Chris Morgan (footballer)

Chris Morgan
Personal information
Full name Christopher Paul Morgan
Date of birth (1977-11-09) 9 November 1977
Place of birth Barnsley, England
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position Defender
Youth career
Hoyland Common Falcons
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–2003 Barnsley 185 (7)
2003–2012 Sheffield United 247 (14)
Total 432 (21)
Teams managed
2013 Sheffield United (caretaker)
2013 - 2015 Sheffield United U21s

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Christopher Paul "Chris" Morgan (born 9 November 1977) is an English retired professional footballer who spent the majority of his career at Sheffield United. He is currently the first team coach at Chesterfield, and was previously a coach and caretaker manager at Sheffield United.

Playing career

Barnsley

He started his football career in 1996 with hometown club Barnsley, going on to make 212 appearances for the Tykes in six seasons, including their only ever season in the top flight in 1997–98.

Sheffield United

Morgan signed for Sheffield United on a free transfer in July 2003. He made his debut in the opening game of the 2003–04 season, a 0–0 draw against Gillingham at Bramall Lane.[1] He scored his first goal for the Blades in a 3–0 FA Cup 4th Round win at Nottingham Forest in January 2004.[2] Later that season, after Rob Page was transferred to Cardiff City, Morgan was an obvious replacement as club captain.

Morgan was made captain at the start of the 2004–05 season and in the 2005–06 season he captained the Blades to promotion to the Premier League, with the club returning the top flight after a 12-year absence. The Blades' stay in the top flight lasted just one season as they were relegated back to the Championship in controversial circumstances.

In April 2008, Morgan was sent off during the Blades' 2–0 win over Hull City, his sixth red card for the club. This gave Morgan the distinction of becoming the club's all-time most sent off player.[3]

In November 2008, during a match between Sheffield United and former club Barnsley, the Tykes' striker Iain Hume suffered a fractured skull when Morgan elbowed him as he was waiting for an aerial ball. Hume underwent emergency surgery and spent 48 hours in the high-dependency unit of a Manchester hospital with life-threatening injuries.[4] In May 2009, it was reported that Barnsley and Hume were considering legal action against Morgan, who described the period since the incident as "a test of character",[5] but this never materialised.

Coaching and managerial career

Morgan became Sheffield United's Reserve Team coach shortly after sustaining a serious knee injury in October 2010. During the 2011–12 season, while still a registered player but unable to play due to injury, he led United's Reserves to the Central League title. In July 2012, during the Blades' pre-season tour of Malta, Morgan announced his retirement from professional football as he had not appeared for the first team for almost two years and was now an established member of the coaching staff at Bramall Lane.[6] In April 2013, after the departure of manager Danny Wilson, Morgan was appointed as caretaker manager for the remainder of the 2012–13 season.[7] Despite United winning Morgan's first game in charge,[8] results did not significantly improve and they failed to clinch promotion, losing to Yeovil Town in the semi-final of the League One play-offs.[9] Despite publicly expressing his desire to take on the role on a permanent basis, Morgan was overlooked for the post of full-time manager in favour of former Scotland defender David Weir.[10] On 30 December 2015, Sheffield United announced that they had "reluctantly" released Morgan, and that he would be joining Chesterfield as first team coach.[11]

Managerial statistics

As of 22 October 2013.
TeamNationFromToMatchesWonDrawnLostWin %
Sheffield United (caretaker)  England 12 April 2013 10 June 2013 7 2 2 3 28.57
Sheffield United (caretaker)  England 11 October 2013 23 October 2013 3 1 1 1 33.33

Honours

Barnsley
Sheffield United

References

  1. ↑ "Sheff Utd 0–0 Gillingham". BBC Sport. 9 August 2003. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  2. ↑ "Forest 0–3 Sheff Utd". BBC Sport. 25 January 2004. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  3. ↑ "Morgan 'marked man' claim after red card". Sheffield Star. 22 April 2008. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
  4. ↑ "Hume moved to hospital ward". Sporting Life. 11 November 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
  5. ↑ "Sheffield United's Chris Morgan trying to 'keep himself together' after Iain Hume incident". The Daily Telegraph. 12 April 2009. Retrieved 6 August 2009.
  6. ↑ "Morgs calls time on playing days". Sheffield United FC Official Web Site. 24 July 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  7. ↑ "Club Statement". Sheffield United FC Official Web Site. 10 April 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  8. ↑ "Blades FT: Sheffield United 2 Swindon 0". Sheffield Star. 13 April 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  9. ↑ "Gutted, says Morgs". Sheffield United FC Official Web Site. 6 May 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  10. ↑ "David Weir: Sheffield United appoint Everton coach as boss". BBC Sport. 10 June 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  11. ↑ http://www.sufc.co.uk/news/article/20130707-chris-morgan-230942.aspx
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