‘Tremendous tenacity’ is praised by youth coaches following Burnley’s transfer.
After joining newly-promoted Burnley this week, Lawrence Vigouroux will face Premier League opposition this season from
teams like ARSENAL, Manchester City, and his old teams Tottenham and Liverpool.
The 29-year-old, who has a tattoo of the Ampthill Square neighborhood near Mornington Crescent on his arm, made one of
the most surprising transfers of the summer on Tuesday when he switched from League One club Leyton Orient to the
Clarets, who are headed to the top flight.
Last season, Vigouroux was a key contributor as the O’s won the League Two trophy. During a standout season, he
maintained a club record 24 clean sheets, including nine straight home clean sheets in the league. It won the highly regarded
shot-blocker his third consecutive season-long player of the year honor.
Not bad for a goalkeeper who thought it was “boring” to play in goal and who was once let go by Brentford for being too tiny.
Growing up, Vigouroux “always had bundles of energy” that he would expend “playing everywhere and anywhere.”
Vigouroux was a constant presence in places like the Calthorpe Community Garden in King’s Cross, formerly known as the
Calthorpe Project, Coram’s Fields in Bloomsbury, and the artificial fields in Market Road.
However, it’s possible that the announcement of the former Christ Church Primary School student’s new three-year contract
wasn’t as unexpected as it seemed.
Few, though, could compare to his favorite field: “the cage” in Regent’s Park on the Cumberland estate, where he frequently
ran into problems for playing football till too late.
One of his former coaches believes that Vigouroux’s commitment to and passion of the game make him the ideal example for
upcoming generations of aspiring professional football players.
The Camden & Regent’s Park Youth League coach of Vigouroux when he played for Lithgow Lions commented, “The real
headline here is his journey.”
“How frequently does that happen? Lawrence just won League Two with Leyton Orient and is now playing in the Premier
League.
“There is no doubt that the move is merited. Lawrence has worked hard, played in the minor leagues, and thoroughly
studied and learned his craft.
He has undoubtedly encountered obstacles and difficult moments throughout his career, but he has persevered and
displayed incredible tenacity.
Any small children out there, this is the perfect illustration. Continue to have faith in yourself and don’t give up.
Lawrence is already a winner since he can now identify as a Premier League football player.
When reflecting on Vigouroux’s sudden move to Turf Moor, former teammates and coaches instantly all recalled two things: one, that he was “a lovely kid and always respectful”. And two – and perhaps the biggest shock of all – that he was a goalkeeper.
That’s because when he was younger Vigouroux would play anywhere but in goal, as he revealed to this paper back in 2015.
He said: “I never used to play in goal. I played in midfield for Lithgow, and played on the wing for the Camden Year 6 District team. I was always good in goal when I was younger, but I didn’t like it. I found it boring. Obviously I grew into it.”
Koyar believes that it was those early years that helped shape Vigouroux into the talented player that he is today.
He added: “Lawrence had a wand of a left foot. I think playing outfield all those years ago when he was a kid has helped him
get where he is now.
“When you watch him, he’s a creative player who likes to play out from the back. He’s comfortable on the ball, and can pick a
pass – I think he’s even got a few assists to his name. That all comes from the time he spent playing anywhere but in goal
when he was growing up.”
Plenty of coaches missed out on having a future Premier League goalkeeper between the sticks in their team.
Ash Rahman managed Vigouroux when he played for King’s Cross Lithgow. Explaining his early team selections, Rahman
said: “Lawrence was like Bambi on ice – this tall, skinny kid with bundles of energy.
“I use to play him in defence because he was one of the tallest lads in the squad, or sometimes on the wing because he had a
lot of pace.
“He would play anywhere and everywhere because he just loved playing football. Oddly, the one position I didn’t play him
was in goal, but I was a young coach so guess I missed a trick!”
Vigouroux started his youth career at Brentford before joining Tottenham. In 2014 he then moved to Liverpool, where he
went on to become the first-choice keeper for the club’s Under-21s.
Combined with a series of loan spells, Vigouroux continued his footballing education by playing over 100 games for League
One side Swindon Town before moving to Leyton Orient in 2020, where he secured one of his career highlights to date by
helping the club win League Two last season.
He has also played internationally for Chile.
Having now worked his way back to a Premier League club, Vigouroux told BurnleyFC.com: “It means everything. It’s taken
me a long time to get back here. I’ve come full circle and I’ve had a lot of experiences in my life and in my career that I can draw on.
“I feel like I’m finally back where I should be and hopefully I can prove to everyone that I deserve to be here.”
Setting his sights on the new season, Vigouroux added: “I want to work and I want to improve. I’m still young in terms of
being a goalkeeper and I still feel I can get much better. I feel I can work really hard here every day and hopefully get a
chance to show my capabilities.
“I pride myself on distribution. It’s something that’s so important to me. I try to play really high, to be a sweeper. Those are
things in the modern game I think are really important and that’s what I try to model myself on.
“When you go to a top club you know there are going to be very good players in all positions. It’s up to me to prove how good
I am and how hard I can work to get my way into the team.”
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