Jody Morris

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Jody Morris
Personal information
Date of birth 22 December 1978 (1978-12-22) (age 29)
Place of birth    Hammersmith, London, England
Height 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current club St. Johnstone
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1995–2003
2003–2004
2004
2004–2007
2008-		 Chelsea
Leeds United
Rotherham United
Millwall
St. Johnstone		 124 (5)
012 (0)
010 (1)
065 (5)
005 (1)   

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 1:30, 14 May 2008 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Jody Morris (born 22 December 1978 in Hammersmith, London) is an English football midfielder. He is currently playing for Scottish club St. Johnstone. He has previously played for Chelsea, Leeds United, Rotherham United and Millwall.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

Morris came through the youth ranks at Chelsea, alongside his close friend John Terry.[1] While at Chelsea he made 124 League appearances and was a late substitute in the 2000 FA Cup Final, receiving a winner's medal. However, he was never a first team regular, finding himself behind players such as Roberto di Matteo, Didier Deschamps and Emmanuel Petit.[1] He was offered a new five-year contract with Chelsea in 2003 but chose to turn it down.[2] Graeme Souness offered him the chance of regular first team football at Blackburn Rovers and they shook hands on a deal, but it fell through.[2] He joined Leeds United instead, but made only 12 appearance before the club, short of money, released him two games before he was due a contract extension.[2] After a short spell at Rotherham he joined Millwall in 2004.

Morris made 70 first-team appearances for Millwall before fracturing his cheekbone and then suffered cruciate knee ligament damage at Derby County on his comeback game towards the end of the 2005-06 campaign. He signed a new one-year deal in June 2006, with the club having an additional one-year option.[3] In June 2007 Morris was released by Millwall.[4] Morris then had a brief trial period at Charlton Athletic, and trained with League Two side Brentford in a bid to earn himself a contract at the West London club.

In 2007 he was nominated at Number 47 in The Times poll of the "50 Worst footballers (to grace the Premiership)."[5]

Morris signed for Scottish side St. Johnstone on a short-term deal at the end of February 2008, playing under Derek McInnes, his former teammate at Millwall during the 2006-07 season.[6] He scored a goal on his debut against Dundee.[7] He played in the club's Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Rangers in April 2008 but was one of two Saints players to miss in the penalty shoot-out.[8] After a successful five months at McDiarmid Park, Morris signed a two-year deal with the Perth side at the end of the season.[9]

[edit] Legal issues

Morris has had a bad image over several legal and ethical issues. Chronologically, these include allegations that: he was one of a group of Chelsea players who drunkenly abused American tourists at Heathrow Airport within hours of the 9/11 attacks on New York City and the Pentagon;[10]that he was involved in a drunken brawl (in 2002);[11] that he sexually assaulted two women, raping one of them (in 2003),[12] both for which the charges were dropped.[13] He was also arrested for drunk-driving on November 1, 2006, after driving the wrong way down a one-way street. Morris, who had one previous conviction for drunk-driving, was disqualified from driving for four years, given 80 hours community service and a two-year suspended jail sentence.[14]

[edit] Honours

With Chelsea

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Profile: Jody Morris. BBC Sport (2002-01-09). Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
  2. ^ a b c Murray, Ewan (2008-03-18). Morris becomes a Saint in hunt for redemption. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
  3. ^ "Jody Morris profile", millwallfc.co.uk. Retrieved on 2006-11-22. 
  4. ^ "Lions release Morris and Cottrell", BBC, 2007-06-09. Retrieved on 2007-06-09. 
  5. ^ 50 worst footballers. The Times (July 4, 2007). Retrieved on 2008-01-06.
  6. ^ Saints snap up former Chelsea star Morris. Retrieved on February 27, 2008.
  7. ^ Dundee 3-2 St Johnstone - BBC Sport
  8. ^ Murray, Ewen (2008-04-21). Alexander pulls out all the stops as Rangers progress to second final. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
  9. ^ JODY PENS TWO YEAR PERTH DEAL. stjohnstonefc.co.uk (2008-05-12). Retrieved on 2008-05-12.
  10. ^ "Leeds release Morris", ABC News Online, 2004-03-07. Retrieved on 2007-05-01. 
  11. ^ "Footballers cleared over club brawl", BBC News, 2002-08-22. Retrieved on 2007-05-01. 
  12. ^ "Jody Morris released on bail", Evening Standard, 2003-10-22. Retrieved on 2007-05-01. 
  13. ^ "Jody Morris sex charge dropped", BBC News, 2004-01-30. Retrieved on 2007-05-01. 
  14. ^ "Lions star gets ban", South London Press, 2006-11-10. Retrieved on 2007-06-24. 

[edit] External links

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St. Johnstone F.C. – current squad

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