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:- GP 502 Goals 774 Ass 803 Pts 1577 PIM 110
Compiled with research, provided by Martin C.Harris – April 1992.
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