Cliff Morgan (footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Clifford Ivor Morgan | ||
| Date of birth | 26 September 1913 | ||
| Place of birth | Bristol, England | ||
| Date of death | 31 July 1975 | ||
| Place of death | Bristol, England | ||
| Playing position | Right half | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 19??-1930 | St George School | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1930-1949 | Bristol City | 248 | (11) |
| 1940–1945 | Bristol City | 203 | (15) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1948-1950 | Bristol City player coach | ||
| 1950-1975 | Bristol City chief scout | ||
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | |||
Clifford Ivor "Cliff" Morgan (born 26 September 1913 in Bristol and died 31 July 1975 in Bristol) was an English footballer who played as a right half. He made over 240 Football League appearances in the years before and after the Second World War.[1]
Career
Cliff Morgan played locally for St. George school and in the Boys Brigade league.[2] Morgan joined Bristol City in September 1930 as an amateur inside forward. He made his debut at inside right for Bristol City in a 1-2 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur on 12 March 1932.[2][3] Morgan made 7 appearances scoring 2 goals in 1931-32 the season when Bristol City finished 22nd and were relegated from the Second Division.[3] The following season in the Third Division South Arthur Sharp newly signed from Carlisle United was the regular inside right restricting Morgan to just 3 appearances scoring 1 goal.[3]
In the summer of 1933 Sharp left to join Aldershot but City signed Joe Riley from Bristol Rovers as their new regular inside right; Morgan returned to the team at right half making 14 appearances. In 1934-35 Morgan started as the right half making 29 appearances scoring 1 goal and played in the FA Cup run to the 5th round when City's biggest ever home crowd to date of 43,335 packed into Ashton Gate to watch a 0-0 draw with Preston North End.[3] Morgan was a regular in the half back line of Morgan, Jim Pearce and Ernie Brinton making 35 appearances without scoring in 1935-36. The same regular half back line played in the next season 1936-37 with Morgan making 32 appearances scoring 1 goal.[3] Morgan an expert dead ball kicker made 41 appearances scoring 2 goals as Bristol City finished runners up in Third Division South in 1937-38 being pipped for promotion by one point by Millwall. Morgan earned a first benefit match, jointly with Cyril Bridge, on 16 April 1938 when City beat Torquay United 2-0 in the League. Morgan made 19 appearances in 1938-39 sharing the right half duties with Bob Caldwell.[3] Morgan made a further 3 appearances in the truncated 1939-40 season. In war time competitions Cliff Morgan made 203 appearances scoring 15 goals for Bristol City.[3] When league football restarted after the Second World War Morgan resumed his career with 32 appearances scoring 2 goals as Bristol City finished in 3rd place in the Third Division South. Cliff Morgan was awarded a second benefit match on 12 October 1946 v Bournemouth when Morgan himself scored the only goal of the game.[3] In 1947-48 Morgan made 19 appearances and was appointed player-coach in April 1948. He made 15 appearances scoring 2 goals in his final season 1948-49.
After retiring as a player Cliff Morgan became chief scout at Ashton Gate and was the recipient of a third benefit match on 5 May 1975 when Bristol City lost 2-4 to Leicester City in a friendly match. By this time Morgan was very ill and died two months later at Frenchay Hospital, Bristol aged 61.[3] In all Morgan played in 537 first team matches scoring 36 goals for Bristol City including war time games, cup ties and friendlies.[3] Cliff Morgan holds the record as the longest serving player with 45 years service in various capacities at the club.[2]
Honours
- with Bristol City
- Football League Third Division South runners up: 1937–38
References
- ↑ Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 – 1939. Tony Brown. ISBN 1-899468-67-6.
- 1 2 3 Woods, David; Leigh Edwards (1997). Bristol City FC The First 100 years. Redcliffe Press. ISBN 1-900178-26-5.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Woods, David (1994). Bristol Babe The First 100 years of Bristol City FC. Yore Publications. ISBN 1-874427-95-X.