David Laws was born in Sunderland on 13th November 1968 and had had trials for Wimbledon, Rotherham and Stockport, for whom he appeared in 1993-94. He had previously played for Murton Colliery Welfare for two seasons, finishing as top scorer in both seasons and was signed for a fee of £9,000 by Graham Carr in July 1995 from Bishop Auckland, for whom he had scored 36 goals in 1994-95, by Graham Carr . At the time the fee was thought to be quite a high price to pay for a player joining a club playing in the lower levels of the Southern League and questions were asked about the wisdom of such an outlay. But they were quickly answered as David scored twice on his debut - a friendly, at the Wessex Stadium, against Rushden and Diamonds. The game finished in a 2-2 draw and the 344 spectators witnessed the start of a goalscoring career that was to put him at the forefront of the many players who have graced the club over the past 100 years. As that season closed he finished well clear in the goal scoring charts, something he was to achieve in every season he spent with the 'Terras', prior to 2002-2003.he had finished well clear in the goalscoring charts. He was voted Player of the Year in 1995-96, he won he Southern League Golden Boot winner 1997-98 and was selected for the Doc Martens League squad to play the Football League in November 2001. At the end of the 2001-02 season, as Weymouth’s financial problems reached their peak, David moved to Newport (IOW) for a loan spell before was sold to Jewson Wessex League side, Eastleigh, for an undisclosed fee in August 2002. However his stay at Eastleigh was not to last the season as he returned to Weymouth on a free transfer in February 2003, following his release from the Hampshire club. For Weymouth this was a bonus as they had transferred him for £6000. At the end of the 2002-2003 season Laws left Weymouth and signed for Portland United but family and work commitments made it too difficult for him to continue in football and he announced his retirement from the game in September 2004.
In a total of 264 Southern League appearances, nine coming on as a substitute, he scored 149 goals, which is a record of a goal every 157 minutes played! This makes him the top scorer in Southern League fixtures in the club's history. Only Dave Massart 114 goals in 156 appearances (1951-56) and Marcel Gaillard with 111 goals in 219 appearances (1953-60) have topped the 100 mark in this competition. No player scored 100 plus goals in Weymouth's stay in the Conference league, but three players did top the century in the Western League - Farmer Haines 215 goals in 164 appearances, Tony Hobson (senior) 107 in 106 and Arthur Herridge 106 in 193.
In the appearance charts David Laws lies in 15th place in Weymouth's all time records, amongst those above him are Ian Hutchinson, John Waldock and Alex Browne. As for milestones that David achieved, his 100th appearance, in all competitions was on April 5, 1997 in a home Southern League match with Waterlooville when he scored a hat-trick in a 5-0 win. Number 200 came in the FA Trophy tie with Forest Green Rovers, again at the Wessex, on February 6, 1999 - sadly he did not score and the Terras lost 2-1.
He notched up his 300th game on February 16, 2002 when he came on as a substitute in the 7-1 Southern League defeat at Moor Green.On the 7th of May 2003 Weymouth honoured their striking legend with a testimonial match against Yeovil Town.
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