Joshua Laws (born 26 February 1998) is an Australian professional footballer who plays as a center back, most recently for Swiss Super League side Grasshopper Club Zürich.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Joshua Laws | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 26 February 1998 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Center back | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| Blackburn Rovers | |||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2016 | Fortuna Düsseldorf | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016–2020 | Fortuna Düsseldorf II | 23 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020–2023 | Wellington Phoenix | 50 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2023–2024 | Grasshoppers | 22 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024 | Grasshoppers II | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2013 | Scotland U15 | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | Scotland U16 | 5 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015 | Australia U17 | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2020 | Australia U23 | 5 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23 May 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 2 January 2021 | |||||||||||||||||
Early life
editLaws was born in Scotland. He moved to Sydney, Australia aged four before returning to the United Kingdom at the age of twelve.[1][2] When Laws was fourteen, he moved to Germany.[2]
Playing career
editClub
editFortuna Düsseldorf
editLaws began training with Fortuna Düsseldorf's first team in 2016, before suffering a broken arm and then another subsequent break in the same place.[2] He would later suffer numerous ankle ligament injuries and a medial collateral ligament injury in his time at the club.[3]
Wellington Phoenix
editLaws signed for A-League side Wellington Phoenix in October 2020, reuniting with his former Australian youth team coach Ufuk Talay.[4] He began the 2020–21 season as one of Wellington's first-choice centre backs,[3] however, he suffered an ankle injury and subsequently lost his place in the starting side.[5] Laws played fourteen games in his first season at the club.[6][5]
In June 2021, Laws signed a two-year contract extension with Wellington.[6][5] Laws was released by the Phoenix in May 2023 after three seasons at the club.[7]
Grasshopper Club Zürich
editOn 15 August 2023, he signed with Swiss record champions Grasshopper Club Zürich, who play in the Swiss Super League.[8] He joins on a two-year contract, with an option to extend for a further season. He was able to quickly establish himself in Grasshoppers' defense and became a regular starter for the majority of the season.[9]
He missed the beginning of the 2024–25 season due to an injury that required him to get surgery.[10] On 29 October 2024, he departed the club by mutual consent.[11] Outside of three games for the reserves, he played no minutes in his truncated second season with Grasshoppers.
International
editScotland
editLaws initially played international youth football for Scotland's under-15 and under-16 national teams. This included participating in the 2014 Aegean Cup, where he played against Norway.[12]
In total, Laws played three times for Scotland's under 15 side and five times for the under-16 team, scoring one goal, across 2013 and 2014.[13][14]
Australia
editLaws subsequently elected to represent Australia and was selected in Australia's under-17 squad for the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile. Laws played as a central defender in all four of Australia's games at the tournament as they were eliminated in the Round of 16.[15]
Laws was selected in the Australian under-23 side for the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship and played in the group stage game against Thailand.[16][17]
Style of play
editLaws is left footed, and able to play in central midfield, central defence and left back.[2]
Career statistics
editClub
edit| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Fortuna Düsseldorf II | 2016–17 | Regionalliga West | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2017–18 | Regionalliga West | 6 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | |||
| 2018–19 | Regionalliga West | 8 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 0 | |||
| 2019–20 | Regionalliga West | 9 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 0 | |||
| Total | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 | ||
| Wellington Phoenix | 2020–21 | A-League | 14 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22 | A-League Men | 15 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 18 | 3 | ||
| 2022–23 | A-League Men | 21 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 24 | 0 | ||
| Total | 50 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56 | 0 | ||
| Grasshopper | 2023–24 | Super League | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 23 | 0 | |
| 2024–25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| Grasshopper II | 2024–25 | 1. Liga | 3 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 98 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 105 | 0 | ||
- ^ Includes Australia Cup
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Hewett, William (30 October 2010). "Football:Wellington Phoenix sign Australian midfielder Joshua Laws". Newshub. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
- ^ a b c d "The Aussie kid bidding to lay down the Laws in Germany". Special Broadcasting Service. 28 September 2017. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
- ^ a b Rollo, Phillip (6 February 2021). "Joshua Laws not taking game-time for granted after 12 injuries in three years". Stuff.
- ^ "Wellington Phoenix sign up Australian U-23 Joshua Laws". 30 October 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
- ^ a b c Rollo, Phillip (23 June 2021). "Wellington Phoenix resign dependable defender Joshua Laws". Stuff. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
- ^ a b Lewis, Brad (23 June 2021). "Football: Wellington Phoenix defender Joshua Laws inks two-year extension with A-League club". Newshub. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
- ^ "Wellington Phoenix release eight players ahead of 2023–24 ALM rebuild". ESPN.
- ^ "GC Zürich signs centre back Joshua Laws". Grasshopper Club Zürich. 15 August 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ a b Joshua Laws at Soccerway
- ^ "Saisonstart im Tessin". Grasshopper Club Zurich. 19 July 2024. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
- ^ "Joshua Laws verlässt den Grasshopper Club Zürich" (in Swiss High German). Grasshopper Club Zurich. 29 October 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
- ^ "Joshua Laws für Schottland aktiv" [Joshua Laws active for Scotland]. Fortuna Düsseldorf (in German). 16 January 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
- ^ "Joshua Laws". Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
- ^ "Joshua Laws". Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
- ^ "Josh Laws scheidet bei U17-WM Aus" [Josh Laws is elimited from the U-17 World Cup] (in German). October 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
- ^ "Olyroo Laws in line for Thailand test". Seven News. 11 January 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
- ^ Lewis, Dave (28 December 2019). "Luckless Laws making up for lost time on road to Tokyo". Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
- ^ "Joshua Laws". Kicker. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
External links
edit- Joshua Laws at Soccerway