 Morgan training withLeicester City in 2013 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Westley Nathan Morgan[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1984-01-21)21 January 1984 (age 41)[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Nottingham, England | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.86 m)[3] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Centre-back | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1992–1999 | Notts County[4] | ||||||||||||||||
| 1999–2000 | Dunkirk[5] | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2002–2012 | Nottingham Forest | 352 | (12) | ||||||||||||||
| 2003 | →Kidderminster Harriers (loan) | 5 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2012–2021 | Leicester City | 277 | (11) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 634 | (24) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2016 | Jamaica | 30 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Westley Nathan Morgan (born 21 January 1984) is an English former professionalfootballer who played as acentre-back. Born in England, he played for theJamaica national team. He was also a part ofLeicester City's2015–16 Premier League historic winning season, where hecaptained the club to victory.
Morgan spent the first ten years of his career with his boyhood club,Nottingham Forest, playing 402 matches and scoring 14 goals. He was their longest-serving player when he transferred to Leicester City in January 2012.
Morgan became Leicester's captain later that year, and captained the club for 9 years until his retirement in 2021. He captained the club during its most successful ever period,[6][7] captaining them to theChampionship title in 2014, their firstPremier League title two years later in 2016 and their firstFA Cup win in 2021, in which he made his final ever professional appearance coming on as a substitute in the2021 FA Cup Final.
Born and raised in England, Morgan chose to represent Jamaica at international level, making his debut for them in 2013 and was part of their teams that competed in twoCopa América tournaments and finished runners-up at the2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He was also the first Jamaican player to score in aUEFA Champions League game.
Morgan was born inNottingham.[2] Having been rejected byNottingham Forest's near neighboursNotts County at the age of 15, he went to study business atSouth Notts College while playing semi-professionally in central midfield forDunkirk in theMidland Football Alliance. His performances were tracked by non-League teams and Forest, who took him as an apprentice while he continued studying. There was no transfer fee, but Dunkirk received two Forest kits. Their clubhouse has his Forest and Leicester shirts on the wall.[8]
In February 2003, with managerPaul Hart considering him close to a first-team breakthrough after his reserve performances, Morgan was loaned toKidderminster Harriers of theThird Division.[9] He made his professional debut on 1 March, playing the full 90 minutes of a 3-1 loss toScunthorpe United atAggborough, deflecting a 25-yardPeter Beagrie shot for the first goal.[10] Morgan totalled five appearances for theWorcestershire side, scoring his first goal two weeks after his debut, heading to confirm a 2–0 victory atCambridge United.[11]
Hart wanted Morgan to lose weight before joining the first team, which became a priority as the team had lost several players after losing in the last season's play-offs.[8] He made his debut at left-back on 12 August 2003 away toPort Vale at the age of 19; after a goalless draw, Forest won apenalty shoot-out to advance to the second round of theLeague Cup.[12] Four days later he made hisFirst Division debut in a 3–0 loss toReading; Hart considered him theman of the match.[8] On 18 October, he scored his first goal for Forest, headingEoin Jess' cross to finish a 6–0 win over bottom teamWimbledon at theCity Ground.[13] He totalled 32 games across the season, also scoring an equaliser on 3 December in the home game againstIpswich Town, and was sent off twice over the campaign.
In the2007–08 campaign, Morgan missed only four games all season, as he helped Forest finish second in the league and gain promotion fromLeague One to theChampionship.[14] His only goal of the season came in a 2–0 victory atTranmere Rovers, while Forest kept a season-record 24 clean sheets.
Morgan found it hard adapting to life back in the Championship during the first half of the 2008–09 season, with Forest languishing in the relegation zone by Christmas. Following the dismissal ofColin Calderwood on Boxing Day 2008, and the arrival of Billy Davies soon after, Morgan and the Forest defence looked far more solid as the season progressed which eventually led to the Reds retaining their Championship status. At the end of the 2008–09 season he had made a total of 274 appearances in all competitions, including 255 starts.
October 2011 saw Wes Morgan make his 400th appearance for Nottingham Forest against Hull City in a match in which he was also handed the captaincy.
