Laurence Batty

Laurence Batty
Personal information
Full name Laurence William Batty[1]
Date of birth (1964-02-15) 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 England Semi-Pro 4 (0)
Teams managed
2003 Walton & Hersham (player-manager)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Laurence Batty, sometimes known as George Batty, is a retired English 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.

Club career

S.C. Farense

A goalkeeper, Batty began his career in Portugal in the youth system at S.C. Farense.[4] 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.[4]

Maidenhead United

Batty returned to England to sign for Isthmian League Division One side Maidenhead United in 1983.[4] He left the club at the end of the 1982/83 season.[4]

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,[5] 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.[4]

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.[6] 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,[7] making five appearances before departing at the end of the 1990/91 season.[6]

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][4] 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.[8] 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.[4][9] 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.[9] 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,[10] 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.[11][12] 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".[13] Batty also netted another goal during the season.[14] As a recognition of Batty's continued service, he was awarded a testimonial versus former club Fulham in August 1999.[15] 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.[4][16] 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.[17]

St Albans City

Batty signed at two-year deal at Isthmian League Premier Division side St Albans City in July 2000.[18] 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.[19] Batty was transfer-listed the following month.[20]

Return to Maidenhead United

Batty returned to Maidenhead United for a spell during the 2000/01 season.[4]

Molesey

Batty joined Isthmian League Division Two club Molesey towards the end of the 2000/01 season. He was transfer-listed in February 2002.[21]

Walton & Hersham

Batty signed for Isthmian League Division One side Walton & Hersham in March 2002.[22] 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.[23]

Walton and Hersham

After the sacking of Matt Alexander in December 2002, Batty was named as caretaker manager.[22] He accepted the manager's job on a full-time basis in January 2003, before being sacked in December that year.[24]

Coaching career

Batty has held goalkeeper coaching roles at Woking, Fulham (first team, academy and ladies),[15] Chelsea (youth team and academy) and Brentford.[25] 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.[26][27] He holds FA Level 3 and UEFA B coaching badges.[26] He co-founded BedHead FC and the Guy Mascolo Football Charity.[26][28]

Personal life

Batty is the son of songwriter Steve Wolfe.[29] He moved with his parents to Portugal as a teenager.[8] Batty had a role in the 1992 BBC Screen One episode Born Kicking, playing the part of the goalkeeper.[30]

Honours

As a player

Woking

As an individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Barry Hugman's Footballers - Laurence Batty". hugmansfootballers.com. Retrieved 2015-06-25.
  2. ↑ Fulham FC : Laurence Batty - Fulham FC Player Profile
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Shocked Batty given his Cards". getsurrey. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "ForaDeJogo.net – Laurence Batty (Laurence William Batty)". ForaDeJogo. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  5. ↑ "Laurence Batty". Fulhamweb. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
  6. 1 2 Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2013). The Big Brentford Book Of The Nineties. Sunbury, Middlesex: Legends Publishing. p. 44-46. ISBN 9781906796723.
  7. ↑ Croxford, Lane & Waterman 2013, p. 500.
  8. 1 2 Brentford Official Matchday Magazine versus Exeter City 01/05/99. Blackheath: Morganprint. 1999. p. 19.
  9. 1 2 "Football Club History Database – Woking". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  10. ↑ "Soccer Vauxhall Conference: Winning Rovers return for bench-sore Ellis and Wye". getsurrey. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  11. ↑ "Woking Football Club – History". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  12. 1 2 White, Alex (2012). The Fulham F.C. Miscellany. London: The History Press. ISBN 978-0752465265.
  13. ↑ "Soccer: How was it for you?". getsurrey. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  14. ↑ "Woking Football Club – History – A Season To Remember – Page Four". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  15. 1 2 "Batty's raring to go". getsurrey. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  16. ↑ "Latest News And Gossip". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  17. ↑ "Soccer: Chesham KO Gulls' unbeaten run". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  18. ↑ "Wye winging way back". getsurrey. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  19. ↑ "Basingstoke Town FC Online – The Original 100% Unofficial BTFC Fan Site". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  20. ↑ "Lippiatt facing up to game of finders-keepers". getsurrey. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  21. ↑ http://www.thedarts.eu/2001-2002/bulletin30.pdf
  22. 1 2 "Swans in hands of new manager ex-goalkeeper Batty". getsurrey. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  23. ↑ "Sports Round-Up". Telegraph.co.uk. 15 April 2001. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  24. ↑ "Woking dare not lose six-pointer – Chobham News and Mail Online". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  25. ↑ "Coaching duo move to Wycombe". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  26. 1 2 3 "Laurence Batty – Bed Head FC". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  27. ↑ sport, Guardian. "Blackburn Rovers appoint Paul Lambert as new manager". the Guardian. Retrieved 2015-11-15.
  28. ↑ "Guy Mascolo Football Charity". guymascolofc.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-06-25.
  29. ↑ "Six Degrees of Chelsea Separation!". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  30. ↑ Laurence Batty - IMDb
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