Burnley Lawson started his career as an amateur at
Burnley after being
scouted in a local School's cup final, along with James Robson. He scored four goals on his debut in a 7–0
FA Cup victory over
Chesterfield. He followed this up with a
hat-trick against
New Brighton in the following round. Despite some good times, including a purple patch in the "Clarets"
1956–57 FA Cup run, Lawson found it hard to break into the highly successful first-team. During this period Burnley were competing at the top of the
First Division and were crowned champions of the
English Football League in
1959–60 under the stewardship of
Harry Potts. After spending six seasons at
Turf Moor, during which he made only 23 appearances, the 23-year-old was sold to
Leeds United for £20,000 in March 1962.
Leeds United Lawson joined Leeds as they battled to avoid
relegation to the
Third Division and went straight into
Don Revie's first team, where he scored once in eleven games. He went straight into the first-team, making his debut at
Vale Park in a 2–1 win over
Southport on 20 August. However, he lost his place the following month and was limited to one goal in ten league and cup games in the
1966–67 season. He was given a
free transfer to
Fourth Division rivals
Barnsley in May 1967. He never made a first-team appearance for
Johnny Steele's "Tykes" before announcing his retirement from professional football after leaving
Oakwell. ==Personal life and death==