Lawrence Vigouroux joined Burnley this week

ARSENAL, Manchester City and former clubs Tottenham and Liverpool are among the Premier League sides that await Lawrence Vigouroux this season after the Camden keeper joined newly-promoted Burnley this week.

The 29-year-old, who has a tattoo of the Ampthill Square estate near Mornington Crescent where he grew up on his arm, completed one of the shock transfers of the summer on Tuesday when he swapped League One side Leyton Orient for the top flight-bound Clarets.

But perhaps the news of the former Christ Church Primary School pupil’s new three-year deal shouldn’t have come as such a surprise.

Vigouroux played an instrumental part in helping the O’s lift the League Two trophy last term. He kept a club-record 24 clean sheets – including nine consecutive home clean sheets in the league – during what was a stellar campaign. It earned the highly rated shot-stopper his third player of the season award in a row.

Not bad for someone who found playing in goal “boring” and was once released by Brentford for being too small.

As a kid Vigouroux “always had bundles of energy” – energy that he would burn off “playing anywhere and everywhere”. From the Calthorpe Community Garden in King’s Cross, then simply known as the Calthorpe Project, to Coram’s Fields in Bloomsbury and the artificial pitches in Market Road – Vigouroux was an ever-present who trained and played games across Camden, Islington and Westminster.

Few could compare to his home pitch, however: “the cage” on the Cumberland estate in Regent’s Park where he would often get in trouble for staying out too late playing football.

According to one of his former coaches, it’s that dedication and love of the game that makes Vigouroux the perfect role model for future generations of wannabe professional footballers.

“The real headline here is his journey,” said Abul Koyar, who coached Vigouroux when he played for Lithgow Lions in the Camden & Regent’s Park Youth League.

“Lawrence has just gone from winning the League Two title with Leyton Orient to the Premier League, how often does that happen?

“The move is well deserved, without a doubt. Lawrence has put in the hours, he’s gone and played in the lower leagues and really studied and learned his trade.

“Of course he’s faced set-backs and tough times in his career, but he’s kept on going and shown tremendous determination.

“Any young kids out there, this is the prime example. Don’t give up, and keep believing in yourself.

“Lawrence is a winner already – he now gets to call himself a Premier League footballer!”

Vigouroux during his Leyton Orient days

When reflecting on Vigouroux’s sudden move to Turf Moor, former teammates and coaches instantly all recalled two things: one, that he was “a lovely kid and always respectful”. And two – and perhaps the biggest shock of all – that he was a goalkeeper.

That’s because when he was younger Vigouroux would play anywhere but in goal, as he revealed to this paper back in 2015.

He said: “I never used to play in goal. I played in midfield for Lithgow, and played on the wing for the Camden Year 6 District team. I was always good in goal when I was younger, but I didn’t like it. I found it boring. Obviously I grew into it.”

Koyar believes that it was those early years that helped shape Vigouroux into the talented player that he is today.

He added: “Lawrence had a wand of a left foot. I think playing outfield all those years ago when he was a kid has helped him get where he is now.

“When you watch him, he’s a creative player who likes to play out from the back. He’s comfortable on the ball, and can pick a pass – I think he’s even got a few assists to his name. That all comes from the time he spent playing anywhere but in goal when he was growing up.”

Plenty of coaches missed out on having a future Premier League goalkeeper between the sticks in their team.

Ash Rahman managed Vigouroux when he played for King’s Cross Lithgow. Explaining his early team selections, Rahman said: “Lawrence was like Bambi on ice – this tall, skinny kid with bundles of energy.

“I use to play him in defence because he was one of the tallest lads in the squad, or sometimes on the wing because he had a lot of pace.

“He would play anywhere and everywhere because he just loved playing football. Oddly, the one position I didn’t play him was in goal, but I was a young coach so guess I missed a trick!”

Vigouroux started his youth career at Brentford before joining Tottenham. In 2014 he then moved to Liverpool, where he went on to become the first-choice keeper for the club’s Under-21s.

Combined with a series of loan spells, Vigouroux continued his footballing education by playing over 100 games for League One side Swindon Town before moving to Leyton Orient in 2020, where he secured one of his career highlights to date by helping the club win League Two last season.

He has also played internationally for Chile.

Having now worked his way back to a Premier League club, Vigouroux told BurnleyFC.com: “It means everything. It’s taken me a long time to get back here. I’ve come full circle and I’ve had a lot of experiences in my life and in my career that I can draw on.

“I feel like I’m finally back where I should be and hopefully I can prove to everyone that I deserve to be here.”

Setting his sights on the new season, Vigouroux added: “I want to work and I want to improve. I’m still young in terms of being a goalkeeper and I still feel I can get much better. I feel I can work really hard here every day and hopefully get a chance to show my capabilities.

“I pride myself on distribution. It’s something that’s so important to me. I try to play really high, to be a sweeper. Those are things in the modern game I think are really important and that’s what I try to model myself on.

“When you go to a top club you know there are going to be very good players in all positions. It’s up to me to prove how good I am and how hard I can work to get my way into the team.”