Morris played football for both Cheltenham College and the Royal Military Academy, before joining the Royal Engineers in 1867. Although Morris is mentioned in a report on a match in December 1868 ("Lieut. Morris got off and dribbling the ball quite round his opponents, brought it in front of the goal and a kick from Lieut Dorward scored the first goal for the Royal Engineers" and "for the Engineers Lieut Morris ...(was) particularly conspicuous"), he was not a member of any of the regiment's teams which reached the FA Cup Finals in 1872 and 1874 and won the trophy in 1875.