Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Joshua Laws | ||||||||||||||||
Date of birth | (1998-02-26) 26 February 1998 (age 26) | ||||||||||||||||
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
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23 May 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 2 January 2021 |
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.
Early life
Laws was born in Scotland. He moved to Sydney, Australia aged four before returning to the United Kingdom at the age of twelve. When Laws was fourteen, he moved to Germany.
Playing career
Club
Fortuna Düsseldorf
Laws began training with Fortuna Düsseldorf's first team in 2016, before suffering a broken arm and then another subsequent break in the same place. He would later suffer numerous ankle ligament injuries and a medial collateral ligament injury in his time at the club.
Wellington Phoenix
Laws signed for A-League side Wellington Phoenix in October 2020, reuniting with his former Australian youth team coach Ufuk Talay. He began the 2020–21 season as one of Wellington's first-choice centre backs, however, he suffered an ankle injury and subsequently lost his place in the starting side. Laws played fourteen games in his first season at the club.
In June 2021, Laws signed a two-year contract extension with Wellington. Laws was released by the Phoenix in May 2023 after three seasons at the club.
Grasshopper Club Zürich
On 15 August 2023, he signed with Swiss record champions Grasshopper Club Zürich, who play in the Swiss Super League. 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.
He missed the beginning of the 2024–25 season due to an injury that required him to get surgery. On 29 October 2024, he departed the club by mutual consent. Outside of three games for the reserves, he played no minutes in his truncated second season with Grasshoppers.
International
Scotland
Laws 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.
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.
Australia
Laws 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.
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.
Style of play
Laws is left footed, and able to play in central midfield, central defence and left back.
Career statistics
Club
- As of 29 October 2024
Club | Season | League | National cup | 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
References
- Hewett, William (30 October 2010). "Football:Wellington Phoenix sign Australian midfielder Joshua Laws". Newshub. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
- ^ "The Aussie kid bidding to lay down the Laws in Germany". Special Broadcasting Service. 28 September 2017. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Rollo, Phillip (23 June 2021). "Wellington Phoenix resign dependable defender Joshua Laws". Stuff. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
- ^ Lewis, Brad (23 June 2021). "Football: Wellington Phoenix defender Joshua Laws inks two-year extension with A-League club". Newshub. Archived from the original on 22 September 2021. 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.
- ^ 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
- Joshua Laws at Soccerway
Categories:
- 1998 births
- Living people
- Australian men's soccer players
- Men's association football midfielders
- Blackburn Rovers F.C. players
- Fortuna Düsseldorf players
- Wellington Phoenix FC players
- Grasshopper Club Zurich players
- A-League Men players
- Swiss Super League players
- Australian expatriate sportspeople in Germany
- Australian expatriate sportspeople in England
- Australian expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand
- Australian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland
- Footballers from Glasgow
- 21st-century Australian sportsmen
- Expatriate men's footballers in England