Brian Laws
Brian Simon Laws ( born October 14, 1961 in Wallsend, England ) is an English former football player and current coach. Most recently, he coached the fourth division Scunthorpe United.
Career
Playing career
At the age of 17 years under Laws wrote his first professional contract with English second division side Burnley FC. At the beginning of his playing career he suffered relegation to the third English league. In the season 1981/82 he managed with his team to promotion back to the Football League Second Division. After another descent into the following season Laws left the club and joined the second division promoted Huddersfield Town. After two years in the second division, he moved to FC Middlesbrough.
Middlesbrough FC
However, his new club were relegated in his first year in the third league. Already in the following season, the direct back in the Bundesliga with a second place behind the AFC Bournemouth. This success was enhanced by the direct walkover in the Football League First Division 1988/89. Middlesbrough reached this rise by a third place behind the Millwall and Aston Villa FC and a subsequent play-off match against first division side FC Chelsea. The Middlesbrough FC had to fight in this time of significant financial difficulties and was temporarily from insolvency. As the financial situation of the club, was not improved even after the promotion to the first division, Brian Laws was sold after the season for 120,000 pounds in the first division club Nottingham Forest.
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham had celebrated the end of the 70s and beginning of the 80 great achievements in the Championship and the European Cup of Champions. Since then, other titles were failed. Laws first season in the First Division 1988/89 was completed with a third place in the table. In addition, the team reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup against Liverpool which ended in the Hillsborough disaster. The later rescheduled game Nottingham Forest lost and thus failed to make it into the first final since 1959. For him with his club the first title of his career managed by the success in the League Cup against Luton Town. Through the international barrier against all English clubs after the Heysel disaster, the team could not participate in the UEFA Cup in 1989/90. From the end of the restrictions in the following season, the club could not benefit as Forest spent the next three years in mid-table. After all, the team reached the 1990 title defense in the League Cup with a win over Oldham Athletic.
In the 1990/91 season Nottingham made the entry into the FA Cup Final in 1991 by a 4-0 semi-final victory over West Ham United. However, the final Forest lost with 1:2 after extra time against Tottenham Hotspur to Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker. Many teammates of Laws, as Des Walker, Steve Hodge and Teddy Sheringham, left at this time the club. Coaching legend Brian Clough had with the signings not the same sense as in previous years and as Nottingham grew in the newly created Premier League 1992/93 in the second division from. Brian Clough then ended his successful coaching career. After the descent even Roy Keane and Nigel Clough left the club, but especially the commitment of the 22 -year-old Stan Collymore was responsible for the direct re-emergence in the season 1993/94. The now 33 -year-old Brian Laws decided upon this success to a change as player-coach at Grimsby Town.
Coaching career
Laws started his coaching career at second division Grimsby Town. In the first season, 1994/95 came with the tenth placement in secure midfield. The following season was much worse with space 17, but it was enough to avoid relegation. Laws was in these two years as a player in use before the bad start to the season 1996/97 brought regularly from at Grimsby Town.
After an interim period as a player in the fourth division FC Darlington 1997, he moved to league rivals Scunthorpe United. There he spent in the 1997/98 season his last year as a player-manager, and finished his playing career finally.
Scunthorpe United
In the season 1998/99 Scunthorpe reached after a fourth place finish the play-off final at Wembley Stadium and managed a 1-0 victory over Leyton Orient promotion to the third division. The following year, but the team could not hold the class and got a table next to last again. Two years later Laws missed with his team as a table of eight only due to goal difference the play- off round and the following year (2002/ 03) failed Scunthorpe after a fifth place in the play- off matches. After all the bad season 2003/ 04 and a long time relegation succeeded in the following year, the surprising rise to the third tier, as in second behind Yeovil Town. There he met Brian Laws 2005/ 06 on his now crashed to the third tier former club Nottingham Forest. A twelfth place in the table secured the league. A curiosity in his time at Scunthorpe in March 2004, released by the club as Laws, but was in his position after only three weeks.
Sheffield Wednesday
After almost ten years in the service of Scunthorpe United Brian Laws took over in November 2006 as coach at second division Sheffield Wednesday and replaced the sacked Paul Sturrock. At the end of the season was a respectable ninth place in the table in the Football League Championship. The following year brought them to a very bad start and six defeats in series, with a place in the table 16 is a less satisfactory season. Only on the final day Sheffield was succeeded by winning the league. In the 2008 /09 season there was a twelfth place and in the game series 2009/10 the club fell again in danger of relegation and broke up this time in mid-December 2009 by the trainer.
Burnley FC
Already signed in January 2010, Brian Laws a contract with first division side Burnley FC, where he began his playing career over 30 years ago. Laws replaced Owen Coyle who had moved to the league rivals Bolton Wanderers. Taken in mid-table, took fifteen defeats in the next eighteen games the club into serious danger of relegation, which was sealed two games later. Despite the negative statistics at his new club, Brian Laws also practiced in the second division next season from the coach office in Burnley, before he was released on December 29, 2010.
Scunthorpe United
On October 29, 2012 Laws returned as coach to Scunthorpe United and there replaced the sacked Alan Knill. With his new team, he rose on the end of the season from the Football League One 2012/13 in the fourth league from. After a false start in the Football League Two Brian Laws was sacked on 20 November 2013.
Achievements
- English League Cup Winners: 1989, 1990