Joseff John Morrell (born 3 January 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He is currently a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. Born in England, he represents the Wales national team internationally. He also is a club owner at Merthyr Town as part of the Merthyr Town FC Supporters Society.

Club career

Morrell began his career with

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

whilst attending The Castle School in Thornbury, and signed a professional contract with the club in December 2012 after turning down an offer from

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. He made his debut on 8 October 2013 in a 2–1

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

defeat against

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

. In August 2016 it was announced that Morrell would join

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

club

Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional association football club from Sutton, South London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Sutton started out playing in junior, ...

, initially on a one-month loan. He made his first appearance for the U's as a substitute coming on at 61' in a 3–1 victory over Lincoln City at

Sincil Bank Sincil Bank Stadium, known for sponsorship reasons as LNER Stadium, is a football stadium in Lincoln, England, which has been the home of Lincoln City since 1895. Previously, Lincoln City had played at the nearby John O'Gaunts ground since t ...

on 13 August 2016, Sutton's first win in English football's fifth tier in 16 years. One reporter described Morrell as having "had a great competitive debut overall". He made two further substitute appearances in home victories against

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

and

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an association football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 and from 1891 played home games at Moss Rose. It competed in the short ...

before returning to his parent club in early September 2016. On 24 February 2017, Morrell joined

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

on loan for a month. He made his debut as a 58th minute substitute during a 2–0 home loss to

Whitehawk Whitehawk is a suburb in the east of Brighton, England, south of Bevendean and north of Brighton Marina. The area is a large, modern housing estate built in a downland dry valley historically known as Whitehawk Bottom. The estate was originall ...

. On 30 August 2017, Morrell signed for

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...

on loan until January 2018. His first goal for the club came in a 3–0 win against

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

and scored three times in total for the club. On 27 June 2019, Morrell signed for Lincoln City on a season-long loan until May 2020. He scored his first goal in a dominant 5–1 win against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

on 14 January 2020, however it was later given as an own-goal for Josh Emmanuel. On 7 March 2020, Morrell played his final game for the Imps against

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

, due to the season being cancelled early because of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. In June 2020, Morrell was named Lincoln City's Player of the Season. In November 2019 he signed a new contract with Bristol City.

Luton Town

On 15 October 2020 Morrell joined Luton Town for an undisclosed fee.

Portsmouth

On 9 August 2021, Morrell joined

EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

Portsmouth for an undisclosed fee on a 3-year contract with a 12-month extension clause. On 21 January 2023, Morell scored his first goal for Portsmouth against Exeter City after 49 games and 13 league appearances in the 2022–23 season

International career

Morrell qualifies to play for

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

through his Welsh mother Sian. In October 2017, Morrell made his Wales U21 debut in a 3–1 victory against

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

. In August 2019, Morrell was named in the

squad ahead of their Euro 2020 qualifier against Azerbaijan. He made his senior international debut for

against Belarus on 9 September 2019. In May 2021 he was selected for the Wales squad for the delayed

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

tournament. In November 2022 he was named in the Wales squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

. Morrell made his

World cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

debut coming on as a late substitute against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in Wales' opening

2022 FIFA World Cup Group B Group B of the 2022 FIFA World Cup took place from 21 to 29 November 2022. The group consisted of national association football teams from England national football team, England, Iran national football team, Iran, the United States men's nationa ...

game, Morrell also came on as a substitute in the group stage game against England.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Portsmouth *

: 2023–24 Individual * Lincoln City Player of the Year: 2019–20

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morrell, Joe 1997 births Living people Footballers from Ipswich English men's footballers English people of Welsh descent Men's association football forwards Bristol City F.C. players Sutton United F.C. players Margate F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players Wales men's youth international footballers Wales men's under-21 international footballers Wales men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players 21st-century English sportsmen