James Clark Morrison (born 25 May 1986) is a football coach and former professional

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest West Bromwich Albion midfielders in the club’s history. Morrison is currently a first-team coach at

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

, and played for

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

and

between 2004 and 2019. After representing various England junior sides, Morrison chose to play for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

at full international level. He made 46 full international appearances between 2008 and 2017.

Club career

Middlesbrough

Morrison was born in

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

, County Durham, and attended

Hummersknott School Hummersknott Academy is a secondary school in Darlington in the north east of England. It schools approximately 1,250 pupils aged eleven to sixteen. It has had specialist Language College status since 2005 and holds accreditations for Artsma ...

. He is a product of

's youth academy. He starred in Middlesbrough's

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

winning side in 2003–04, putting in several eye-catching performances throughout the cup run, notably scoring in the final first leg 3–0 win against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

. His initial outings in the first team displayed some promise as well. He made his first-team debut on 3 January 2004, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 2–0

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

victory against

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

. His Premiership debut came four months later, when he replaced

Stewart Downing Stewart Downing (born 22 July 1984) is an English former professional footballer. He played most of his career as a winger, where he operated predominantly on the left-hand side, though he could play on the right and go inside on to his stronge ...

in a 5–1 defeat away at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

on the final day of the 2003–04 season. Morrison's first European action for Boro was on 30 September 2004 in a

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

tie away at Banik Ostrava. He marked the occasion by scoring his first goal for the club, a last-minute equaliser that secured a 1–1 draw in the second leg and a 4–1 aggregate victory. Morrison started for Middlesbrough in the

2006 UEFA Cup Final The 2006 UEFA Cup Final was a football match that took place at Philips Stadion in Eindhoven, Netherlands on 10 May 2006 as the culmination of the 2005–06 UEFA Cup. The match was contested by Middlesbrough of England and Sevilla of Spain. Both s ...

against

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Gua ...

. On 19 March 2007, he was sent off in an FA Cup quarter-final replay against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

for a kick out at

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...

West Bromwich Albion

On 7 August 2007, Morrison signed a four-year contract with

, for an initial £1.5 million fee. This fee could rise by a further £700,000, depending on Morrison's appearances for the Baggies. Middlesbrough will also receive 15% of any sell-on fee. Morrison made his Albion debut as a second-half substitute in a 2–1 defeat away at

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

on the opening day of the 2007–08 season. His first goal for the club was a second half winner in a 2–1 home victory over

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

on 23 October 2007, a strike that won him the West Bromwich Albion Supporters Club's Goal of the Season award. Morrison described it at the time as "the best goal I've scored in my career". Morrison impressed in the first team throughout the 2008–09 season. He scored three goals in total over the course of the season, including his goals home and away against

. On New Years Day 2011, he scored a 20-yard volley in a 2–1 defeat against

. After numerous impressive displays, on 14 September 2012, Morrison signed a new four-year deal until 2016. For his performances in the 2014–15 season, Morrison won the official supporters player of the year award for the first time. On 23 August 2015, Morrison scored both of West Bromwich Albion's goals in a 3–2 home defeat to

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, the first two-goal haul of his career and an equalling of his goal tally for the previous season. Earlier in the game, he had a penalty saved by

Thibaut Courtois Thibaut Nicolas Marc Courtois (born 11 May 1992) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Real Madrid and the Belgium national team. He is considered one of the best goalkeepers in world football. Courtoi ...

. On 30 June 2016, Morrison signed a new two-year deal with West Brom keeping him at the club until at least the summer of 2018 with a one-year option. He further extended this on 3 August 2018, keeping him at the Hawthorns until 2019. He left the club after the 2018–19 season, with his final appearance coming in a play-off match against Aston Villa. Morrison said in September 2019 that he was considering retirement, having only received offers from lower league clubs during the summer. On 29 October 2019, Morrison announced his retirement from professional football.

International career

Morrison played at a number of youth levels for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Along with

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

Steve Howard Steven John Howard (born 10 May 1976) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker. Howard was usually cited as a typical target man and renowned for his aerial strength. Club career Early career Howard began his career at non- ...

and

Gabriel Agbonlahor Gabriel Imuetinyan Agbonlahor (born 13 October 1986) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward; he mostly played as a central striker, but he was also capable of playing on the wing. He spent his entire professional ...

, Morrison was one of a number of English Premier League players identified in June 2007 as being eligible to play for

. He qualifies to play for the team through his grandparents. Morrison later chose to represent Scotland, claiming that he felt his "opportunities with England will be limited". After receiving international clearance from

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

, Morrison joined up with the Scotland squad for training in August 2007. He was unable to make his debut in the friendly against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

however, due to injury. Morrison was named in the Scotland B squad to face the Republic of Ireland B team in November, but injury forced him to withdraw from the squad again. He finally made his debut in the friendly against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

in Prague, on 30 May 2008. He scored his first goal for Scotland in the 3–1 win against Wales on 25 May 2011 in the

Celtic Nations Cup Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

tournament in Dublin. He also scored for Scotland against England in the friendly game at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

on 14 August 2013.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player in October 2019, Morrison started working as a coach in the West Bromwich Albion academy. He was promoted to a first-team coaching role in December 2020, following the appointment of

Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (; born 19 October 1954), colloquially referred to as Big Sam, is an English association football, football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent most ...

as West Brom manager.

Career statistics

Club

International

:Source: :''Scotland score listed first, score column indicates score after each Morrison goal.''

Honours

Middlesbrough *

: 2003–04 *

runner-up: 2005–06 West Bromwich Albion *

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

: 2007–08; runner-up: 2009–10 Individual *

Player of the Year: 2014–15 *

SFWA International Player of the Year The Scottish Football Writers' Association International Player of the Year (often called the SFWA International Player of the Year) award is given to the player in the Scotland national football team who is seen to have made the best contributio ...

: 2011–12International Player of the Year

Scottish Football Writers' Association The Scottish Football Writers' Association (SFWA) is an association of Scottish football journalists and correspondents writing for newspapers and agencies. It was founded in 1965. Awards __NOTOC__ Every year the SFWA presents awards to outsta ...

. Retrieved 14 July 2021

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, James 1986 births Living people Footballers from Darlington English footballers England youth international footballers Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Association football midfielders Middlesbrough F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Association football coaches West Bromwich Albion F.C. non-playing staff English people of Scottish descent People educated at Hummersknott Academy