Ian Lawson, an ex-Burnley player who fans from the 1950s would always identify with the FA Cup, went away at the age of 84.
In a home match against Chesterfield in January 1957, he made his first team debut for us in the FA Cup’s third round, scoring four goals in a 7-0 victory. Three weeks later, he backed that up with a hat trick in the following round, which helped us defeat New Brighton 9 to 0.
Even though he was only seventeen at the time, it didn’t lead to a successful first team career at Burnley. He participated in seven league games and two more cup ties during that season, but he was completely absent from both of the following two campaigns.
Nevertheless, he played in eight league games during the championship-winning 1959–60 campaign, scoring three goals—once in a 2-1 victory against Manchester United at Old Trafford and twice a week later in a 5-2 triumph over West Ham.
It was against West Ham in April 1961 that he played his thirtieth and final game for Burnley in which he’d scored fifteen times although he remained a Burnley player until March of the following year when he was transferred to Leeds in a £20,000 transfer, making his debut for Leeds on the day that Don Revie played his final game for them.
He later moved to Crystal Palace, Port Vale and finally Barnsley, where an injury prevented him ever making his debut, before hanging up his boots in 1968.
He finished the match having played 108 league and cup games for all of his teams, scoring 43 goals. However, he will always be most famous for the seven FA Cup goals he scored for Burnley in 1957.
At this moment, our sympathies are with the Lawson family, their friends, and his wife Maureen, daughter Sharon, and son Michael.
