Josh Morris (footballer, born 1991)

**Joshua Francis Morris** (born 30 September 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays for Template:English football updater club Salford City. as a left sided defender or midfielder, but can also play as a central midfielder.

## Club career

### Blackburn Rovers

Born in Preston, England, Morris joined Blackburn Rovers when he was thirteen.

On 15 September 2010, Morris signed a two-year deal until the summer 2012 with an option of a further year at Ewood Park. A product of Rovers youth system, he made his first league appearance in the 7–1 defeat by Manchester United on 27 November 2010, supplying the assist for Rovers' goal. Morris went on to make four appearances for the club in the 2010–11 season.

His first appearance in the 2011–12 season was as a substitute in Blackburn's 3–2 victory against Manchester United. With his contract due to expire at the end of the season, on 22 February 2012, Morris signed a new Template:Frac-year deal at the club. With Blackburn Rovers already relegated, Morris made another appearance in the last game of the season, coming on as a substitute for Mauro Formica, in a 2–1 loss against Chelsea.

In the 2012–13 season, Morris spent the first half of the season being at the reserve and was loaned out to Rotherham United. Morris made his first appearance for Blackburn Rovers, where he came on as a substitute for Rubén Rochina in the 80th minutes, in a 1–1 draw against Wolves on 11 January 2013. Towards the end of the 2012–13 season, Morris became a regular starter as a left-back following defensive crisis and went on to make seven starts.

In the 2013–14 season, Morris made his first Blackburn Rovers appearance, coming on as a substitute for Jason Lowe in the 74th minutes, in a 5–2 win over Barnsley on 24 August 2013. By the first half of the season, Morris went on to make four appearances for the club. Following his return from Carlisle United, Morris was an un-used substitute for five matches, as well as, playing in the reserve once.

#### Loan spells

On 22 March 2012, Morris signed for League One club Yeovil Town on loan until the end of the 2011–12 season. Morris made his Yeovil Town two days later, playing as a left-midfielder, in a 1–0 loss against Hartlepool United. Morris made five appearances for the club despite suffering an illness that saw him missed three matches before returning to his parent club.

Morris signed for Rotherham United on loan on 25 October 2012, until January with the potential for an extension of until the end of the season. Morris made his Rotherham United debut the next day, playing as a left-back, in a 1–0 win over Plymouth Argyle. However, Morris suffered a knock, which put an end to his loan spell at Rotherham United and made five appearances for the club.

On 28 November 2013, Morris joined League One club Carlisle United on loan until 1 January 2014. Morris made his Carlisle United debut two days later, coming on as a substitute for Matty Robson in the 55th minutes, in a 3–1 loss against Swindon Town. Morris made his final appearance for the club, in a 2–1 loss against Crewe Alexandra before returning to his parent club.

On 25 February 2014, Morris joined League Two club Fleetwood Town on a one-month loan. On the same day, Morris made his Fleetwood Town debut, coming on as a substitute for Mark Roberts in the 64th minutes, in a 4–0 loss against Plymouth Argyle. After making seven appearances, it was announced on 27 March 2014, Morris agreed to stay with Fleetwood until the end of the 2013–14 season. Morris then scored two goals in two matches against Cheltenham Town and Wycombe Wanderers. His performance in April saw Morris being awarded for Sky Bet League 2 Player of the Month for April. Morris was also involved in three matches in the play-offs, including the final, where he started, as Fleetwood won 1–0 against Burton Albion on 26 May, which won promotion to League One. Following this, Morris made his return to his parent club, with Manager Gary Bowyer considered using Morris next season.

On 10 July 2014, it was announced that Morris would be joining Fleetwood on loan again until January 2015, who are now playing in League One. Upon joining the club for the second time, Morris expressed his delight to make a return to the club. Morris was also given number twelve shirt ahead of the new season. Morris' first appearance in his second spell at Fleetwood Town came in the opening game of the season, in 2–1 win over Crewe. It took until 20 September 2014 for Morris scored his first goal of the season and providing an assist for Jamie Proctor, in a 3–3 draw against Bristol City. Morris scored three goals in two consecutive matches between 28 December 2014 and 3 January 2015 against Rochdale and scoring a double against Swindon Town Five days after scoring a brace, it was announced on 8 January 2015, Morris returned to Fleetwood on loan until the end of the 2014–15 season. Morris then scored three goals in three consecutive appearances between 3 March 2015 and 14 March 2015 against Scunthorpe United, Sheffield United and Rochdale. On the last game of the season, Morris scored his eighth goal of the season, in a 2–1 win over Port Vale. Morris made forty-five appearances and scored eight times. Following this, Morris returned to his parent club.

### Bradford City

With his contract at Blackburn Rovers at the end of the 2014–15 season, On 1 July 2015, Morris signed for Bradford City on a three-year deal. Upon joining the club, Morris was given number fourteen shirt.

