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Lawrence Sanchez (born 22 October 1959) is a football manager and former international footballer for Northern Ireland.
The defining moment of his playing career came in the 1988 FA Cup final, when he scored the winning goal for Wimbledon against Liverpool, producing one of the biggest upsets in the competition's long history.
Career highlights as a manager include taking Wycombe Wanderers on a memorable FA Cup run that climaxed in a semi-final against Liverpool and driving Northern Ireland from a FIFA ranking of 124th to 27th; a period during which he notched up notable results against England, Spain, Denmark, Sweden and Portugal.
His most famous moment as a player came in 1988, when he scored with a header the goal that won Wimbledon the FA Cup in 1988 against Liverpool. It was not an easy game, as Peter Beardsley had found the net two minutes before Sanchez scored, only to have his goal disallowed. Liverpool came close to jeopardising Wimbledon's dream again in the second half when they were awarded a penalty, only for John Aldridge's shot to be saved by Dons goalkeeper Dave Beasant.
During the 1993–94 season Sanchez left Wimbledon for newly promoted Swindon Town, who ended the season relegated with a mere five wins from 42 games and conceding 100 goals. He played just eight league games for the Wiltshire club and left them after only a few months to be player/manager at Sligo Rovers in Ireland. He scored his last goal in professional football against then Champions Shamrock Rovers on the 3rd of December 1994.
Sanchez is believed to be the first player to be sent off for a professional foul, after committing a deliberate handball in a Football League Trophy match against Oxford United in 1982.
Sanchez won three full international caps for Northern Ireland, qualifying by virtue of his Northern Irish mother. Prior to having played for Northern Ireland he was also qualified to play for Ecuador due to having an Ecuadorian father, but declined the opportunity on the grounds of distance.
After finishing 12th in 2002 and 11th in 2003, the upward progress came to an end with the collapse of the OnDigital TV deal and the subsequent loss of both revenue and players. After a poor start to the 2003–04 season, Sanchez was sacked by the club on 30 September 2003.
Notable results during his tenure included a 1–0 victory against England in a World Cup qualifying match, a 1–1 draw against Portugal, who went on to reach the 2006 World Cup semi-finals, a 2–1 win over Sweden, and a 3–2 win against eventual Euro 2008 winners Spain in a Euro 2008 qualifying match, with striker David Healy scoring a hat-trick. A book about his achievements with Northern Ireland was published in November 2007.
Sanchez signed four Northern Ireland players, David Healy from Leeds United, Steven Davis and Aaron Hughes, both from Aston Villa, and Chris Baird from Southampton.
He was sacked in December 2007, after a home defeat to Newcastle. This defeat pushed Fulham into the relegation places. Fulham ultimately survived after a 'Great Escape' under Roy Hodgson. Sanchez' tenure was seen as one where good players were signed, but did not yield results. Many of the players who were signed by Sanchez, such as Baird and Hughes, started for Fulham in a Europa League final against Atletico Madrid a couple of years later.
On 13 April 2014, Sanchez and Apollon were relegated from the Superleague Greece into the Greek Football League following a 1–0 defeat away to champions Olympiacos. Apollon finished seventeenth with 36 points, two points off safety in fifteenth.
Sanchez declined to sign a new contract for Apollon and left the club. This departure was much to the chagrin of the Apollon fans to whom he, in typical Sanchez fashion, had become a much loved cult figure and leader. Sanchez wrote a parting letter to the Apollon fans explaining his thoughts and made it clear that he was very unhappy with the legitimacy of the Superleague Greece, his parting words were: "In the Magic Kingdom that is SuperLeague even a Magician can only have so many powers".
| Sligo Rovers | 2 September 1994 | 14 August 1995 | |
| Wycombe Wanderers | 5 February 1999 | 30 September 2003 | |
| Northern Ireland | 21 January 2004 | 11 May 2007 | |
| Fulham | 11 April 2007 | 21 December 2007 | |
| Barnet | 13 May 2011 | 16 April 2012 | |
| Apollon Smyrni | 17 November 2013 | 22 April 2014 | |
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