John Owen Morrison (born 8 December 1981) is a former 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 le ...

. Morrison played in the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

for

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí Shligigh) is an Irish professional football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 ...

and had three separate seasons for his hometown club

Derry City Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

. He also played for English sides

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...

and

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

, as well as

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

in Scotland.

Career

After playing as a youth with

in the

, he began his senior career with

during which he had a loan spell with

. After 55 league appearances and eight goals in just under five seasons with the club he joined their rivals

in 2003. He departed Sheffield United just five months later after refusing to sign a new contract after playing only eight league matches and joined

. He left Stockport after just over a year and joined

after an initial loan period. However, Morrison fell out of manager

Colin Todd Colin Todd (born 12 December 1948) is an English football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Esbjerg fB. As a player, he made more than 600 appearances in the Football League, playing for Sunderland, Derby County, ...

's plans and made only 32 league appearances for the club before being sacked in May 2006 due to breaches of discipline. He did though endear himself to Bantams fans by scoring a last gasp winner against former club Sheffield Wednesday in a Yorkshire derby in February 2005 that kept the club in the play off hunt before ultimately falling short. Morrison joined

in July 2006 after a successful trial and scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 draw with Rangers in August 2006 He has been

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

at Under-21 level and was last called up to the senior team in 2001 but was not capped. Morrison completed a week-long trial with Chinese side

Qingdao Zhongneng Qingdao Hainiu Football Club (, known as Hai-niu or literally Sea Bull) is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the China League Two division under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is ...

in February 2007 and was offered a contract. The move was cancelled and Morrison was initially offered a new one-year extension but rejected this. Morrison signed a new contract extension with The Pars a month later. After almost two years with the Pars, Morrison was returned to

by manager Stephen Kenny, whom he played under while at Dunfermline. However, in September 2008, only a few months after his return to the

Brandywell The Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium ( ga, Tobar an Fhíoruisce ) is a municipal football stadium with an adjoining greyhound racing track in Derry, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of League of Ireland team Derry City F.C. and (temporaril ...

, Morrison was released from his contract by mutual consent. In 2009, Owen Morrison was unveiled as one of two new players, the other being Stephen Parkhouse, joining

upon the return of

Paul Cook Paul Thomas Cook (born 20 July 1956) is an English drummer and member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. He was also called "Cookie" by his friends on the punk music scene. Early life and career Cook was raised in Hammersmith and atte ...

to the club. He scored his first goal for the Sligo in a 2–2 draw away to

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Dhroichead Átha Aontaithe) is a semi-professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches ...

. He was released at the end of the season. On 18 January 2010, Morrison signed for

Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...

until the end of the IFA Premiership season. Morrison signed with

F.C. New York F.C. New York was an American professional soccer team based first in Queens, New York City, and then Long Island, New York. The team played two seasons, starting in 2011 in the National Division of the USL Professional Division, the third tier ...

of the American

USL Pro The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

league on 18 March 2011, He scored his first goal for New York against Orlando City on 30 April 2011 to tie the game 1–1 but they eventually lost 2–1, on 28 June 2011, in the third round of the

US Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

against the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

, he opened the scoring with a wonderful shot from a 30-yard strike that blasted into the top of the net to give FC New York the lead, but they lost 2–1. Morrison left F.C. New York and rejoined

for the remainder of the 2011 season. He was later released during the 2012 League of Ireland season. On 23 February 2015 Morrison was charged with possessing a class A drug with intent to supply and possession of cocaine. He was also charged with handling a car stolen in the Republic of Ireland, with no insurance and no licence.Former Wednesday and United player in court over drugs charges

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, Owen Living people 1981 births Association footballers from Northern Ireland Association football wingers Premier League players English Football League players Scottish Premier League players League of Ireland players USL Championship players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Derry City F.C. players Sligo Rovers F.C. players Portadown F.C. players F.C. New York players

Career

See also

References

External links