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Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1992. Born August 14th, 1944 in Edinburgh, Lawrie
Lovell was the second hockey-playing son of Les Lovell Snr, a Canadian
who came to Britain in the late thirties. Lovell Snr played for the
Perth Blackhawks, Fife Flyers and Perth Panthers in the pre-war Scottish
National League, Lawrie was to more than emulate his father during his
career with Murrayfield, Fife and the Great Britain national team. Lawrie progressed through the junior ranks of the
Murrayfield club and joined the senior side, then known as the Royals,
for the 1962/63 Scottish League campaign. In twelve games before being
sidelined by injury, he had made his mark recording 8 goals and 10
assists. He joined Fife for a season, however returned to the capital
for 1964/65, finishing second in the voting for “Young British Player
of the Year,” behind John Baxter of the Brighton Tigers, but ahead of
future Hall of Famers themselves, Alastair Brennan., Peter Johnson and
John Rost. In the 1966/67 season, Lawrie Lovell finished second in
the Northern League scoring race and for the next twelve years never
finished below seventh, including three straight scoring race titles
from 1970 to 1972. Having spent the majority of his playing career with
the Murrayfield Racers, in 1977, he moved back to play for the Fife
Flyers and once again led the point scorers. By the time the Northern League ended in 1982, he headed
the all-time scoring list with 1,451 points (713+738) from 420 games,
more than 250 ahead of his nearest rival. His last season as a player
saw him again in the Murrayfield Racers line-up, the season being that
of 1983/84, the first of the Heineken British League. By this time, Lawrie Lovell had taken on the coaching role
with the GB under-19 squad in 1982/83, and he guided them to promotion
to Pool B of the European Junior Championships in 1986. Although the
team dropped back to Pool C two years later, Lovell again guided them
back to Pool B in 1991, after which he announced his retirement. At international level, Lawrie Lovell represented Great
Britain in five senior world championships, scoring 11 goals and 9
assists for 20 points in 31 appearances with only 6 minutes in the
penalty box. In domestic competitions, his statistics are nothing short
of remarkable:-
Compiled with research, provided by Martin C.Harris – |
