat Bahrain in the play-offs to secure their first and, to date, only appearance at the finals in 2006.
 
He was then named in Leo Beenhakker’s 23-man squad and opened the tournament in Germany with a clean sheet in his country’s hard-earned 0-0 draw with Sweden.
 
He also featured as the conceded twice in the last seven minutes of their 2-0 defeat against England, before going down by the same scoreline against Paraguay in their final match in Group B.