Welsh international striker Steve Morison joined Norwich for
a reported £2m+ fee from Millwall on 6th June 2011, signing
a three year deal.
Morison began his career at Northampton aspart of the club's
youth system after a successful trial period with the club, having
also spent time on trial at Leicester City. When Morison turned
18, he signed a two-year professional contract with Northampton.
He impressed manager Kevan Broadhurst and subsequently made his
debut at the end of the 200102 season in a 22 draw
against Cambridge United.
After 24 games for the Cobblers, scoring five goals, he was released
by manager Colin Calderwood and joined Conference South side Bishop's
Stortford for an undisclosed fee. He scored on his debut in a
11 draw against Redbridge. He also helped Stortford reach
the FA Trophy semifinal and Morison finished the season
as the club's top goalscorer, as well as finishing as the 200405
FA Trophy top goalscorer
He started the 200607 season by scoring three goals in
four games for Stortford, before joining Conference National side
Stevenage Borough on a two-year deal in August 2006 for a "small
four figure fee. He had made 45 appearances for Stortford, scoring
twenty eight goals. He scored on his Stevenage debut in a 32
defeat against Crawley Town, also having a goal disallowed in
the same game. He continued his goalscoring form at his new club
by scoring a hat-trick against Morecambe in a 33 draw at
Christie Park, and then a brace two days later against Forest
Green Rovers
He went on to make 152 appearances for Stevenage, scoring 89
times. Stevenage won the FA Trophy in both 2006/7 and 2008/9.
He joined Millwall in May 2009, with a fee of £130,000
being agreed for the transfer. He made his debut for Millwall
in the opening game of the 200910 season, starting in the
club's 11 draw with Southampton; providing the assist for
Millwall's equaliser. A month later, he scored his first goal
for Millwall in a 31 victory over Huddersfield Town. He
scored his 23rd goal of the season in Millwall's 20 win
against Huddersfield Town as Millwall progressed to the League
One play-off final, where they beat Swindon Town 10 at Wembley
Stadium
In 2010/11, Millwall competed in the Championship and Morison
scored 17 goals in 43 appearances, earning the interest of bigger
clubs and the subsequent transfer to Norwich.
Morison was called up to the England C team, who represent England
at non-League level, in November 2006, scoring in a friendly against
Holland. Morison played a total of eight times for the England
C side, scoring three times, before his age meant that he was
ineligible to be selected
In May 2010, it was identified that Morison was eligible to represent
Wales due to Welsh ancestry as his grandmother was born
in Tredegar, near Ebbw Vale. In July 2010, Wales boss John Toshack
named Morison in the Wales squad for a friendly against Luxembourg
in Llanelli on 11 August 2010. On being called up to the Wales
squad, Morison said "It's a fantastic achievement and it
feels good to be recognised for my hard work". Morison subsequently
started in Wales' 51 victory against Luxembourg, playing
the whole match and assisting Ashley Williams' goal.
Morison made his Norwich debut in the opening day of the season
clash at Wigan (13th August 2011) which Norwich drew 1-1; Morison
providing the cross for Wes Hoolahan's
equaliser. Morison scored his first Norwich goal in the 2-1 home
win over Sunderland on 26th September 2011. Morison finished the
2011/12 season with 37 appearances and 10 goals as Norwich finished
12th in the Premier League
On 31st January 2013, Morison joined Leeds United as part of
the deal that brought Luciano Becchio
to Carrow Road. Norwich paid an undisclosed fee on top of the
Morison-Becchio swap. Morison had scored 12 goals in 59 appearances
for City.
"I'm absolutely delighted that we've been able to bring
Steve in," said Leeds manager Neil Warnock. "Even
before Luciano put in his transfer request we had enquired about
Steve - he was at the top of my list in January to bring in -
and I can't tell you how delighted I am. Steve meets all the requirements
of the striker we've been looking to bring in. For me, he is a
player who has everything. He can score goals from anywhere -
whether it's 25 yards or a tap-in - he has pace, and he has all
the attributes you want."
In July 2013, Steve rejoined Millwall on a season long loan from
Leeds
Morison returned to Millwall on 4th August 2015 signing a one
year contract.
Morison scored the only goal, in the 85th minutes, in the League One play-off final against Bradford on 20th May 2017, securing the Lions' promotion to the Championship. It was his 19th goal of the season (in 50 appearances).
On 19th June 2019, Morison joined Shrewsbury on a season-long loan. The 35-year-old Millwall legend, who scored 92 goals for the club in 336 appearances, has a further year to run on his Lions deal but now appears to have played his last game for the club. "It was a sad day to leave Millwall," said Morison. "However, I wanted to join what Sam Ricketts is doing here. The opportunity has come up here and he's been well backed by the chairman." On 8th August 2019, the loan was turned into a one year deal. This freed up another loan for the League One club, who had used four of their permitted five loan signings.
Morison announced his retirement on 18th October 2019 and took up a coaching role with Northampton's Academy. He had played eight times for Shrewsbury. He said "I'd like to thank the Shrewsbury chairman Roland Wycherley, chief executive Brian Caldwell, and manager Sam Ricketts, for being so understanding regarding my situation,"
On 10th February 2020, Morison teamed up again with his former Millwall striking partner Neil Harris, now managing Cardiff City. Morison was appointed as the lead coach for the club's Under-23 side woking alongside Tom Ramasut. Harris said "I'm really pleased. Steve has got great leadership. He was my club captain at Millwall and he's been qualified with his A Licence (coaching badge) and doing his Pro Licence for a period now. He has always wanted to coach and he's someone I know, and he knows what I want how I want to work, and he knows my thought process in terms of bringing young players through. He also knows I'll only play the young players when they are ready. We want to give a pathway. We want to show a club philosophy that I believe in, that young players if they're good enough get the opportunity to come through. It should excite the fans. They ultimately want to see Cardiff City fans playing in the first team. They want to see homegrown players. Everybody wants to see them come through. We aren't going to see four or five of them in the first team next season but, in two or three years' time, we might get to that scenario but that's got to be the aim."
On 23rd October 2021, Cardiff sacked manager Mick McCarthy after eight straight defeats. Morison and Tom Ramasut were placed in charge of first team duties whilst the club began the process of recruiting a permanent replacement. Morison’s first game saw Cardiff come back from 3-0 down to get a draw at Stoke. This was followed by a win over Huddersfield. Cardiff’s improved performances and attractive play saw Morison handed the manager’s role on 12th November 2021 until the end of the season.
Morison was sacked by Cardiff on 18th September 2022 following defeat to Huddersfield in the 10th game of the 2022/23 Championship season with Cardiff in 18th place. Morison brought in 17 new players during the summer, but Cardiff won just three league matches. Mark Hudson will take interim charge of the first team assisted by Tom Ramasut.
On 8th June 2023 he was appointed manager of Hornchurch who play in the Isthmian Premier Division.
On 6th January 2024 Morison left Hornchurch to take up the manager's position at Sutton United, replacing Matt Gray who was sacked on 19th December 2023. They were bottom of League Two. Hornchurch's Chairman Alex Sharp said "I'm disappointed to confirm that Steve will be leaving us after six months, following probably the most impressive first half of a season we have ever seen. I am delighted that he has got an exciting opportunity to return to the Football League so quickly and feel proud that Hornchurch has provided the platform for that return." Hornchurch were seven points clear at the top of the Isthmian Premier Division. Morison was unable to keep Sutton in the Football League and they were relegated on 27th April 2024 in a 4-4 draw with MK Dons.
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