You don’t see many South American International ‘keepers pitching up in the fourth tier of English football but that’s exactly what Leyton Orient got this January transfer window, in the shape of Lawrence Vigouroux.
Despite being born in North-West London, Vigouroux qualifies to play for Chile through his father and claims ‘he always felt Chilean growing up,’ especially watching the national team in the 1998 World Cup.
After representing ‘La Roja’ at youth level, the 26-year-old earned his first call up to Reinaldo Rueda’s squad in September 2018 for friendlies against Japan and South Korea, alongside the likes of Barcelona’s Arturo Vidal and former Inter Milan midfielder, Gary Medel. Understandably for Vigouroux and his family, this was a proud moment.
“Dream Come True”
“It was something we all dreamed about, we never thought it would happen playing in League Two, to get that call was a dream come true for us. You put a lot of sacrifice into your work and to get that is something that you can’t really imagine, especially because of the level I was playing at.”
Following his release from Swindon Town last summer, Vigouroux then made the move to his father’s homeland to sign for Everton de Viña, however he found games hard to come by for numerous reasons.
“It was tough. Due to the conversations I had before signing, I went there expecting to play, but things don’t always work out.
I went over there in the middle of the season and it was difficult, they were already fit and I was just coming off the end of our season here and I’d had a month off, so I was playing catch up from day one, plus the goalkeeper there was doing really well.”
Protests
His frustration at his own lack of game time was soon overshadowed by matters off the field though, as with six fixtures remaining, the Chilean league season was abandoned due to anti-government protests. The matter is clearly something that Vigouroux feels passionately about as he expressed his empathy towards the civil disobedience of his fellow countrymen.
“It started in October and games were just getting called off every week. They tried to restart the league again and again, but the people just weren’t having it, and what they were protesting against, in some context, I agree with.
They’re raising prices of train fares; in our money it’s probably only about 30p, but for someone that works five days a week Monday to Friday and gets the train to work, that’s 35/40% of his monthly wage if they’re on minimum wage, so I think they have a right to complain.
Maybe they could have gone about it differently, but then I think the government don’t listen if you go about it differently. It’s sad for the people because they’re still protesting now. I have family over there and they’re not rich either, they are part of the protests. I hope that something can get resolved in that sense.”
The combination of lack of playing time and missing his young family led Vigouroux to explore his options as he sought a return closer to home. Eventually, the former Liverpool man settled on Orient and the opportunity to once again work with a man he knew well – Head Coach, Ross Embleton.
“Respect”
“I’d speak to the boss most days, even when I was out in Chile, just to ask him how things were going, and he’d ask me how I was getting on. We’d always be in contact as he was my Assistant Manager at Swindon, and he was also with me at Tottenham, so we’ve always been close. He’s someone that I have a huge amount of respect for and he always said if the opportunity arose then it’d be something that we’d both want to do.
I spoke to a couple of other managers in England, but with the boss here I know him inside and out, he knows me inside and out, he knows how to get the best out of me and I feel like I can help him in that regard. I think it’s a great fit for both of us, so I’m really happy to be here.”
Vigouroux had to patiently wait to make his debut for the O’s, but he was eventually handed his first start in the 3-0 win over Stevenage. In doing so, he displaced Orient Academy graduate Sam Sargeant in the side, however he is effusive in his praise of the 22-year-old shot stopper.
“Brilliant”
“Sarge is a brilliant goalkeeper; he’s young and he loves coming into training. I think I need that. I look at him and there’s bits of his game that I want to learn, and I think there’s bits of my game that he would want to learn, so we can bounce off each other.
We have a good strong goalkeeping department. We both help each other and that’s the most important thing.”
You couldn’t blame the Chilean if he was setting himself ambitious goals, such as a return to the national side or indeed success with his new club. However, after travelling the globe and experiencing perhaps the most turbulent period of his career to date, he’d rather focus on matters closer to home.
“I think the most important thing for me is to enjoy my football, come in every day and spend as much time with my family as I can, whatever happens on the pitch happens. I only live 20 minutes away so I’m not far away at all. For me it’s a blessing that I can see my kids after training every day.”
