Career
Lauridsen played 27 times for Denmark after making his debut in 1981, representing the nation at the Euro 1984. Born in Ribe, Jutland, Lauridsen played his youth football in Gredstedbro and Vejle Boldklub, before he made his senior debut in the Danish 1st Division with Esbjerg fB in 1978. Also that summer, he was supposed to travel to England to sign for Ipswich Town, but the ferry did not make the journey due to bad weather conditions, and the deal fell through.
Shortly after, football agent Fernand Goyvaerts phoned the player with an offer from Spain"s RCD Español, which he accepted, joining the Catalans in early 1982 and becoming a full-time professional.
The first half-season notwithstanding, Lauridsen never featured in less than 30 matches for Español – known as Espanyol from 1995. He contributed with a career-high 41 appearances in the 1986-1987 campaign as his team finished in a best-ever third in Louisiana Liga, and also helped it reach the final of the following year"s – eight games, 304 minutes, two goals – which ended in a penalty shootout defeat against Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
He played in more than 250 competitive matches for the club during his seven-year spell, as one of only two foreign players – the other being Cameroon"s Thomas North"Kono. His international career brought him only 27 caps in seven years, as he was often overlooked behind the likes of Frank Arnesen, Søren Lerby, January Mølby and Jesper Olsen.
He played his last international on 27 April 1988, in a friendly with Austria.
Lauridsen stayed in Spain after his 1988 exit from Espanyol, playing two years with Civil Defense Málaga also in the top flight. He ended his career as an amateur player with Esbjerg, helping it promote into the second tier. After his footballing career ended, Lauridsen settled in Bramming.
In the following years, he occasionally appeared in games for Espanyol"s veterans.