Henry Lawrence

AFC Wimbledon

  • Date of birth

    21 September 2001

  • Birthplace

    London, England

  • Position

    Defender

Henry Lawrence signed as an Under-9 having progressed through our development centre programme.

Academy years

Both he and his family are big Chelsea fans and he has been deployed in a variety of positions throughout his schoolboy years, though he was predominantly a central midfield player. He signed his scholarship deal in July 2018.

Lawrence made 21 appearances throughout the 2018/19 season as his versatility in midfield and defence proved particularly useful to Andy Myers's side. He found the net three times, most notably to secure a last-minute victory at Brighton in October. He also made his Under-19s debut in the UEFA Youth League against Monaco.

He made his England youth international bow at Under-19 level against Belgium in October 2019 and he scored on his debut as the Young Lions won 4-2 in the Marbella International Cup. Less than a week later, Lawrence signed his first professional contract with Chelsea after a string of impressive performances in his now favoured right-back position.

Lawrence made his development squad debut at the start of the 2019/20 season and was an ever-present since scoring his first goal at that level in a 2-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion at Stamford Bridge. He featured 30 times in various positions for the Academy during that campaign and scored five goals.

READ: TEENAGE KICKS - HENRY LAWRENCE

In November 2020 the 19-year-old signed his latest Chelsea contract keeping him at the club until the summer of 2023, and month earlier he made his debut for England U20s. 

He was a development squad team regular at the start of 2020/21 making 13 appearances in a variety of positions at the midpoint and scoring the winning goal over Leicester at Kingsmeadow. A injury-hit second half of the season meant Lawrence would only make a further six outings for Andy Myers' side - in total, he scored four goals including a brace on the last day of the season away at Blackburn Rovers.

On loan

At the start of the 2021/22 campaign, Lawrence headed out for his first loan - to League One AFC Wimbledon.