Dickie Morris

Richard "Dickie" Morris (born 1 January 1879[2]) was a Welsh footballer who played as an inside forward. He made 87 appearances in the Football League for Liverpool, Leeds City and Grimsby Town. He also played in the Southern League for Plymouth Argyle and Reading. He was capped eleven times by the Wales national team, scoring one goal. Morris served the British Army as a soldier during the Second Boer War.

Dickie Morris
Morris as a Liverpool player
Personal information
Full name Richard Morris[1]
Date of birth (1879-01-01)1 January 1879
Place of birth Newtown, Wales
Date of death Unknown
Position(s) Inside forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1902 Newtown ? (?)
1902 Druids ? (?)
1902–1905 Liverpool 38 (5)
1905–1906 Leeds City 25 (5)
1906–1907 Grimsby Town 24 (7)
1907–1908 Plymouth Argyle 35 (9)
1908 Reading ? (?)
1908–1909 Huddersfield Town ? (?)
Total 122 (26)
National team
1902–1908 Wales 11 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Early life

Morris was born in Newtown.[1] He joined the British Army when he was a teenager and saw active service in the Second Boer War, which took place between 1899 and 1902.[3] When the conflict was nearing its end, Morris returned to Wales to begin his football career.

Club career

He signed with Newtown, who were a founding member of the Football Association of Wales, and was called up to win a first cap for his country soon after joining the club.[3] In March 1902, he left Newtown in order to join Druids, however his time with the club was brief and by the end of the month he had signed for Football League First Division champions Liverpool.[4][5] Described in a club programme as "one of the trickiest players who ever kicked a ball",[5] Morris made his debut in a 1–0 home win against Bury on 19 April.[6] Over the next three years, Morris made 38 league appearances for Liverpool, scoring five goals.[4] Two of them came in a Merseyside derby against Everton on 10 October 1903,[4] which earned them a point in a 2–2 draw at Anfield.[7] The club was relegated at the end of that season and Morris was restricted to seven league appearances in the next campaign, where the club won promotion back to the First Division as Second Division champions.[5]

In the summer of 1905, Morris left Liverpool to sign for newly elected Football League club Leeds City.[1][3] The Yorkshire Post hailed his signing as a major coup, describing him as a "clever exponent of the forward game".[3] He made his debut in a 1–0 defeat at Bradford City on 2 September 1905,[8] and scored his first goals for the club three weeks later in a 3–1 win against Hull City at Elland Road. "Singleton and Morris were a capital left wing pair," said the Yorkshire Post.[3] On 7 October, he scored four goals as City defeated Morley 11–0 in the first qualifying round of the FA Cup.[3][9] In March 1905, Morris became the first Leeds City player to appear in a senior international when he won his ninth cap for Wales.[3] Having made 31 league and cup appearances during the 1905–06 campaign, scoring ten goals,[10] he left the club in June to sign for Grimsby Town.[1]

In his one season with Grimsby, Morris scored seven goals in 24 Second Division matches,[1] and his form for the club earned him a recall to the Wales squad in February 1907.[3] He joined his fourth professional club in the summer of 1907 when he signed with Southern League side Plymouth Argyle.[1][11] He made his debut in a 1–0 win at Northampton Town on 2 September and scored his first goal in a 4–0 win at Crystal Palace twelve days later.[12]:210–211 In April 1908, Morris became the first Plymouth Argyle player to be capped in a senior international.[12]:374[13][14] At the end of the 1907–08 season, Morris moved on again, having helped the club finish second in the Southern League. He made 37 appearances in all competitions for Argyle, scoring 10 goals.[12][15] He had a brief spell with Reading in 1908 before joining newly founded North Eastern League club Huddersfield Town.[1] Having spent one season in Yorkshire, Morris retired at the end of the 1908–09 campaign.[3]

International career

Morris received his first call-up to the Wales national team in February 1902.[3] He won his first cap in a 3–0 defeat against Ireland on 22 February at Arms Park.[16] He retained his place in the side for their next match a few weeks later, a 0–0 draw with England, where Dick Roose saved a penalty for the Welsh.[3][17] He made six more appearances over the next two years before losing his place in the squad. He was recalled in March 1906 and played in a 2–0 win against Scotland at Tynecastle.[18] He scored his first goal for Wales the following year in a 3–2 win against Ireland on 23 February 1907 which helped the team win their first British Home Championship title. His final appearance came on 11 April 1908 in a 1–0 defeat to Ireland at Aberdare Athletic Ground.[13][19]

References
  1. Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 190. ISBN 1-899468-67-6.
  2. See talk page
  3. "Dickie Morris – City's first international". Mighty Leeds. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  4. "Richard Morris". Liverpool. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  5. "Richard Morris". LFC History. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
  6. "Liverpool 1–0 Bury". Liverpool. Archived from the original on 4 September 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
  7. "Liverpool 2–2 Everton". Liverpool. Archived from the original on 4 August 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
  8. "2 September 1905 - Bradford City 1 Leeds City 0". Mighty Leeds. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
  9. "The FA Cup Archive". The Football Association. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
  10. "Leeds City Players Details : No.10 : Morris, Richard (Dickie)". Leeds United F.C. History. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
  11. Tonkin, W. S. (1963). All About Argyle 1903–1963. Plymouth: E. J. Rickard Ltd. pp. 12–13.
  12. Knight, Brian (1989). Plymouth Argyle Complete Record 1903–1989. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 0-907969-40-2.
  13. Danes, Ryan (2009). Plymouth Argyle The Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-85983-710-8.
  14. Davies, Gareth; Garland, Ian (1991). Who's Who of Welsh International Soccer Players. Bridge Books. pp. 146–147. ISBN 1-872424-11-2.
  15. "Richard Morris". GoS–DB. Greens on Screen. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  16. "Wales 0-3 Ireland". Welsh Football Data Archive. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
  17. "Wales 0–0 England". Welsh Football Data Archive. Archived from the original on 29 April 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
  18. "Scotland 0–2 Wales". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
  19. "Wales 0–1 Ireland". Welsh Football Data Archive. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
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