On 20 January 2012, Nottingham Forest announced they rejected a bid for Morgan from local rivals Leicester City.[15]
.jpg)
On 30 January 2012, Morgan joined East Midland rivalsLeicester City for an undisclosed fee believed to be in the region of £1 million. As a result of his performances towards the end of the2011–12 season, he was rewarded with the Leicester City captaincy ahead of the2012–13 season.[16] His impressive performances early on earned him a nomination forChampionship Player of the Month for September.[17]
Leicester won the2013–14 Championship, in which he missed only one game.[18] Afterwards, the club used a clause in his would-be expired contract to keep him for another season;[19] he eventually signed a new three-year deal.[18]
In thePremier League for the2014–15 season, Morgan scored his first goal of the season in a 4–3 defeat toTottenham Hotspur on 21 March 2015, and another in 3–0 win overNewcastle on the 5 May. On 19 April 2015, Morgan was selected in the "Football Manager Team of the Decade" at theFootball League Awards.[20]
Morgan kept his place for the2015–16 season, playing in every minute of all 38 Premier League matches,[21] one of only 4 players to achieve that accolade (including teammateKasper Schmeichel) in that season. On 3 April 2016, he scored the only goal against Southampton,[22] despite feeling ill.[8] On 1 May, he equalised with a header in a 1–1 draw withManchester United atOld Trafford, and the next day Leicester won the title, with Morgan becoming the first Jamaican to win a Premier League medal.[23] After captaining Leicester City to the title, Morgan was included in the Premier LeaguePFA Team of the Year, alongside teammatesJamie Vardy,N'Golo Kanté andRiyad Mahrez.[24] He also became the third outfield player in Premier League history to play every minute of a title-winning season afterGary Pallister in 1992–93 andJohn Terry in 2014–15.[25]
ManagerClaudio Ranieri said "Wes Morgan isBaloo offThe Jungle Book. He is a big gentle bear who looks after all the lads. He does not speak so much but when he does speak, everybody listens. He is the perfect captain. I never knew anything about him before I came here. But I watched all the matches, I watched how solid, strong and intelligent he was".[8] On 25 February 2017, reports emerged alleging that Morgan was among several teammates who met with chairmanVichai Srivaddhanaprabha following their 2–1 Champions League defeat at Sevilla on 22 February,[26] which led to Ranieri being sacked.[27][28][29]
On 14 March 2017, he scored the first goal in Leicester's 2–0 win againstSevilla, contributing to a 3–2 aggregate score which allowed the club to qualify for the quarter-finals of theUEFA Champions League. This also made him the first Jamaican player to score in a Champions League game.[30]
Morgan later came on in the 82nd minute of the2021 FA Cup Final to help Leicester win their first ever FA Cup.[31]
On 21 May 2021, Leicester announced that Morgan would leave the club and retire from professional football at the end of theseason.[32]
On 1 September 2013, Morgan was called up to theJamaican squad for the first time.[33][34] He made his debut in a 0–0 draw againstPanama at theEstadio Rommel Fernández inPanama City on 7 September 2013.[35] Morgan captained theReggae Boyz for the first time in the 3–1 defeat toCanada on 9 September 2014.[36]
Morgan was part of the Jamaican squad invited to the2015 Copa América in Chile. He played every minute of their campaign, in which they were eliminated in last place intheir group.[37] Weeks later, he was again in the team at the2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States and Canada, helping them to their firstfinal. Jamaica lost 3–1 toMexico atLincoln Financial Field inPhiladelphia.[38]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Nottingham Forest | 2002–03[39] | First Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2003–04[40] | First Division | 32 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 36 | 2 | ||
| 2004–05[41] | Championship | 43 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 51 | 1 | ||
| 2005–06[42] | League One | 43 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 2 | |
| 2006–07[43] | League One | 38 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5[a] | 1 | 49 | 1 | |
| 2007–08[44] | League One | 42 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | 46 | 1 | |
| 2008–09[45] | Championship | 42 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 46 | 1 | ||
| 2009–10[46] | Championship | 44 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | 51 | 3 | |
| 2010–11[47] | Championship | 46 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | 51 | 1 | |
| 2011–12[48] | Championship | 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | 25 | 2 | ||
| Total | 352 | 12 | 20 | 0 | 20 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 402 | 14 | ||
| Kidderminster Harriers (loan) | 2002–03[39] | Third Division | 5 | 1 | — | — | — | 5 | 1 | |||
| Leicester City | 2011–12[48] | Championship | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13[49] | Championship | 45 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | 51 | 1 | |
| 2013–14[50] | Championship | 45 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | 48 | 3 | ||
| 2014–15[51] | Premier League | 37 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 40 | 2 | ||
| 2015–16[52] | Premier League | 38 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 38 | 2 | ||
| 2016–17[53] | Premier League | 27 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10[d] | 1 | 40 | 3 | |
| 2017–18[54] | Premier League | 32 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 35 | 0 | ||
| 2018–19[55] | Premier League | 22 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 25 | 3 | ||
| 2019–20[56] | Premier League | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 17 | 0 | ||
| 2020–21[57] | Premier League | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5[e] | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| Total | 277 | 11 | 16 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 323 | 14 | ||
| Career total | 634 | 24 | 36 | 1 | 33 | 2 | 27 | 1 | 730 | 29 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jamaica | 2013 | 4 | 0 |
| 2014 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 13 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 7 | 0 | |
| Total | 30 | 0 | |
Nottingham Forest
Leicester City
Jamaica
Individual
Jamaica squads | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
