Steve Morris (born 2 November 1967) is a Scottish retired

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player and coach. Morris spent most of his career with the

Milwaukee Wave The Milwaukee Wave is an American professional indoor soccer team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1984, they have been the oldest continuously operating professional soccer team in the United States and are seven-time league champions, m ...

of the National Professional Soccer League, but he also played in the

USISL A-League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

and the first Major Indoor Soccer League.

Player

Youth

Born in Scotland, Morris moved to Canada with his family before eventually settling in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

. Morris graduated from

Evanston Township High School Evanston Township High School (ETHS) District 202, is a four-year public high school occupying a campus in Evanston, Illinois, a north suburb of Chicago along the Lake Michigan shore. ETHS was established in 1883 and serves the city of Evanston ...

where he was the 1986 Illinois High School Soccer Player of the Year. In 1997, Evanston Township High School inducted Morris into its Athletic Hall of Fame. In 1986, Morris entered Syracuse University. He was the 1986 Syracuse Orangeman Rookie of the Year, but low grades led to the loss of his athletic eligibility. He enrolled as a part-time student for the 1987–1988 academic year and raised his grades enough to return full-time in the fall of 1988. He rejoined the soccer team and played three consecutive seasons, setting numerous school scoring records. He graduated in 1991. In October 1993, the NCAA stripped Syracuse of all thirty-three victories during Morris' last three season when it was discovered that Syracuse head coach

Tim Hankinson Timothy Milledge Hankinson (February 18, 1955 – September 22, 2022) was an American soccer coach. He initially coached American college teams, before becoming head coach in Major League Soccer, as well as managing teams in Iceland, India, and ...

had violated NCAA rules by co-signing a loan with Morris. Morris is one of 22 college players to be part of the

40-40 club 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

, having both 40 goals and 40 assists in their college career.

Professional

In 1991, Morris trained with the

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

in England. He never appears in a league match. Morris then moved to Canada where he played for the Hamilton Steelers of the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (C ...

. That fall, Morris began his extensive indoor career with the

Wichita Wings The Wichita Wings were a professional indoor soccer franchise based in Wichita, Kansas. The Wings were admitted to the Major Indoor Soccer League as an expansion team on August 21, 1979.

of the Major Indoor Soccer League. On 17 December 1992, Morris signed with the

of the National Professional Soccer League. Morris played for the Wave every winter until his retirement in 2001. During those years, the Wave won the 1998, 2000 and 2001 championships. In 2002, the Wave retired Morris' jersey number. In addition to his indoor career, Morris also played for the

Chicago Stingers (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in the

1995 USISL Professional League The 1995 USISL Professional League was the higher of the two outdoor men's leagues run by the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues during the summer of 1995. Overview From its beginnings in 1986 as a semi-professional indoor league in the A ...

and the

Rockford Raptors The Rockford Raptors were an American soccer team based in Rockford, Illinois. The team began in the USISL and moved to the USISL Pro League in 1995. In 1999, the team was relegated to the Premier Development League. The Raptors are now a so ...

. On 5 August 1997, Morris signed with the

Milwaukee Rampage The Milwaukee Rampage are a former defunct professional American soccer team, that was located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which played in the A-League. History Founded in 1993 by Milwaukee area businessmen Dan Doucette and Jim Hock, the Rampage p ...

of the

. Morris won the league title with the Rampage that season.

Coach

In 2003, Morris served as an assistant coach with the

Milwaukee Wave United The Milwaukee Wave United was an American professional soccer team, which last played in the A-League, the American second division. The Wave United was formed and joined the A-League after the Milwaukee Rampage folded in 2002. The team announced ...

of the

USL A-League 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 ...

. That fall, he joined the

as an assistant for two seasons. In August 2006, the Chicago Storm hired Morris as head coach. Morris joined

Chicago FC United Chicago FC United, commonly called FC United, is an American soccer club in the Chicago metropolitan area. FC United fields youth teams for boys and girls, and a semi-professional team in USL League Two, the fourth-tier of American soccer. Yout ...

in 2017 and was the Academy Program Director for the club’s

MLS Next MLS Next (stylized as MLS NEXT) is a youth soccer league in the United States and Canada, that is managed, organized and controlled by Major League Soccer. It was introduced by the league in 2020. It is a successor to the U.S. Soccer Develop ...

program. Morris joined Bavarian United Soccer Club in 2022 as the Executive Director.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Steve Living people 1967 births Dayton Dynamo players Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) players Hamilton Steelers (1981–1992) players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2008) coaches Milwaukee Rampage players Milwaukee Wave players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players Rockford Raptors players Scottish footballers Scottish expatriate footballers Scottish football managers Scottish expatriate football managers Syracuse Orange men's soccer players A-League (1995–2004) players USL Second Division players Wichita Wings (MISL) players Men's association football forwards Men's association football midfielders Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate soccer players in Canada Soccer players from Illinois Sportspeople from Evanston, Illinois London Lasers players