Local lad Chris came through the junior ranks at Anfield and signed professional forms on his 17th birthday in October 1960 but had to patiently wait until March 1963 before Bill Shankly gave him his debut in a home fixture with West Bromwich Albion.
Chris made 6 League appearances in 1962-63 and just another 6 the following year but by the end of the 1964-65 season he had taken over Ronnie Moran's full-back slot.
Chris played in 32 consecutive First Division games that season and scored the first two of what would be a remarkable total for a full-back of 61 goals for the club in competitive matches. He was also a proud member of the Liverpool team that won the F.A. cup for the first time in the club's history.
He then missed just THREE of the next 336 League games, a quite remarkable 'attendance record', helping his side win the championship in 1966, reach the Cup winners' cup final the same year and another F.A. cup final in 1971.
Nicknamed "The Silent Knight" because of the quiet, uncomplicated way he just got on with his job on the field, he was an extremely reliable member of Liverpool's team for many years.
Even approaching his 30th birthday, he still retained the fitness and stamina to play in every single one of the 66 competitive games the club played in four different competitions during the 1972-73 season, his reward being further winners' medals in the championship and UEFA cup.
Despite being injured at QPR in November 1973 and only making one more League appearance that season, Bill Shankly still picked him as 'twelfth man' for the 1974 F.A. cup final.
Bob Paisley only selected Chris 10 times when he took over the manager's chair - and only then because Phil Thompson was injured in a home game with Stoke City. But as soon as Thompson was fit again, he went straight back into the team and Lawler never played for the first-team again, apart from one last match in the UEFA cup thefollowing season.
Chris, who was capped 4 times for England in full internationals and scored on his England debut against Malta at Wembley, moved to Portsmouth a month later who were managed at the time by his former team-mate, Ian St. John. He stayed on the South coast for nearly two years before returning to the North-West and ending his playing days with Stockport County.
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