 Born in Glasgow, Lawrence's first club was Partick Athletic, from where he moved to Glasgow Perthshire.Although still connected to Glasgow Perthshire, he played three matches in 1904 for Edinburgh side Hibernian when their regular custodian Harry Rennie was unavailable.He played with Newcastle for eighteen years after joining the Tyneside club in 1904 and still holds the record for making the most appearances for them - 432 league appearances, 496 matches in total.