Joe Laidlaw

Joe Laidlaw

Personal information
Full name	Joseph Daniel Laidlaw
Date of birth	12 July 1950
Place of birth	Whickham, England
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
1965–1967	Middlesbrough
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1967–1972	Middlesbrough	109	(20)
1972–1976	Carlisle	151	(44)
1976–1979	Doncaster Rovers	128	(27)
1979–1980	Portsmouth	60	(19)
1980–1982	Hereford United	62	(8)
1982	Mansfield Town	4	(0)
Teams managed
	Fareham Town
	Chichester
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Joe Laidlaw (born 12 July 1950) was a combative^[1] midfielder who played for six English league clubs over a 15-year period spanning three decades.

He was one of that generation who bridged the gap between terminological eras, beginning his career as a wing-half and ending it as a midfielder^[2] despite playing a similar role throughout.^[3] He was born in Whickham and started playing locally for Swalwell^[4] before becoming an apprentice at Middlesbrough.^[5] He signed his first professional contract in August 1967 and went on to make over 100 appearances for the club. In July 1972 he moved on to begin a four-year stint with Carlisle^[6] before a three-year spell with Billy Bremner’s Doncaster Rovers. In June 1979 he moved to Portsmouth for a fee of 15,000 GBP.^[7] Appointed club captain he quickly became a firm favourite with the Fratton Faithful. In a memorable roller-coaster first season he led Pompey to promotion, this being achieved on the last day of the season after the club beat Northampton 2–0 and Bradford lost 1–0 to Peterborough. The following December Laidlaw was sold to Hereford for 15,000GBP, his last match having been a 1–0 defeat at Barnsley the preceding month.^[8] Laidlaw played a further 62 league games for The Bulls scoring 8 goals^[9] before ending his career with a very brief spell at Mansfield. After his professional career ended he returned to the south coast to live, and played for Waterlooville before then managing Fareham Town^[10] and Chichester City United F.C.

References

1. Joe.htm Character profile
2. As football moved from 1–2–3–5 to 1-4-3-3/1–4–2–4
3. "Every team needs a Joe Laidlaw- a tough battler to win the ball all over the park and keep everyone up to their job"- Portsmouth manager Frank Burrows quoted in The News, 10 March 1980, article by Mike Neasom “Laidlaw fit for Stockport clash”
4. Pre-League Career
5. ”Rothmans Football Year Book,1970–71” Peskett, R & Williams, T: Harpenden, QAP,1970 ISBN 0-362-00071-9
6. Transfer Details
7. ”Portsmouth, from Tindall to Ball” Farmery, C: Southend-on-Sea, Desert Island Books, 1999 ISBN 1-874287-25-2
8. ”Rothmans football yearbook 1981–82” Rollin, J (Ed) London, QAP, 1981 ISBN 0-362-02044-2
9. “The PFA Premier League and Football League Players’ Records 1946–98” Hugman, B: Harpenden, Queen Anne Press, 1998 ISBN 1-85291-585-4
10. Fareham details