TIMOTHY MABEN LAWSON – 1943 – 2026

Scottish Hockey was sad to learn about the passing of Tim Lawson, one of the finest Scotland forwards of his generation.

Tim represented Scotland 33 times in total, with his Scottish Cap number being 301. He made his debut in 1963 when Scotland drew 1-1 with England at Trent Bridge, and Tim cited the “brilliant captainship” of Freddie Scott.

Tim featured prominently in Home Internationals matches from 1963 to 1968 and played alongside the likes of Neil Livingstone, Peter Colville, Henry Maitland, Dennis Hay and Charlie Donald. He was part of the Scotland team that became Home Nations champions in 1967, the first time that we had won the tournament for 40 years.

Cover of Hockey News magazine, April 1967, featuring Tim Lawson in action for Scotland against England

Gerry Carr, another former captain and coach of Scotland, once said: “His teammates and I always held Tim in high regard, as he was such a skilful player. He was an enthusiastic internationalist, always proud to pull on the Scottish shirt. I regarded him as a key part of my team, always reliable and prepared to give one hundred percent in every match”.

Tim also played 26 times for Great Britain, most notably at the Mexico Olympic Games in 1968, where he scored the first goal in the opening match against Argentina.

Tim Lawson of Great Britain leaps a pair of Pakistani sticks during the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City.

Two years prior, in 1966, he had been on the extensive GB Tour to Australia, where the squad played 22 matches in 41 days, including six test matches against the hosts.

The Great Britain men’s touring team of 1966 gather at the airport ahead of their Qantas flight to Australia.

Tim also played six test matches in seven days in the pre-Olympic Tournament in London in October 1967.

The son of a Scottish school master, Irvine Maben Lawson, and an English school mistress, Eunice Jesse Elson, Tim initially played for English Schoolboys. But he chose to play as a full International for Scotland. At the conclusion of the Home Internationals in Nottingham in 1963, Hockey News wrote of Scotland’s “highly promising new forward.”

Tim Lawson (front left) with his Scotland team-mates

Tim’s early love of hockey had been developed at Felsted School in Essex, notably by ex-Olympian, John Cockett. It was a strong era for Felsted hockey, which also produced fellow International players, Tony Ekins, Richard Oliver and Geoff Nott.

Tim studied Dentistry at the Royal London Hospital from 1962 to 1966, where he played both cricket and hockey, captaining the British Universities team. He played his club hockey with Tulse Hill HC in the London League from 1966 to 1973 and played a key role in the club’s undefeated, title-winning season of 1970/71.

With a young family and a dentistry career to consider, Hockey News lamented: “Unhappily, there seems little prospect that Lawson will be available for the Munich [Olympic] Games in 1972.”

As part of the London 2012 games preparations, Tim was invited to be part of the Olympian Parade and Reunion at the Olympic Park.  In October 2021, Tim and other members of the 1966 Australian touring party were presented with GB Tour Caps at a reunion held at The Hockey Museum. His official GB cap is number 141.

Tim Lawson won 59 international caps, 26 with Great Britain and 33 with Scotland

Tim was widowed in May 2017 but is survived by his two sons, Tony and Jez. Both have been lifelong hockey players, and Jez has represented Scotland Masters in the Over 45s and Over 50s age groups in recent years.

 

 

 

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