 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | c. 1872 | ||
| Place of birth | Glasgow,Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 1931 (age 59) | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| Years | Team | ||
| 1904–1908 | Morton | ||
| 1908–1915 | (Woolwich) Arsenal | ||
George Morrell (1872-after 1915) was aScottishfootball manager.
He joinedWoolwich Arsenal as manager in February 1908, having joined the club fromMorton. Although in his first full season he helped the team finish sixth in the League, with low attendances the club had fallen into debt and had to sell many of their best players, with stars such asTim Coleman,Bert Freeman,Jimmy Sharp,Jimmy Ashcroft andWilliam Garbutt all leaving during 1908.[1] Although Morrell led the club to 6th place in1908-09, at the time an all-time best,[2] after that the club declined, finishing 18th the next.[2]
In 1910 Arsenal were taken over bySir Henry Norris but despite speculation he would be sacked, Morrell continued in his post. Arsenal rallied to finish 10th, in mid-table, for both the1910-11 and1911-12 seasons.[2] Morrell applied for the job ofLeeds City manager in the 1912 close season but dropped out of the running after being dissuaded by the Arsenal board; the job went instead toHerbert Chapman, who would one day manage Arsenal.[3] Unfortunately for Morrell, by staying he oversaw a massive drop of form in1912-13. Woolwich Arsenal eventually finished bottom of theFirst Division,[2] giving Morrell the distinction of being the only Arsenal manager to have overseen arelegation.[4]
Despite relegation, Arsenal, who had by now moved to the newArsenal Stadium,Highbury, retained Morrell and under him they came close to automatic promotion, finishing third in the Second Division in1913-14 (missing out on second ongoal average) and then fifth in1914-15.[5] This placing was high enough to get them eventually elected back into the expanded First Division in 1919, when competitive football resumed after the conclusion ofWorld War I; however,Wolves andBarnsley had finished higher that season and were not granted promotion. Arsenal's return to the First Division appears to have been mainly thanks to political machinations by their chairman,Henry Norris, rather than their performance.[6]
By then, Morrell was no longer Arsenal manager; after having been told he was due to be sacked at the end of the 1914-15 season due to the suspension of football due toWorld War I, he resigned on or around 19 April 1915.[7] He returned to Scotland to manage Third Lanark, and died in January 1931 in Glasgow.