Matt became Palace's sixth signing of the summer of 2006 when he made the short trip to SE25 for an undisclosed fee from south London neighbours Millwall.

The versatile defender signed a two year contract at Selhurst Park, after spending the last six years with the Lions and during that time, he made well over 250 appearances for the club with many of them coming in the Championship. He was initially bought by Millwall from Wycombe Wanderers for a fee of £250,000 back in March 2000.

He had two spells at Adams Park, which sandwiched an 18 month stay with Fulham between 1997 and 1998 after initially starting his career in non-league circles with Grays Athletic.

Prior to that though, Matt had played in college football in the USA whilst studying for a degree in American Literature and it was on his return to Britain that he was snapped up by the Essex based outfit Grays. From there, he was signed by Wycombe for a fee of £2000 in 1996.

A former team-mate at the Den of current Palace stars Paul Ifill and Darren Ward, Lawrence was part of the Lions team which reached the FA Cup Final in 2004 and is particularly versatile, proving equally effective whether he is playing in the centre of defence or as a full-back or even in a holding midfield role.

He went on to enjoy a decent debut season with the Eagles in 2006/07 and proved dependable in whichever role he was deployed. A no-nonsense and committed member of the team, Lawrence was largely used at right-back and proved to be a sound signing from Peter Taylor. This was underlined by the player signing a new contract in September, tying him to Selhurst until summer 2009.

The arrival of Neil Warnock further enhanced Lawrence's standing in the side. The new boss gave him the nickname 'Lenny' and played him regularly, both at right and centre back.

The 2007/08 season has also seen Matt take steps to fulfil his post-playing ambition of becoming a journalist by penning a popular column in every Palace matchday programme. 

A keen music fan, Matt can often be found at the various gig venues around London watching the latest up and coming bands.