| Joshua Laws | |
| Fullname: | Joshua Laws |
| Birth Date: | 26 February 1998 |
| Birth Place: | Glasgow, Scotland |
| Height: | 183 cm |
| Position: | Center back |
| Youthclubs1: | Blackburn Rovers |
| Youthyears2: | 2012–2016 |
| Youthclubs2: | Fortuna Düsseldorf |
| Years1: | 2016–2020 |
| Caps1: | 23 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Clubs1: | Fortuna Düsseldorf II |
| Years2: | 2020–2023 |
| Caps2: | 50 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Clubs2: | Wellington Phoenix |
| Years3: | 2023–2024 |
| Caps3: | 22 |
| Goals3: | 0 |
| Clubs3: | Grasshoppers |
| Years4: | 2024 |
| Caps4: | 3 |
| Goals4: | 0 |
| Clubs4: | Grasshoppers II |
| Nationalyears1: | 2013 |
| Nationalteam1: | Scotland U15 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 3 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 0 |
| Nationalyears2: | 2013–2014 |
| Nationalteam2: | Scotland U16 |
| Nationalcaps2: | 5 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 1 |
| Nationalyears3: | 2015 |
| Nationalteam3: | Australia U17 |
| Nationalcaps3: | 4 |
| Nationalgoals3: | 0 |
| Nationalyears4: | 2017–2020 |
| Nationalteam4: | Australia U23 |
| Nationalcaps4: | 5 |
| Nationalgoals4: | 0 |
| Club-Update: | 23 May 2024 |
| Nationalteam-Update: | 2 January 2021 |
Joshua Laws (born 26 February 1998) is an Australian professional footballer who plays as a center back, most recently for Swiss Super League side Grasshopper Club Zürich.
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]
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]
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.[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]
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.
He missed the beginning of the 2024–25 season due to an injury that required him to get surgery.[9] On 29 October 2024, he departed the club by mutual consent.[10] Outside of three games for the reserves, he played no minutes in his truncated second season with Grasshoppers.
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.[11]
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.[12] [13]
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.[14]
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.[15] [16]
Laws is left footed, and able to play in central midfield, central defence and left back.[2]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Fortuna Düsseldorf II | 2016–17 | Regionalliga West | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2017–18 | Regionalliga West | 6 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | ||||
| 2018–19 | Regionalliga West | 8 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 0 | ||||
| 2019–20 | Regionalliga West | 9 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 | |||
| Wellington Phoenix | 2020–21 | A-League | 14 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 0 | |||
| 2021–22 | A-League Men | 15 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 18 | 3 | |||
| 2022–23 | A-League Men | 21 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 24 | 0 | |||
| Total | 50 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56 | 0 | |||
| Grasshopper | 2023–24 | Super League | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 23 | 0 | ||
| 2024–25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Grasshopper II | 2024–25 | 1. Liga | 3 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 98 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 105 | 0 | |||