Morris scored four minutes into his debut for the club against Swindon Town on the opening day of the season, but a second-half hat-trick from Nathan Byrne eventually condemned Bradford to a 4–1 defeat.

### Scunthorpe United

He signed for Scunthorpe United on a free transfer on 15 June 2016. He scored on his debut in a 3–1 win over Bristol Rovers on 6 August 2016. Morris had a remarkable first season with the Iron; having scored only 11 career goals prior to joining Scunthorpe, the midfielder went on to net an incredible 19 league goals throughout the 2016–17 season. He scored his first career hat-trick in a 1–4 victory over Walsall on 27 September 2016.

He was released by Scunthorpe at the end of the 2018–19 season.

### Return to Fleetwood Town

Morris re-joined Fleetwood Town on a two-year deal following his release from Scunthorpe.

## International career

In February 2011, Morris was called up by England U20 and made his England U20 debut against France U20 on 9 February 2011. Morris was called up by FIFA U-20 World Cup in July 2011 and went on to make two appearances.

## Controversies

On 4 May 2019, Morris was involved in a controversial incident described as "The most unsporting goal in Home Park history".

During an EFL League One fixture between Plymouth Argyle and Scunthorpe United, Plymouth goalkeeper Matt Macey attempted to throw the ball out of play so he could receive treatment for a suspected broken ankle. However, Morris ran to retrieve the ball to keep it in play and subsequently chipped the injured keeper to equalise.

In what has been described as an "appalling lack of sportsmanship"  and condemned by Scunthorpe United chairmen Peter Swann, Scunthorpe refused to allow Plymouth to score a conciliatory goal. Plymouth won the match, but the result saw both teams relegated to the fourth tier.

Following the match, Swann stated he was "very disappointed" with both Morris and the senior players involved and apologised "wholeheartedly" to everyone who had witnessed the event.

## Club career statistics

Template:Updated

Template:Notelist

## Honours

**Individual**

* PFA Team of the Year: 2016–17 League One

## References

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1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
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3. ↑ Match winner Grant Hanley hails Blackburn Rovers youth BBC Sport, 31 December 2011
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9. ↑ Rovers u21s 0 Norwich u21s 5. Blackburn Rovers F.C. (20 January 2014).
10. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
11. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
12. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
13. ↑ Squad for Swansea clash. Blackburn Rovers F.C. (8 May 2012).
14. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
15. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
16. ↑ MEmergency Loan Deadline – Clockwatch. Rotherham United F.C. (22 November 2012).
17. ↑ LOAN: Left sided player signs up. Carlisle United F.C. (28 November 2013).
18. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
19. ↑ MATCH REPORT: Crewe 2 – 1 United. Carlisle United F.C. (1 January 2014).
20. ↑ Fleetwood capture Morris. *Fleetwood Town FC* (25 February 2014).
21. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
22. ↑ Morris loan extended. *Fleetwood Town FC* (27 March 2014).
23. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
24. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
25. ↑ Morris scoops League Two Player of the Month award. Fleetwood Town F.C. (2 May 2014).
26. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
27. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
28. ↑ http://www.fleetwoodtownfc.com/news/article/retained-list-announced-1593551.aspx. Fleetwood Town F.C. (2 June 2014).
29. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
30. ↑ Morris: The Club's success was a big pull. Fleetwood Town F.C. (11 July 2014).
31. ↑ Squad numbers confirmed. Fleetwood Town F.C. (28 July 2014).
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41. ↑ Fleetwood Town squad update. Fleetwood Town F.C. (6 May 2015).
42. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
43. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
44. ↑ SQUAD NUMBERS CONFIRMED. Bradford City A.F.C. (4 August 2015).
45. ↑ "Swindon Town 4–1 Bradford City" BBC Sport. 8 August 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
46. ↑ Josh Morris: Scunthorpe sign Bradford winger on free transfer.
47. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
48. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
49. ↑ Josh Morris: Scunthorpe midfielder one of three released as Iron unveil retained list. BBC Sport (17 May 2019).
50. ↑ Josh Morris: Fleetwood Town sign ex-Scunthorpe midfielder on two-year deal. BBC Sport (19 June 2019).
51. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
52. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
53. ↑ 53.0 53.1 Scunthorpe sorry for 'unsporting' goal.
54. ↑ WATCH: Contender for most unsporting goal in history in EFL relegation battle.
55. ↑ 55.0 55.1 📹 iFollow Freeview: Chairman Peter Swann speaks following Plymouth encounter.
56. ↑ Template:Soccerbase season
57. ↑ 57.0 57.1 Template:Soccerbase season
58. ↑ 58.0 58.1 Template:Soccerbase season
59. ↑ 59.0 59.1 59.2 Template:Soccerbase season
60. ↑ 60.0 60.1 Template:Soccerbase season
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## External links

* Template:Soccerbase

Template:2016–17 EFL League One PFA Team of the Year
Template:Salford City F.C. squad