Samuel Herbert Morris (23 October 1886 – December 1969) was an English 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 ...

who played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

as a

wing half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Club career

Early years

Morris joined First Division club

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

in 1906, but failed to make an appearance before departing the club at the end of the

1906–07 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

season. He moved to Southern League First Division club

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

in 1908. He remained at

Loftus Road Loftus Road is a football stadium in White City, London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers. In 1981, it became the first stadium in British professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf installed. This remained in ...

until joining divisional rivals

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

in 1911, after a short spell with

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. Morris remained with Rovers during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and left the club after the

armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...

, in 1919.

Brentford

Morris signed for Southern League First Division club

in 1919, after having guested for the club during the war. He made 37 appearances during what would be the club's final season of Southern League football and was kept on for the club's

debut Debut or début (the first public appearance of a person or thing) may refer to: * Debut (society), the formal introduction of young upper-class women to society * Debut novel, an author's first published novel Film and television * ''The Debu ...

season. Morris had to wait until 9 October 1920 to make his Football League debut, which came in a 0–0 draw with

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

. He made 27 appearances during the 1920-21 season and departed

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...

in May 1921, having made 64 appearances for the Bees.

Maidstone United

After leaving Brentford, Morris dropped into

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

to join Kent League club Maidstone United.

Personal life

Morris served as a

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

in the

Middlesex Regiment The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers Re ...

Football Battalion The 17th (Service) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment was an infantry battalion of the Middlesex Regiment, part of the British Army, which was formed as a Pals battalion during the Great War. The core of the battalion was a group of professional footbal ...

during the

. He was a motor car machinist by trade and later worked in

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

as an

ice rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...

foreman and

ice skate Ice skates are metal blades attached underfoot and used to propel the bearer across a sheet of ice while ice skating. The first ice skates were made from leg bones of horse, ox or deer, and were attached to feet with leather straps. These skates ...

grinder.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Sam 1886 births Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English men's footballers Brentford F.C. players English Football League players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Maidstone United F.C. (1897) players Men's association football wing halves Bristol Rovers F.C. players Military personnel from Birmingham, West Midlands Southern Football League players 1969 deaths Birmingham City F.C. players British Army personnel of World War I Middlesex Regiment soldiers Brentford F.C. wartime guest players Footballers from Handsworth, West Midlands Clapton Orient F.C. wartime guest players Date of death missing Kent Football League (1894–1959) players