Joshua Laws

Last updated
Joshua Laws
Personal information
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) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 Western Sydney Wanderers
Youth career
Blackburn Rovers
2012–2016 Fortuna Düsseldorf
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2016–2020 Fortuna Düsseldorf II 23 (0)
2020–2023 Wellington Phoenix 50 (0)
2023–2024 Grasshoppers 22 (0)
2024 Grasshoppers II 3 (0)
2025– Western Sydney Wanderers 0 (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
Men's football
Representing Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
AFC U-23 Asian Cup
Bronze medal icon.svg 2020 Thailand U-23 Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10 February 2025
‡ 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 centre-back for A-League Men side Western Sydney Wanderers.

Contents

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. [1] [2] When Laws was fourteen, he moved to Germany. [2]

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. [2] He would later suffer numerous ankle ligament injuries and a medial collateral ligament injury in his time at the club. [3]

Wellington Phoenix

Laws signed for A-League side Wellington Phoenix in October 2020, reuniting with his former Australian youth team coach Ufuk Talay. [4] He began the 2020–21 season as one of Wellington's first-choice centre backs, [3] however, he suffered an ankle injury and subsequently lost his place in the starting side. [5] Laws played fourteen games in his first season at the club. [6] [5]

In June 2021, Laws signed a two-year contract extension with Wellington. [6] [5] Laws was released by the Phoenix in May 2023 after three seasons at the club. [7]

Grasshopper Club Zürich

On 15 August 2023, he signed with Swiss record champions Grasshopper Club Zürich, who play in the Swiss Super League. [8] 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. [9]

He missed the beginning of the 2024–25 season due to an injury that required him to get surgery. [10] On 29 October 2024, he departed the club by mutual consent. [11] Outside of three games for the reserves, he played no minutes in his truncated second season with Grasshoppers.

Western Sydney Wanderers

On 10 February 2025, Laws signed for Western Sydney Wanderers Sydney Wanderers until the end of the season. [12]

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. [13]

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. [14] [15]

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. [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. [17] [18]

Style of play

Laws is left footed, and able to play in central midfield, central defence and left back. [2]

Career statistics

Club

As of 29 October 2024 [19] [9]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational cup [a] OtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Fortuna Düsseldorf II 2016–17 Regionalliga West 00——00
2017–18 Regionalliga West60——60
2018–19 Regionalliga West80——80
2019–20 Regionalliga West90——90
Total2300000230
Wellington Phoenix 2020–21 A-League 140——140
2021–22 A-League Men 15030—183
2022–23 A-League Men21030—240
Total5006000560
Grasshopper 2023–24 Super League 22010—230
2024–25 0000—00
Grasshopper II 2024–25 1. Liga 30——30
Career total98070001050

See also

References

  1. ↑ 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.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "The Aussie kid bidding to lay down the Laws in Germany". Special Broadcasting Service . 28 September 2017. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  3. 1 2 Rollo, Phillip (6 February 2021). "Joshua Laws not taking game-time for granted after 12 injuries in three years". Stuff .
  4. ↑ "Wellington Phoenix sign up Australian U-23 Joshua Laws". 30 October 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 Rollo, Phillip (23 June 2021). "Wellington Phoenix resign dependable defender Joshua Laws". Stuff . Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  6. 1 2 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.
  7. ↑ "Wellington Phoenix release eight players ahead of 2023–24 ALM rebuild". ESPN .
  8. ↑ "GC Zürich signs centre back Joshua Laws". Grasshopper Club Zürich. 15 August 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  9. 1 2 Joshua Laws at Soccerway OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  10. ↑ "Saisonstart im Tessin". Grasshopper Club Zurich. 19 July 2024. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  11. ↑ "Joshua Laws verlässt den Grasshopper Club Zürich" (in Swiss High German). Grasshopper Club Zurich. 29 October 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  12. ↑ "Wanderers sign Laws until end of season". Western Sydney Wanderers . 10 February 2025.
  13. ↑ "Joshua Laws für Schottland aktiv" [Joshua Laws active for Scotland]. Fortuna Düsseldorf (in German). 16 January 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  14. ↑ "Joshua Laws". Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  15. ↑ "Joshua Laws". Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  16. ↑ "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.
  17. ↑ "Olyroo Laws in line for Thailand test". Seven News . 11 January 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  18. ↑ Lewis, Dave (28 December 2019). "Luckless Laws making up for lost time on road to Tokyo". Special Broadcasting Service . Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  19. ↑ "Joshua Laws". Kicker . Retrieved 21 May 2023.

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