Date / Year of birth: 22nd October 1984

Position: Centre-back / Right-back

Season of first appearance: 2010/11

Season of last appearance: 2012/13

Also played for: Gillingham (0), Dover Athletic, Altrincham, Chorley, Ramsgate and Boulogne-Billancourt (France)

Canterbury-born defender who started out in Gillingham's junior ranks. Laurence played in the Gills' youth team alongside future Margate player Mark Green during the 2001/02 and 2002/03 campaigns and in November 2002 he went in goal for an hour of a 7-1 defeat at Manchester City in the FA Youth cup after Gillingham's keeper went off injured.

Having been released by the Gills Laurence joined Dover in the summer of 2003 and he stayed with the club until his university studies took him to the north of England early in the 2004/05 season.

Laurence then joined Altrincham and went on to spend the remainder of 2004/05 there as well as the 2005/06 and 2006/07 campaigns, mostly playing in the reserves. At the start of 2007 he also had a loan spell with Chorley.

Laurence returned to Kent in the summer of 2007 and rejoined Dover, starting the 2007/08 season in their reserves. By then they were in Division 1 South of the Isthmian League.

Towards the end of October 2007 he was loaned to Isthmian League Premier Division outfit Ramsgate and Laurence played eight times for the Rams. He also scored for their reserves in a 5-4 win over Margate Reserves at Hartsdown Park on 3.11.07.

After going back to Dover early in 2008 Laurence established himself in the first team and he ended 2007/08 having scored once from 20 Division 1 South outings. During the 2008/09 campaign he made 31 league appearances and scored four goals as Dover won Division 1 South to gain promotion to the Premier Division.

In the summer of 2009 Laurence rejoined Ramsgate but he ended up not making any appearances for the Rams senior side due to studying for a Master's degree at Oxford University. He played for the university's football team and at the start of May 2010 Laurence scored in a penalty shoot-out as Oxford beat Cambridge in the 126th Varsity Match after the match finished 1-1 after extra time.

Later in May 2010 he signed for Margate having completed his studies and manager Iain O'Connell told the Isle of Thanet Gazette "I've signed him on recommendation. John Keister played with him at Dover and I spoke to Andy Hessenthaler and he said he's a brilliant player."

On the eve of the 2010/11 season Iain O'Connell spoke about Laurence to the Isle of Thanet Gazette and said "Oxford graduate and an excellent player. But with all that intelligence you'd think he'd remember to wear his seatbelt. Got pulled over the other night and was a lucky boy. I ended up with a £60 fine once !"

Laurence made his debut at centre-back on 21.8.10 as Margate drew 2-2 with Canvey Island in an Isthmian League Premier Division match at Hartsdown Park and the Thanet Times said he made a "confident start at the back". From then on he was a fixture in the side.

On 30.8.10 Laurence scored what the Isle of Thanet Gazette called a "bizarre own-goal" as Margate entertained Maidstone and the paper explained "The Blues centre-half misjudged a header from Andy Walker's giant drop-kick and turned in horror as the ball sailed into his own net". However the paper added "to be fair, a call from goalie Jamie Turner to leave the ball would have solved everything". The error gave Maidstone the lead and the match eventually ended as a 1-1 draw.

The Thanet Times said Laurence was "Blues' best player" in its report on a 1-1 draw with visitors Kingstonian in the FA Cup on 25.9.10 and the Isle of Thanet Gazette said he "never put a foot wrong" in a 1-1 draw at Tonbridge on 9.11.10.

On 1.2.11 Laurence scored his first goal for Margate in a 2-1 defeat at AFC Hornchurch when he knocked home a loose ball after former Margate keeper Darren Behcet dropped a James Rogers corner and on 8.2.11 he was on target again as Margate won 3-1 at Carshalton. Once again Laurence found the net from close-range in the aftermath of a James Rogers corner and afterwards he told Margate's website "It's about time really. I think I've been up for almost every corner this club has had this season and I hadn't scored any ! But that's what happens isn't it ? They're like buses; they all come along at once. So hopefully, I'll get a few more."

Laurence continued to play a key role in Margate's defence for the next few weeks but after a 2-1 defeat at Bury on 15.3.11 he picked up an injury which ruled him out of the last nine games of the season. He finished the 2010/11 campaign having scored twice from 38 appearances.

A few days before the start of the 2011/12 season manager Chris Kinnear spoke about Laurence to the Isle of Thanet Gazette and said "He can play anywhere across the back four but he's likely to start at right-back with Mark (Corneille) out injured. An experienced player even though he's still quite young."

On 20.8.11 Laurence wore the number two shirt as Margate drew 1-1 at Wealdstone in their opening Isthmian League Premier Division match but he went off with a head injury ten minutes from time. He recovered to continue at right-back in Margate's next two games before switching to centre-back for a 2-2 draw at Hastings on 29.8.11.

Laurence also wore the number five shirt in Margate's next two matches and the Thanet Times said he was "comfortably Blues' best player" in a 2-0 home defeat against Hendon on 10.9.11 and "did all the bread and butter things well at centre-half". He then reverted to right-back for the next six months.

The Isle of Thanet Gazette said Laurence was man-of-the-match in a 2-0 defeat at Lewes on 1.11.11 and the Thanet Times praised him for a "superb last-ditch challenge" that prevented a certain goal in a 1-1 draw with Canvey Island at Hartsdown Park on 3.12.11.

On 27.12.11 Laurence was forced off with a head injury in a 4-2 defeat against Cray at Bromley and he had to go to hospital to have a severe cut glued. As a result he sat out a game at Aveley on 31.12.11 and that was the only match Laurence missed all season.

After a long run at right-back he switched to centre-back again in a 0-0 draw with visitors Leatherhead on 10.3.12 and the Thanet Times said Laurence "looked nice and solid". He spent the rest of the campaign in the number five shirt and finished the season having made 53 appearances without scoring.

Laurence started Margate's first five games of the 2012/13 campaign at centre-back but shortly after he'd played in a 2-0 win at Bognor Regis on 1.9.12 he fractured a finger. The injury ruled Laurence out for several weeks.

He returned to action as Margate took on Sittingbourne in a Kent Senior Cup tie at Hartsdown Park on 2.10.12 and scored in a 6-1 win. Laurence then played regularly again for the next two months but a 3-1 home win over Carshalton in the Isthmian League Premier Division on 11.12.12 turned out to be his last outing for Margate. Shortly afterwards Laurence broke his wrist and Chris Kinnear told the Isle of Thanet Gazette "Laurence has a nasty break on his wrist which is keeping him out. It's a shame as he's been a big player for us and had formed a really good partnership with John Beales at the back."

In January 2013 Laurence moved to Paris with his partner and told Margate's website "Coming back for games was something we considered, but having moved here this weekend things have started to happen in terms of finding work and generally settling in which has made me think it's impossible for me to make any commitment about playing. I am sad to leave - the people at the club are fantastic. I'll come to games when I'm back in England so I can say hello and support the boys." He'd scored once from 18 appearances during 2012/13.

In August 2013 Laurence watched Margate's home game against Harrow and at that time he was playing for Paris-based club Boulogne-Billancourt.

In March 2014 Laurence rejoined Ramsgate after returning to the UK and the Division 1 South club's caretaker manager Dean Hill said "Bally is an experienced defender that has been brought in to help organise the defence, and this together with his excellent positional sense will help with the rebuilding of the team."