After dropping down the divisions in a bid to get his career back on track, a former Liverpool goalkeeper has sealed a return to the top tier of English football.
Clinching the League Two title with Leyton Orient after keeping a staggering 24 clean sheets while only conceding 33 goals in 45 league appearances this term, Lawrence Vigouroux has now signed for Premier League newcomers Burnley. Voted the club's Player of the Year in each of his three full campaigns with Orient, this unique achievement speaks volumes of his unwavering performance levels.
Previously on the books of Liverpool between 2014 and 2016, the now 29-year-old joined the Reds from Tottenham Hotspur following a successful trial. By the end of his first season on Merseyside, opportunities arose to compete at under-21 level before an EFL loan was arranged for the following season.
After starring in a series of trial matches for Swindon Town, the then League One club were chosen as his temporary home for the 2015/16 season. One of the matches that convinced the Robins to take a chance on the Camden-born keeper was a performance that, ironically, came against Liverpool in a pre-season friendly defeat. Making his debut that day for the Reds was none other than Roberto Firmino, whose years at the club following this fixture have been filled with moments to remember.
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Just one month into his loan spell at Swindon, however, and Vigouroux landed himself in trouble after paying a £50 fine with 5,000 1p pieces. This gesture was not well-received by manager Mark Cooper and resulted in the promising goalkeeper being sent back to Liverpool to explain his actions.
Reflecting on the incident following Vigouroux's return to Wiltshire, Cooper said: "Lawrence is going to come back, he is very humble and very apologetic. He knows the way he behaved was wrong and he has been in the changing room after the game and apologised to the players. He asked them if they wanted him back and they all said yes. Lawrence is an exceptional young goalkeeper and it’s important he learns from this little mishap and it will benefit his career going forward.”
Overcoming this particular incident in the end, Vigouroux was snapped up by Swindon on a three-year contract for a fee believed to be in the region of £400,000. But controversy remained a theme of his time at the club up until his eventual release at the end of the 2018/19 season, with serious questions as regards the player's attitude being raised.
Left out of the matchday squad for a League Two clash with Barnet on New Year's Day in 2018, this was deemed appropriate action after it emerged Vigouroux and one other Swindon player had gone on a night out after a victory two days prior. Earlier that season, he also received a four-match ban from the FA for comments made to match officials following a 2-1 home loss to Coventry City and failed to return to the starting eleven for a further eight games after that.
Released by Swindon at the end of the 2018/19 season, a move to Chilean side Everton de Viña del Mar followed but proved unsuccessful after being unable to make a single appearance prior to his exit in December 2019. Sharing the honesty reality of this obscure transfer move in a recent interview with talkSPORT, the ex-Liverpool Academy hopeful said: "That was a big problem that mentally I had, because I was thinking I’d get a move somewhere, and no one in the country wanted me.
“You have to learn from those [experiences], and I ended up leaving Swindon thinking I’d go somewhere else in England. I had nothing and that was a big problem that mentally I had, because I was thinking I’d get a move somewhere, and no one in the country wanted me. So then I had to end up going 15 hours away on a plane to Chile, to literally try and make a career.”
Orient were the club to take a chance on Vigouroux upon his return to England, a decision they will certainly have no regrets over. Achieving promotion to League One under the manager who released him at Swindon, Richie Wellens, produced the perfect script for the former Liverpool man. His whirlwind journey will now continue in the Premier League after penning a three-year deal with the Clarets.
*An original version of this story was first published in April.*
