IF THERE is one picture summing up Liam Lawrence's impressive contribution towards Stoke City's very recent history, it's the moment he truly re-ignited the club's promotion push in 2008, writes Martin Spinks.

Confined to the bench at Coventry because of injury, he was unleashed during the second half of a game pivotal to Stoke's eventual promotion three games later.

And it was Lawrence who escaped the clutches of the home defence to bury Stoke's 78th winner in a critical 2-1 victory – before immediately stripping to the waist and strutting his stuff in front of 3,000 delighted City fans.

Rarely have virile men and man-hungry women reached out in such unison towards a bare male torso.

Already a crowd favourite, Lawrence's popularity was now permanent following a moment he ranks as his joint favourite in a Stoke shirt alongside the Britannia's first-ever Premier League goal some three months later.

And no-one quibbled with his being declared player-of-the-year during those intoxicating promotion celebrations which would follow a few weeks after that iconic moment at Coventry.

His exploits since promotion have been more modest after struggling with both form and fitness for much of the past two seasons.

Tripping over his dog and damaging ankle ligaments just six games into Stoke's Premier League adventure was a curious little episode destined to set the tone for a largely frustrating two seasons ahead of this week's departure.

And it's a shaggy dog story he is sticking to, incidentally, in case you're still a little cynical about that one.

His own highlights since promotion would arguably feature more in the green of the Republic Of Ireland than the red and white of Stoke.

But Lawrence remained a familiar, popular and prominent member of a first-team squad safely securing mid-table respectability in each of its first two seasons in the top flight.

And while his manager would be the first to admit Lawrence was never slow to register his disappointment at being dropped, his effervescent winger was never guilty of rocking a boat which other players were more inclined to shove from time to time.

Widely acclaimed as one for the ladies – a reputation he might modestly dispute – Lawrence was also one for reporters, too.

In an age when players understandably watch what they say whenever a notebook or tape recorder appears, Lawrence remains a throwback to the good old days when players were more inclined to wear their heart on their sleeve.

There was certainly no biting of the tongue earlier this summer when openly admitting his desire to move north to join Celtic.

But tongue was firmly in cheek at the end of the 2008/09 campaign when, having just returned to action from an injury lay-off, he said he was so keen to continue his comeback that he might consider nipping over to Iceland and playing there during the close-season.

Whereupon a predatory website, which will remain nameless, missed the sarcasm completely and published a story headlined "Lawrence requests loan move to Iceland".

But even Lawrence kept his head down after his sending off at the end of a friendly in Austria two years ago just about capped an awful night's work for Stoke.

Tony Pulis tore a strip off his players during the coach journey back to the hotel and it didn't take Miss Marple to discover the whereabouts of a certain red-carded, red-faced winger ducking down on the back row of the bus.

In all, Lawrence netted a respectable 24 goals in 108 starts and 17 substitute appearances after his £500,000 switch from Sunderland in the autumn of 2006.

Those goalscoring highlights included a hat-trick at Barnsley on Boxing Day 2007 – climaxing with a 98th minute equaliser in a 3-3 draw – and plenty will also recall a thunderbolt winner at home to Ipswich in February 2008 and a crucial double as a 2-0 deficit was turned into a 3-2 home win over Scunthorpe.

And we will always remain grateful for that first Premier League goal at the Britannia – the penalty v Aston Villa – while the long-ranger at Hull to secure top-flight safety 15 months ago was a moment of unfettered joy to rank closely behind that iconic celebration at Coventry.

A crowd pleaser (for both sexes) and we'll all miss him.