Tom Morrison (footballer)

Thomas Kelly Morrison (21 January 1904 – 1973) was a Scottish footballer who played as a right half for St Mirren, Liverpool and Sunderland, and for the Scotland national team.

For other people named Tom Morrison, see Tom Morrison (disambiguation).
Tom Morrison
Personal information
Full name Thomas Kelly Morrison
Date of birth 21 January 1904
Place of birth Coylton, Scotland
Date of death 1973(1973-00-00) (aged 68–69)[1]
Position(s) Right half
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1921–1924 Troon Athletic
1924–1928 St Mirren 132 (11)
1928–1935 Liverpool 240 (4)
1935–1936 Sunderland 21 (0)
1936 Gamlingay United
1937 Ayr United 0 (0)
1938–1939 Drumcondra
Total 393 (15)
National team
1927 Scotland 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Morrison was born in Coylton, Ayrshire. He played for Troon Athletic and St Mirren. During his time in Paisley he was almost ever-present[2] and won the Scottish Cup in 1926.[3]

He was signed by Liverpool manager Matt McQueen in February 1928 for £4000[4] and made his debut on 11 February 1928 at Fratton Park in a Football League First Division match against Portsmouth, which ended with Portsmouth beating the Reds 1–0. His first goal came almost two years later on 13 December 1930 when he scored a first-minute goal at Highbury in a 1–1 draw with Arsenal. He was quoted in a 1929 newspaper article explaining in some detail his philosophy on the role of half-backs in football,[5] and in a 1931 article he praised the captaincy qualities of Anfield teammate James Jackson – by this time Morrison was Jackson's deputy in the role.[6] As at St Mirren, he was an near-constant presence in the Liverpool team between his arrival and summer 1934.[1]

However, the good discipline Morrison had displayed then waned dramatically; the club suspended him for unspecified reasons in August 1934[7] and his return to the team was then curtailed by appendicitis which required an immediate operation in November of that year,[8] with Ted Savage taking over the position. Morrison then disappeared altogether in February 1935, failing to report for a reserve team match which led the club to issue repeated suspensions in his absence.[9][10] He eventually returned, but did not play another first team match for Liverpool.[1][11]

He moved to Sunderland in November 1935, and the Black Cats went on to capture the English league title in 1936 with Morrison contributing 21 appearances.[12] At the end of the season he vanished once again, leaving his wife and child behind in Sunderland with no source of income. It transpired that he had been working as a fruit picker in Cambridgeshire and playing for Gamlingay United in the local amateur league under the pseudonym of 'Jack Anderson'.[13][14] He was arrested in December 1936 and appeared in court in Sunderland accused of leaving his wife and child chargeable to the public assistance committee, with the judge agreeing to dismiss the case when the relief funds paid to Mrs Morrison were refunded along with costs.[15]

Morrison went on to sign for Ayr United in summer 1937, but before playing a match for them he was charged with housebreaking, having broken into an unoccupied Ayrshire cottage following a bout of drinking with friends, living there for some time and eventually selling off the contents.[16][10] His registration was cancelled by Ayr United[17] and he moved to Ireland to play for Drumcondra, where his career was ended in March 1939 by a badly broken leg[18] for which he received a compensation payment at court some months later.[19] He worked as a coach in Ireland, and continued this back in England after World War II also working at the Greene King brewery in Biggleswade.[10]

International career

Morrison gained one cap for Scotland whilst he was with St Mirren; he played in a British Championship fixture against England at Hampden Park on 2 April 1927, watched by a crowd of 111,214. Scotland lost the match 2–1. He was also a member of a Scottish Football Association squad which toured North America in the summer of that year,[2] but the dozen matches he took part in did not include any official internationals.[20][21]

References
  1. Tom Morrison, LFChistory.net
  2. John Litster (October 2012). "A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players". Scottish Football Historian magazine. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. St Mirren's Victory | Celtic Lose Scottish Cup at Hampden, The Glasgow Herald, 12 April 1926
  4. Tom Morrison transferred to Liverpool, Evening Telegraph, 9 February 1928, via Play Up Liverpool
  5. Half-backs and the attack, Inverness Courier, 8 November 1929, via Play Up Liverpool
  6. Captaincy – and what it involves by Tom Morrison, Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 10 January 1931, via Play Up Liverpool
  7. Tom Morrison suspended for breach of discipline, Daily Worker, 23 August 1934, via Play Up Liverpool
  8. Tom Morrison operated for appendicitis, Sunderland Daily Echo, 13 November 1934, via Play Up Liverpool
  9. Morrison gone AWOL, Hull Daily Mail, 13 March 1935, via Play Up Liverpool
  10. Morrison update, Villagers: 750 Years Of Life In An English Village
  11. Morrison Tom Image 1 Liverpool 1928 Vintage Footballers
  12. Tom Morrison, TheStatCat
  13. An internationalist in Cambridgeshire…, Cambridge Independent Press, 11 December 1936, via Play Up Liverpool
  14. Hampden Park To Green End, Villagers: 750 Years Of Life In An English Village
  15. Tom Morrison charged for leaving wife and child, Dundee Courier, 7 December 1936, via Play Up Liverpool
  16. Ex-Liverpool player broke into house, Dundee Courier, 14 August 1937, via Play Up Liverpool
  17. Ayr United cancel Morrisons’s registration, Dundee Courier, 19 August 1937, via Play Up Liverpool
  18. Fractured leg for Tom Morrison, Falkirk Herald, 15 March 1939, via Play Up Liverpool
  19. Tom Morrison compensated for football injury, Falkirk Herald, 5 August 1939, via Play Up Liverpool
  20. Neil Morrison (4 January 2018). "British "FA XI" Tours: 1927 Tour of Canada by the Scottish FA". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  21. "Scottish Football Association Tour, 1927". Canadian Soccer History. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
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