Born in Glasgow, Cawley started his career at Celtic, where he was a high goal scorer for their reserve side.
[2] Cawley made his debut for the Honest Men on 25 July 2009 against Albion Rovers in the Challenge Cup.
[3] He spent the 2010–11 season at East Stirlingshire, then in June 2011 he signed for Alloa Athletic.
[6] His first competitive goal came in a 1–1 draw with East Fife in the Scottish League Cup on 1 August 2015[7] Cawley was released by Dumbarton in May 2016,[8] subsequently re-signing for recently relegated Alloa Athletic.
[9] Due to his small stature, some Alloa Athletic fans have compared Cawley to the club's top goalscorer for a single season Willie Crilley, referring to him as 'The Mighty Atom' – a term which Wasps fans of the 1920s also used for Crilley.