Fred Morris (soccer player, 1893)

Fred Morris
Personnel
Surname	Frederick Morris
birthday	August 27, 1893
place of birth	Tipton ,  England
date of death	July 12, 1962
Place of death	Tipton ,  England
position	striker
Juniors
Years	station
	Great Bridge Primary School
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
	Ball Street Primitives
	Tipton Victoria
	Redditch Town
1911-1924	West Bromwich Albion	263 (112)
1924-1925	Coventry City	22 00(8)
1925-1930	Oakengates Town
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1920	England	2 00(1)
1 Only league games are given.

Frederick "Fred" Morris (born August 27, 1893 in Tipton ; † July 12, 1962 there ) was an English football player . Mostly in the left half- forward position , the two-time England international was active for many years for West Bromwich Albion and, as the top scorer in the 1919/20 season, was largely responsible for winning the first English championship in the club's history of the "Baggies".

Professional career

In the club

Technically adept, well-built, fast-paced and equipped with a good sense of the "game without the ball", Morris, who was already considered highly talented at a young age, initially prevailed in the B-Elf of West Bromwich Albion in the 1911/12 season . He made his debut on April 13, 1912 against Sunderland AFC for the first team of the first division and immediately scored the only goal of the game. By the end of the season he was five more times in the First Division and scored two more goals against Blackburn Rovers (1: 4) and The Wednesday (1: 5) - albeit only "cosmetic results" . To the finals of his club in the FA Cup in 1912, he did not contribute anything; in no round he was considered by coach Fred Everiss .

Contrary to his later position as a left half- forward , Morris acted at the beginning of his career as a representative of Bob Pailor more often in the attack center; With his good scoring qualities, he came in 19 league games of the 1912/13 season to nine goals, making him the second best goalscorer of his club behind Pailor. In addition, he won the " Birmingham & District League " with the second team in 1913 . From December 1913 he gradually conquered his half-left position and his final sporting breakthrough came in the 1914/15 season. Despite the somewhat withdrawn post, he was the most accurate player in his team with eleven goals in 28 league games. The outbreak of the First World War stood in the way of further developments after this “initial spark” . The official game operations of the Football League paused until the 1919/20 season. Morris himself served his country in native Ruislip and Bookham ; for this he was stationed in France. During this time he was a "guest player" in the teams of Watford , Tipton Excelsior and Fulham - he scored a total of 24 goals for the latter club.

After resuming gaming operations in 1919, Morris delivered the best sporting year of his professional career . Not only did he win the English championship with West Bromwich Albion for the first time in club history ; in addition, he contributed 37 league goals and was the top scorer in the First Division. His extremely effective interaction on the left with Howard Gregory was particularly impressive . In the following years, this success could not be repeated, but Morris stayed in the double-digit range in the subsequent three seasons with 16, 11 and 14 goals and was again the club's most accurate shooter in the 1920/21 season. The team was mostly placed in midfield and when the 18-year-old Charlie Wilson was increasingly contesting his place in the middle of the 1923/24 season , Morris left the club in August 1924 after a total of 287 competitive games and 118 goals. He was then the first West Bromwich Albion player to reach and exceed the 100 league goals mark.

After a 1924/25 season with third division Coventry City , when he again scored eight goals in 22 championship matches, Morris let his career fade to 1930 at the lower-class Oakengates Town.

Selection teams

Morris had already been in English youth teams in 1911. Then, after a good club season in 1914/15, the outbreak of World War I stood in the way of a possible further development in the English senior team . Only after resumption of play and at the zenith of his sporting career during the championship season 1919/20 did he make his debut on April 10, 1920 for England against Scotland . He scored a goal for a 5-4 victory. It was followed on October 23, 1920, a second and final appearance for the "Three Lions" against Ireland (2-0), but he missed out. Other representative appearances were limited to a selection team of the Football League.

After the sporting career

Back in his native Tipton, Morris stayed largely away from professional football after the end of his active career. He pursued a civil profession and died there shortly before his 69th birthday in July 1963.

Title / Awards

• English master : 1920
• Top scorer in the highest English football league: 1920

literature

• Matthews, Tony: West Bromwich Albion - The Complete Record . Breedon Books, 2007, ISBN 978-1-85983-565-4 , pp. 126-127 .
• Joyce, Michael: Football League Players' Records. 1888 to 1939. 4Edge, 2004, ISBN 1-899468-67-6 , pp. 189 .

Web links

• Statistics in the England team (Engl.)