[1] Lawton was born in Middlesbrough, and after playing for his home-town club as an amateur he moved to Darlington in the 1961–62 season.
[1] Following 120 league appearances and 60 goals for Darlington, he scored in his last game for the club, a 2–1 defeat of Swindon Town in the League Cup on 22 September 1965; shortly afterwards he was transferred to Swindon in exchange for Alan Sproates and £8,000.
[2][3] However, he only managed 11 league appearances at Swindon in an 18-month stay,[4] and after a short stay at Watford, where he played 13 league games, he returned to Darlington in the 1967–68 season.
In his second spell he made 22 league appearances and scored 3 goals before retiring through injury.
This biographical article related to association football in England, about a forward born in the 1940s, is a stub.