Son of
Kit Lawlor he joined
Shamrock Rovers in 1966 and made a scoring debut on 20 April 1966. He scored his first goal for the Hoops the following season in a
Dublin City Cup semi final win over
Waterford United. He twice played in the
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup for Rovers against
Randers FC and
FC Schalke 04. He scored 41 League and 8
FAI Cup goals in the green and white and earned one
League of Ireland XI cap. After all the success at
Milltown Mick signed for
Shelbourne in January 1974. He later signed for
Dundalk in 1976 and was named Player of the Month in March 1977. He had more success scoring against
Celtic at
Parkhead in the
1979–80 European Cup. Shortly after he was out of the game for a year with injury and became assistant manager to
Jim McLaughlin. At this stage his younger brother Martin was playing for the club. He resigned from the Oriel Park outfit in May 1981 to seek first team football which he got again at Shelbourne. Then he signed for
Bohemians F.C. in 1982 but announced his retirement in January 1983. Lawlor was appointed player/manager of
Home Farm in March 1984. He then was appointed manager of
Drogheda United in 1986 but resigned in November. He was also Chairman of the
PFAI near the end of his career and managed Clontarf Athletic from 1988. ==International career==