Alan Lawson was born on 19 May 1948 in Kirkcaldy

Kirkcaldy

Kirkcaldy is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. The town lies on a shallow bay on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth; SSE of Glenrothes, ENE of Dunfermline, WSW of Dundee and NNE of Edinburgh...

 is a retired Scottish rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 player. He played scrum-half for Scotland

Scotland national rugby union team

The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...

 on 15 occasions between 1972 and 1980. He made his test debut Test debut for Scotland against France at Murrayfield

Murrayfield Stadium

Murrayfield Stadium is a sports stadium located in the west end of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Its all-seater capacity was recently reduced from 67,800 to 67,130 to incorporate the largest permanent "big screen" in the country though it still remains the largest stadium in Scotland and one...

 on 15 January 1972 and played his last match for Scotland when they played Wales at Cardiff

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...

 on 1 March 1980.

He is married to Linda, the daughter of the late rugby commentator Bill McLaren

Bill McLaren

William Pollock "Bill" McLaren CBE was a Scottish rugby union commentator, teacher, journalist and one time rugby player. Until his retirement in 2002, he was known as 'the voice of rugby'...

, and they have a son, Rory Lawson

Rory Lawson

Rory Lawson is a Scottish international rugby union player who currently plays for Gloucester Rugby as a Scrum Half. He attended Dollar Academy where he captained the school's 1st XV. After a number of years playing amateur rugby for Heriots he then took a professional contract with Edinburgh...

, who is also a Scotland rugby union international.