Morgan Marc Boyes (born 22 April 2001) is a Welsh professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a defender for club

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...

. Mainly a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, he can also play as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. He is a former Wales under-21 international.

Early life

Boyes was born in the Welsh city of

St Asaph St Asaph (; "church on the Elwy") is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and community (Wales), community on the River Elwy in Denbighshire, Wales. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census the community had a population ...

and moved to

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

in England at the age of five.

Club career

Liverpool

Boyes made his professional debut for

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 ...

on 17 December 2019, starting in the away match against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

in the

quarter-finals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

of the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

, which finished as a 5–0 loss. He scored an own goal in the match, after blocking a ball from

Ahmed Elmohamady Ahmed Eissa Elmohamady Abdel Fattah (; born 9 September 1987) is an Egyptian former professional footballer who played as a right-back. He currently works for Aston Villa in the club's commercial department. Elmohamady moved to Premier League ...

, to find it looped over the goalkeeper's head into the corner of the net. Boyes made another appearance for Liverpool in the 2019–20 season, as he appeared in stoppage time against

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

in the fourth round replay of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

. On 12 August 2020, Boyes joined

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

side

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Established in 1997, the current Flee ...

on a season-long loan. On 23 September, he made his debut for the Cod Army. Starting at left centre-back in a

Third round tie against Everton. He played the full match in a 2–5 defeat. He made kept his place in the squad for the next game. A 0–1 defeat against

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...

in the

. However, he would only make two more appearances before being recalled by Liverpool on 2 January 2021.

Livingston

On 4 January 2022, Boyes joined

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

side

Livingston Livingston or Livingstonemay refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North Am ...

on an 18-month contract, with an option of a further year.

Inverness

On 1 September 2023 Boyes joined

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

club

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

on a loan deal till the end of the 2023/24 season.

Greenock Morton

Following his departure from Livi, Boyes signed for

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the . The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greenock Morton in 1994 to celebr ...

St Johnstone

On 29 May 2025, Boyes signed for

club

on a two-year deal.

International career

Boyes has Wales caps at both under-19 and under-21 levels. In March 2021, he was called up to the

Wales national under-21 football team The Wales national under-21 football team, also known as the Wales U21s, is the national under-21 football team of Wales and is controlled by the Football Association of Wales. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championsh ...

, playing all 90 minutes in Wales's 2–1 defeat by

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

at Colliers Park,

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

on 26 March 2021. Manager

Paul Bodin Paul John Bodin (born 13 September 1964) is a Welsh former professional footballer and coach who is the coach of the Wales under-21 team. His son, Billy Bodin, is also a professional footballer. A former Chelsea youth team product, he moved ...

then selected a largely unchanged squad, including Boyes, for the side's Euro 2023 qualifying game against

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

on 4 June 2021.

Style of play

Boyes is a centre-back but has also been deployed as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

so far during his career. He has described himself as a "calm defender who likes to play and build up from the back.".

Joey Barton Joseph Anthony Barton (born 2 September 1982) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Barton made 269 appearances in the Premier League, including 130 for Manchester City; he was most recentl ...

, who managed Boyes during his loan spell at Fleetwood, described him as "a young player with plenty of potential".

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Liverpool *

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 ...

: 2018–19

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boyes, Morgan 2001 births Living people Footballers from St Asaph Welsh men's footballers Wales men's youth international footballers Wales men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football defenders Liverpool F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. players English Football League players Livingston F.C. players Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. players 21st-century Welsh sportsmen St Johnstone F.C. players