Laurie Bell (footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Laurence Bell | ||
| Date of birth | 1 September 1992 | ||
| Place of birth | Poynton, England | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2000–2004 | Stockport County | ||
| 2004–2009 | Manchester City | ||
| 2009–2011 | Rochdale | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2011–2014 | Milwaukee Panthers | 70 | (26) |
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2014 | Ventura County Fusion | 10 | (2) |
| 2015 | Tulsa Roughnecks | 23 | (1) |
| 2016 | Hyde United | 14 | (1) |
| 2016 | Karlslund | 24 | (11) |
| 2016 | Macclesfield Town | 2 | (0) |
| 2016 | → Hyde United (loan) | 10 | (1) |
| 2017–2018 | Karlslund | 52 | (11) |
| 2019 | BK Forward | 29 | (7) |
| 2020–2021 | Örebro Syrianska | 55 | (10) |
| 2022–2023 | Caernarfon Town | 29 | (3) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 08:41, 23 May 2023 (UTC) | |||
Laurence "Laurie" Bell (born 1 September 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. During his career, Bell has played in his home nation as well as in the USA, Sweden and Wales.
Career
[edit]Early career
[edit]Bell joined Stockport County's School of Excellence at the age of eight, before moving to Manchester City's academy four years later. However, City let him go at the age of 16. After which he spent two years on a youth team apprenticeship at Rochdale, where he was part of a Football League Youth Alliance-title winning squad. However the club released him in May 2011.[1]
Bell played college soccer at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee between 2011 and 2014.[2] In 2013, he captained the Milwaukee Panthers to their victory in the Horizon League conference and qualification to the 2013 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship, scoring 13 goals along the way, and being named as the Horizon League's player of the year[3] and an NCAA First-Team All-American.[1] While at college, Bell also appeared for USL PDL club Ventura County Fusion in 2014.[4]
Bell was invited to the MLS 2015 Combine, but, hampered by a recurrence of patellar tendinitis which he had suffered during his teenage years,[1] went undrafted in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft.[5]
Professional
[edit]Bell signed with United Soccer League club Tulsa Roughnecks in March 2015.[6] After one season with the Roughnecks, and a spell with semi-professional side Hyde United in his native England, Bell joined Swedish second division club Karlslunds IF HFK on a one-year contract in April 2016.[3] He was named Player of the Year at Karlsunds IF HFK, after recording 11 goals and 10 assists in 24 matches and firing Karlslunds to 5th position in Division 2 - the club's highest finish for 7 years.
In December 2016, The Guardian published a blog by Bell about the challenges of pursuing a relatively low paying football career.[7] In January 2017 Bell joined English Conference side Macclesfield Town[8] before being sent out on loan to Hyde United.[9] In March 2017, Bell re-joined Swedish side Karlslunds IF HFK.[10] In January 2019, Bell left Karlslunds to join fellow Division 1 side BK Forward.[11] After a year with Forward, Bell joined newly promoted Division 1 side Örebro Syrianska on a one-year deal.[12]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Bell, Laurie (25 May 2016). "From Manchester City to Oklahoma: how a rejected footballer kept the dream alive". theguardian.com. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
- ^ "Laurie Bell - 2014 - Men's Soccer".
- ^ a b Zills, Chris (18 April 2016). "Laurie Bell Continues Professional Career In Sweden". Milwaukee Panthers. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
- ^ "United Soccer Leagues (USL)". www.uslpdl.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015.
- ^ "Laurie Bell -". Archived from the original on 20 July 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- ^ "State pro notes: UWM's Bell signs with USL club Tulsa Roughnecks". 25 March 2015.
- ^ Bell, Laurence (24 December 2016). "Serious sacrifice and little money – welcome to the world of Jam footballers". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
- ^ "Silkmen Add Laurence Bell To Their Squad". Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- ^ "Macclesfield Town Loan Round-Up". Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- ^ "LAURIE BELL - News - Hyde United Football Club". www.hydeunited.co.uk. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- ^ "Laurie Bell till Forward" (in Swedish). BK Forward. 19 January 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
- ^ "ÖREBRO SYRIANSKA VÄRVAR MITTFÄLTAREN LAURIE BELL" (in Swedish). Örebro Syrianska IF. 15 January 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
External links
[edit]- Laurie Bell at Soccerway
- Milwaukee Panthers profile
- 1992 births
- Living people
- English men's footballers
- Milwaukee Panthers men's soccer players
- Ventura County Fusion players
- FC Tulsa players
- Hyde United F.C. players
- Karlslunds IF FK players
- Macclesfield Town F.C. players
- BK Forward players
- Caernarfon Town F.C. players
- Men's association football midfielders
- National League (English football) players
- USL League Two players
- USL Championship players
- Ettan Fotboll players
- Cymru Premier players
- English expatriate sportspeople in the United States
- English expatriate men's footballers
- Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States
- All-American college men's soccer players
- Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden
- English expatriate sportspeople in Sweden
- People from Poynton
- Footballers from Cheshire
- 21st-century English sportsmen