TOWN FACES: DAVE LAWSON (v Hendon 10/1/15)
This week we feature our physio Dave Lawson. Dave may be a familiar face to some people of a
certain age (! as he was also physio at Enfield FC. We caught up with him over the New Year period…
Dave, when and how did you join Enfield Town?
I joined in August/September time, having been at Welling United for about five years. To be honest
the travelling to and from my home in Grays was getting a bit much and, although I had taken calls
from a couple of clubs, I had worked with George before and knew Brad so I was delighted to join.
You have done sterling service at a number of clubs, could you elaborate a bit on your experience
elsewhere?
I started off at Grays Athletic, working for the club when the Saxton twins, Jeff and Fred, were joint
managers. I had qualified as a physio at the same time as the then Wimbledon physio Steve Allen.
While I was at Grays, about a year later, I also did some part-time work for Wimbledon’s Reserve
team as well – Joe Kinnear was the reserve team manager at the time. He of course went on to
manage the first team following Peter Withe's departure in January 1992. Terry Burton was reserve
team coach at the time, having joined after a spell at Wealdstone. Earlier this year Terry was
appointed as Technical Director at West Bromwich Albion. He had previously also been their first
team coach.
I then went on to work at Notts County with Neil Warnock, living in club accommodation in the
Nottingham area. I was at Notts County for about three years. But the rest of the family were living
in Essex and not seeing me all that often! After my spell at Meadow Lane, I went back to Grays in
the mid 1990s to work with Gary Calder. When Gary moved to Enfield in 1997 for a two-year spell, I
went to Southbury Road with him, and then on to Billericay for a further year when Gary moved on.
In more recent years, I had five years at Gravesend and Northfleet, working with Andy Ford when he
was manager between around 2000 and 2005. But when Liam Daish took over he wanted to go full
time, and that wouldn’t have suited me. So I joined Welling United, knowing Adie Pennock quite
well, and moving to Park View Road when he was installed as manager there. I left Welling in June
last year, having also worked under Neil Smith, Andy Ford (again) and Jamie Day. The travelling in
Conference National is quite onerous, and I am not getting any younger!
What memories do you have of the old Enfield FC?
My stand-out memory would probably be the two FA Cup First Round games against York City in
November 1998. In the first game, having gone two goals down, and pulling it back to 2-2 through
Richard Dunwell and John Richardson, we were quite unlucky to have a winner ruled out for offside,
when video replays showed the goal should have stood. We lost the replay 1-2, but the memories of
the first game in particular are still quite vivid.
Tell us a bit about your Middlesex Wanderers work and how you got involved
I had a phone call from Eddie McCluskey in 1999 when he became Middlesex Wanderers manager,
and I have loved every minute of my involvement since then. The travel has been superb. I have
been on tour with the Wanderers to India, Gambia, Botswana (twice!), Tanzania, Indonesia,
Vietnam, Japan (on their centenary tour), and in Japan we played at many of the venues for the 2002
World Cup, which was great.
How do you rate the facilities here?
I am delighted to have my own medical room and would rate the facilities here as good as, if not
better than, many clubs at the same level and above. On match days we are always very well
prepared. We have access to all the equipment we are ever likely to need, including a defibrillator.
The St John’s Ambulance guys are also very well prepared on matchdays and, although their main
focus is of course spectators, I speak to them regularly and they would always be on hand to help
out on the pitch as well if required.
Are there many “opposite numbers” currently in the Ryman Premier that you know reasonably
well?
Not that many; people move on of course (or retire!) I know Paul Smith at Maidstone very well.
We are led to believe that it’s not just Town’s players that you treat?!
Well, our Chairman Paul Reed has had some recent treatment on an achilles problem. He hasn’t
asked me for more so I assume it’s either ok now or he will never ever visit me again! I told Paul he
was not unique as, while I nwas at Notts County, I had also helped a Chairman - Derek Pavis - when
he had a knee replacement.
Finally, can you confirm the rumours about your musical heritage?!
Well, it was a long time ago! I used to be in a group called Almond Marzipan back in the 1960s. We
took over as Long John Baldry’s backing band, which had previously been Bluesology (including a
very young Elton John!) and we did our first gig backing him in about 1968. Birmingham I recall!
I sang and strummed guitar a bit, and got to introduce “LJB” when he came on after we had done
our bit on our own. We released a couple of singles, our most “famous” probably being “Open Up
Your Heart/Summer Love” in 1970. If you Google it, you’ll find it on YouTube! “Summer Love” is
also on a compilation CD called Tea and Symphony, released in 2007. I of course realise that to
people below a certain age, this is all complete gobbledigook! I’d better get back to the football
now…..…….