Laurence Batty

Laurence William Batty (born 15 February 1964), sometimes known as George Batty, is an English retired football goalkeeper, best remembered for his 9 years in the higher echelons of non-League football with Woking, for whom he made over 500 appearances.[2] He was capped by England at Semi-Pro level.[2] Later in his career, Batty player-managed Walton & Hersham and became a goalkeeping coach.[3]

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(s) 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
1993–1995 England Semi-Pro 4 (0)
Teams managed
2003 Walton & Hersham (player-manager)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Early years

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 returned to England to sign for Isthmian League First Division club 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 Second Division club Fulham in August 1984.[1] He made just 12 appearances in a seven-year spell and spent time away on loan at Crystal Palace,[5] before departing Craven Cottage in April 1991.[1]

Brentford (loan and permanent transfer)

Batty dropped down to the Third Division to sign for Brentford on loan in February 1991, with Tony Parks moving 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 First Division club Woking during the 1991 off-season.[8] He was an ever-present in the league in his first season and collected the first silverware of his career with the First Division title, which the Cards won at a canter.[8][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.[9] His performances also won him the club's Player of the Year award.[8] 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][10] 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.[10] Despite frustration in the league, Batty won four cups during those three seasons, collecting two FA Trophies and two Surrey Senior Cups.[8]

Batty made 32 appearances during the 1996–97 season, an eventful campaign in which he missed six weeks with a fractured hand,[11] won his third FA Trophy and helped the Cards take Premiership club Coventry City to a replay in the third round of the FA Cup.[12][13] 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".[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.[8] Batty made over 500 appearances and scored five goals during his 9 years with Woking.[2][8]

Later years

Batty finished his career with spells at Isthmian League clubs Chesham United, St Albans City, Molesey, Walton & Hersham and a second spell with Maidenhead United.[4][17][18][19][20]

International career

Batty's good form while with Woking saw him capped by England Semi-Pro at international level.[21]

Managerial career

Molesey

While with Molesey, Batty combined his playing duties with that of the assistant manager's role.[22]

Walton and Hersham

After the sacking of Matt Alexander in December 2002, Batty was named as caretaker manager.[20] He accepted the manager's job on a full-time basis in January 2003, before being sacked in December that year.[23]

Coaching career

Batty has held goalkeeper coaching roles at Woking, Fulham (first team, academy and ladies),[15] Chelsea (youth team and academy) and Brentford.[24] 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.[25][26] He holds FA Level 3 and UEFA B coaching badges.[25] He co-founded BedHead FC and the Guy Mascolo Football Charity.[25][27]

Personal life

Batty is the son of songwriter Steve Wolfe.[28] He moved with his parents to Portugal as a teenager.[9] Batty had a role in the 1992 BBC Screen One episode Born Kicking and played the part of the goalkeeper.[29]

Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Fulham 1985–86[5] Second Division 2 0 0 0 0 0 ― 2 0
1986–87[5] Third Division 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
1988–89[5] 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
1989–90[5] 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
1990–91[5] 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 5 0
Total 9 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 12 0
St Albans City 2000–01[30] Isthmian League Premier Division 10 0 1 0 ― 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 12 0
Career total 19 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 24 0
  1. Appearance in Isthmian League Cup

Honours

Woking

Individual

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References
  1. "Laurence Batty". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  2. Youlton, Clive (24 January 2017). "Cards' legend Laurence Batty – an abrupt departure from Kingfield". getsurrey. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  3. Williams, Mike; Williams, Tony, eds. (2013). Non-League Club Directory 2014. Tony Williams Publications. p. 1006. ISBN 978-1-869833-72-5.
  4. "ForaDeJogo.net – Laurence Batty (Laurence William Batty)". ForaDeJogo. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  5. "Laurence Batty". Fulhamweb. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  6. Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2013). The Big Brentford Book Of The Nineties. Sunbury, Middlesex: Legends Publishing. pp. 44–46. ISBN 9781906796723.
  7. Croxford, Lane & Waterman 2013, p. 500.
  8. "Shocked Batty given his Cards". getsurrey. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  9. Brentford Official Matchday Magazine versus Exeter City. Blackheath: Morganprint. 1 May 1999. p. 19.
  10. Woking F.C. at the Football Club History Database
  11. "Soccer Vauxhall Conference: Winning Rovers return for bench-sore Ellis and Wye". getsurrey. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  12. "Woking Football Club – History". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  13. White, Alex (2012). The Fulham F.C. Miscellany. London: The History Press. ISBN 978-0752465265.
  14. "Soccer: How was it for you?". getsurrey. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  15. "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. "Season 2001–2002 No: 30 – 3rd March 2002" (PDF).
  20. "Swans in hands of new manager ex-goalkeeper Batty". getsurrey. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  21. Haynes, Graham (1998). A-Z of Bees – A Brentford Encyclopaedia. Harefield: Yore. p. 76. ISBN 1874427577. OCLC 39504068.
  22. "Sports Round-Up". Telegraph.co.uk. 15 April 2001. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  23. "Woking dare not lose six-pointer – Chobham News and Mail Online". Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  24. "Coaching duo move to Wycombe". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  25. "Laurence Batty – Bed Head FC". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  26. sport, Guardian. "Blackburn Rovers appoint Paul Lambert as new manager". the Guardian. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  27. "Guy Mascolo Football Charity". guymascolofc.co.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  28. "Six Degrees of Chelsea Separation!". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  29. Laurence Batty – IMDb
  30. "St Albans City F.C. Statistics". www.saintsstatistics.co.uk. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
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