LAWRIE STAYS TO DEFEND UNITED
Blackburn United defender Martin Lawrie has revealed he turned down offers from senior clubs to help United’s promotion bid this season.
Lawrie was a key figure in the side that finished third in the South Division last season and he says it was the chance to “finish the journey” that persuaded him to stay at New Murrayfield Park.
He said: “There’s very little loyalty left in football and I wanted to show that.
“I really enjoy it at the club and the facilities and set-up are tremendous. It was a tough decision, purely because I had a few offers at higher levels, including League Two sides in the seniors.
“But when it came down to it I want to finish the journey and get the club promoted.
“I wanted to show loyalty to the club and there’s also a lot to be said about enjoying your football. I could have signed somewhere else and not really played much or enjoyed it.
“I know I’m going to do both at Blackburn and hopefully this can be the season where we get the club promoted.”
United have been knocking on the door for the last few seasons, but have so far failed in their bid to climb out of the bottom tier.
But the former Whitletts Victoria defender believes they can get the job done this season.
He commented: “I thought we were a bit unlucky last year, to be honest. We had the best defence in Junior football, we only conceded 21 goals, but we just drew too many games.
“We lost twice, which proves that we were a very good side and we’ve got a great young nucleus to this team.
“We have added a couple of new faces too, so I think we’ve definitely got the ability to get promotion this season, but it won’t be easy.
“We know we need to work hard and put the effort in and hopefully that will show with the results.
“The club is moving in the right direction off the field, now it’s up to the players to make sure we take steps forward on the field too and we can do that by getting promoted.”
Meanwhile, the club have announced a series of pre-season friendles, all of which will be played at home.
They face Larkhall Thistle on July 16 before taking on Royal Albert (July 20), Berwick Rangers ( July 23), Dunipace ( July 27) and Glasgow Perthshire ( July 30).
Their league campaign begin on August 6 when they travel to Crossgates Primrose.