Matt Lawlor
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 20 August 1988 | ||
| Place of birth | Poulton-le-Fylde, England | ||
| Positions | |||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Fleetwood Town | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Farsley Celtic | |||
| 2012–2021 | Bamber Bridge | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 2023 | Fleetwood Town (caretaker) | ||
| 2024 | Fleetwood Town (caretaker) | ||
| 2025 | Waterford (caretaker) | ||
| 2025 | Waterford (interim) | ||
| 2026– | Fleetwood Town | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Matthew Lawlor (born 20 August 1988) is an English football manager and former player. He is the current manager of EFL League Two club Fleetwood Town.
As a player, he played as high as the Conference National for Farsley Celtic. As a coach, he held numerous roles at Fleetwood and League of Ireland Premier Division partner club Waterford, including several spells as caretaker manager of both.
Career
[edit]Born in Poulton-le-Fylde in Lancashire, Lawlor played as a midfielder and later centre back for Farsley Celtic in the Conference North and later Conference National (2007–08).[1] He then played for Bamber Bridge in the Northern Premier League for nine years, eventually as captain.[1]
Lawlor began coaching at age 26, working as a development coach for Manchester United in disadvantaged areas.[1] In 2019, he joined Fleetwood Town as a youth coach, and two years later as their head of coaching and player development.[1] He retired from playing in May 2021, aged 32, as he was unable to balance the commitment to Bamber Bridge with coaching Fleetwood's youths and raising his family.[2]
Lawlor became Fleetwood's under-21 manager in December 2022, and became caretaker manager of the first team for one match on 5 September 2023 after the departure of Scott Brown. His team won 2–0 at home against Tranmere Rovers in the group stage of the EFL Trophy.[1]
In April 2024, Lawlor moved to Fleetwood's partner club in the League of Ireland Premier Division, Waterford, as assistant manager to Keith Long.[3] He returned to Fleetwood as under-21 manager in November that year, and after the dismissal of Charlie Adam, he was caretaker again on 26 December for a 2–0 home win over Chesterfield.[4]
Lawlor went back to Waterford in April 2025 as caretaker manager between the tenures of Long and John Coleman, winning three games out of four.[3] After a return to Fleetwood as an individual coach, he went back to being in interim charge of Waterford for the final four games of the season,[3] plus a 2–1 win over Bray Wanderers in the promotion/relegation playoffs on 7 November.[5]
Having returned to Fleetwood as part of Pete Wild's coaching staff, Lawlor succeeded him on an interim basis on 26 January 2026, until the end of the season.[6] Then in March 2026, Lawlor was made the permanent head coach of Fleetwood, signing a contract until the end of the 2027-28 season following a successful interim spell in charge. [7]
Managerial statistics
[edit]- As of match played 2 May 2026
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Fleetwood Town (caretaker) | 3 September 2023 | 10 September 2023 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Fleetwood Town (caretaker) | 22 December 2024 | 26 December 2024 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Waterford (caretaker) | 20 April 2025 | 6 May 2025 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 75.00 |
| Waterford (caretaker) | 28 September 2025 | 7 November 2025 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 40.00 |
| Fleetwood Town | 26 January 2026 | Present | 20 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 30.00 |
| Total | 31 | 13 | 11 | 7 | 41.94 | ||
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 Murphy, Shane. "Laying Down The Law". TheBlues.ie. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
- ↑ Salmon, Craig (6 May 2021). "Thanks for the memories skip! Former captain and stalwart defender Matt Lawlor looks back on his time with Bamber Bridge". Lancashire Post. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
- 1 2 3 O'Connor, Séan (28 September 2025). "Waterford re-appoint Matt Lawlor as interim manager after sacking of John Coleman". The Irish Independent. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
- ↑ "Fleetwood Town 2-0 Chesterfield". BBC Sport. 26 December 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
- ↑ "In Matt we trusted - Leadership from Lawlor key to survival". Waterford News & Star. 12 November 2025. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
- ↑ "Fleetwood hand Lawlor interim role to end of season". BBC Sport. 26 January 2026. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
- ↑ "Matt Lawlor signs permanent deal as Town Head Coach". Fleetwood Town Football Club. 17 March 2026. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
- 1988 births
- Living people
- Footballers from Lancashire
- People from Poulton-le-Fylde
- English men's footballers
- Men's association football midfielders
- Men's association football central defenders
- Farsley Celtic F.C. players
- Bamber Bridge F.C. players
- National League (English football) players
- Northern Premier League players
- English football managers
- Fleetwood Town F.C. non-playing staff
- Fleetwood Town F.C. managers
- Waterford F.C. managers
- English Football League managers
- League of Ireland managers
- English expatriate football managers
- Expatriate association football managers in the Republic of Ireland
- English expatriate sportspeople in Ireland
