Seymour Morris (15 February 1913 – October 1991) was a

Welsh international The Welsh International is an international badminton championship held in Wales since 1928 and is thereby one of the oldest badminton tournaments in the world. The tournament was halted during World War II and until 1956, between 1960 and 1966, a ...

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 ...

who played as an

outside left Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. He won five full

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for his country and played for

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

and

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

Biography

Morris was born in

Ynyshir Ynyshir () is a village and community located in the Rhondda Valley, within Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. The name of the village means "long island" in Welsh and takes its name from a farm in the area, falling within the historic parishes o ...

, Glamorgan. On leaving school he became a miner, and then joined the army, serving in the

Welch Regiment The Welch Regiment (or "The Welch", an archaic spelling of "Welsh") was an infantry regiment of the line of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1969. The regiment was created in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of ...

. While stationed near

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

he played football for

Welsh League The Welsh League was the first club rugby league competition in Wales.Lush (1998), pg. 19 Its inaugural season was in 1908/09 when four additional teams were formed to join Ebbw Vale RLFC and Merthyr Tydfil RLFC, which allowed a league tournamen ...

side Aberaman Athletic, where he was noticed by bigger clubs. He turned professional, signing for

in 1933. Unable to establish himself as a regular first-team player at Huddersfield, he moved to fellow First Division club

in March 1935. At Birmingham he was used in his preferred position on the left wing, but still took another eighteen months to supplant Billy Guest as first choice in that spot. He was the club's top scorer in 1936–37, with 15 league goals (16 in all competitions), but this was the only year in which injury and international duty allowed him to play anything approaching a full season. During the Second World War he serviced aircraft at Elmdon aerodrome and made occasional appearances for Birmingham, playing his last game for the club in April 1945. He won five full caps for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. On his international debut he scored the opening goal in a 2–1 victory over

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Ninian Park Ninian Park was a football stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovations during its lifespan and hosted fixtu ...

on 17 October 1936, which was the first time England had lost in Wales for more than 50 years. Wales went on to win the

Home International Championship The British Home Championship * sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp * gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta * cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...

that season, the last time they won it outright. When he retired from playing football he returned to Wales and worked in a tool factory in

Crickhowell Crickhowell (; cy, Crucywel , non-standard spelling ') is a town and community in southeastern Powys, Wales, near Abergavenny, and is in the historic county of Brecknockshire. Location The town lies on the River Usk, on the southern edge ...

, where he coached the works football team. Later he and his wife ran a children's home. He died in October 1991, aged 78.

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Seymour 1913 births 1991 deaths People from Rhondda Welsh men's footballers Men's association football wingers Wales men's international footballers Aberdare Town F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players English Football League players Date of death missing Place of death missing 20th-century British Army personnel Welch Regiment soldiers