James Morrison (footballer)

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James Morrison
[1]
Personal information
Full name	James Clark Morrison
Date of birth	25 May 1986 (1986-05-25) (age 23)
Place of birth	Darlington, England
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	West Bromwich Albion
Number	27
Youth career
1998–2003	Middlesbrough
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2003–2007 2007–	Middlesbrough West Bromwich Albion	66 (3) 65 (7)
National team2
2008–	Scotland	05 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:47, 19 October 2008 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 21:25, 1 April 2009 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

James Clark Morrison (born 25 May 1986 in Darlington, County Durham) is an English footballer, currently playing for West Bromwich Albion. His ability to run with the ball at pace makes him an effective option through the middle, as an attacking midfielder, or more often as a right winger. Although he was English-born and has represented the various England junior sides, Morrison chose to play for Scotland at full international level.

Contents 1 Career 1.1 Club career 1.2 International career 1.3 Honours 2 References 3 External links

[edit] Career

[edit] Club career

A former pupil of Hummersknott School in Darlington, Morrison is a product of Middlesbrough's youth academy. He starred in Middlesbrough's FA Youth Cup winning side in 2003–04, putting in several eye-catching performances throughout the cup run, notably scoring in the final first leg 3–0 win against Aston Villa.

His initial outings in the first team displayed some promise too. He made his first-team debut on 3 January 2004, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 2–0 FA Cup victory against Notts County.^[1] His Premiership debut came four months later, when he replaced Stewart Downing in a 5–1 defeat away at Portsmouth on the final day of the 2003-04 season.^[2] Morrison's first European action for Boro was on 30 September 2004 in a UEFA Cup tie away at Banik Ostrava. He marked the occasion by scoring his first goal for the club, a last-minute equalizer that secured a 1–1 draw in the second leg and a 4–1 aggregate victory.^[3] On 19 March 2007, he was wrongly sent off in an FA Cup quarter-final replay against Manchester United for a tackle on Cristiano Ronaldo.His red card was later rescinded.^{[citation needed]} He started for Middlesbrough in the 2006 UEFA Cup Final.

On 7 August 2007, Morrison signed a four-year contract with West Bromwich Albion, for an initial £1.5 million fee. This fee could rise by a further £700,000, depending on Morrison's appearances for the Baggies. Middlesbrough will also receive 15% of any sell-on fee.^[4] Morrison made his Albion debut as a 2nd-half substitute in a 2–1 defeat away at Burnley on the opening day of the 2007–08 season.^[5] His first goal for the club was a second half winner in a 2–1 home victory over Blackpool on 23 October 2007,^[6] a strike that won him the West Bromwich Albion Supporters Club's Goal of the Season award.^[7] Morrison described it at the time as "the best goal I've scored in my career".^[8]

[edit] International career

Morrison played at every level for England apart from the full side. Along with Leicester's Steve Howard and Aston Villa's Gabriel Agbonlahor, Morrison was one of a number of English Premiership players identified in June 2007 as being eligible to play for Scotland.^[9] He qualifies to play for the team through his grandparents.^[10] Morrison later chose to represent Scotland, claiming that he felt his "opportunities with England will be limited".^[11]

After receiving international clearance from FIFA, Morrison joined up with the Scotland squad for training in August 2007.^[12] He was unable to make his debut in the friendly against South Africa however, due to injury.^[13] Morrison was named in the Scotland B squad to face the Republic of Ireland in November,^[13] but injury forced him to withdraw from the squad again.^[14]. He finally made his debut in the friendly against the Czech Republic in Prague, on 30 May 2008.^[15]

[edit] Honours

• FA Youth Cup: 2004; Runner-up 2003
• Football League Championship (II): 2008

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• James Morrison player profile at wba.co.uk
• James Morrison career stats at Soccerbase

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