 Morris in 2015 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jody Steven Morris[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1978-12-22)22 December 1978 (age 46)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Hammersmith,London, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)[2] | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1993–1996 | Chelsea | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1996–2003 | Chelsea | 124 | (5) |
| 2003–2004 | Leeds United | 12 | (0) |
| 2004 | Rotherham United | 10 | (1) |
| 2004–2007 | Millwall | 65 | (5) |
| 2008–2012 | St Johnstone | 104 | (4) |
| 2012–2013 | Bristol City | 4 | (0) |
| Total | 319 | (15) | |
| International career | |||
| 1994–1995 | England U16 | 11 | (0) |
| 1997 | England U20 | 4 | (0) |
| 1996–1999 | England U21 | 7 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2023 | Swindon Town | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Jody Steven Morris (born 22 December 1978) is an English professionalfootballcoach and formerplayer. He was most recently the head coach ofEFL League Two clubSwindon Town.
As amidfielder, Morris played forChelsea,Leeds United,Rotherham United,Millwall,St Johnstone andBristol City. He won several trophies at Chelsea, including theUEFA Super Cup in 1998 andFA Cup in 2000.
After retiring from playing, Morris became a youth coach at Chelsea'sacademy. He was then named assistant manager toFrank Lampard atDerby County in 2018 and Chelsea in 2019.
Morris came through the youth ranks atChelsea, alongside his close friendJohn Terry.[3] He became the youngest player to ever play in thePremier League for Chelsea when he debuted at the age of 17 years and 43 days in the home game againstMiddlesbrough on 4 February 1996[4] and was named Chelsea's Young Player of the Year for1996–97.[5]
While at Chelsea, he made 124 league appearances and was a late substitute in the2000 FA Cup final,[6] receiving a winner's medal. In April 2000, Chelsea won 3–1 againstBarcelona in theUEFA Champions League; Morris was later described byXavi as one of his toughest opponents.[7][4] Morris played 173 times for Chelsea across all competitions.[4] He was also briefly made captain of the club by managerGianluca Vialli.[8]
However, whenClaudio Ranieri took over from Vialli as Chelsea boss, Morris' first team opportunities diminished, and he was linked with a host of clubs including being reunited with his former England under-21 manager Peter Taylor atLeicester.[9] Morris never regained his position as a first team regular at Chelsea, finding himself behind players, such asRoberto Di Matteo,Dennis Wise,Didier Deschamps andEmmanuel Petit.[3] He was offered a new five-year contract with Chelsea in 2003, but chose to turn it down.[10]
Graeme Souness offered him the chance of regular first team football atBlackburn Rovers and they shook hands on a deal, but it fell through.[10] He joinedLeeds United instead,[11] but made only 12 appearances for the club.[12] After a short spell atRotherham United,[13] where he scored once against Stoke City,[14] he joinedMillwall in 2004.[15]
Morris made 70 first-team appearances for Millwall, before fracturing his cheekbone, and then sufferedcruciate knee ligament damage atDerby County on his comeback game, towards the end of the2005–06 season. He signed a new one-year deal in June 2006, with the club having an additional one-year option.[16] In June 2007, Morris was released by Millwall.[17] Morris then had a brief trial period atCharlton Athletic, and trained with League Two sideBrentford, in a bid to earn himself a contract at the West London club.
Morris signed for Scottish sideSt Johnstone, then in the First Division, on a short-term deal at the end of February 2008, playing underDerek McInnes, his former teammate at Millwall during the2006–07 season.[18] He scored a goal on his debut against Dundee.[19] He played in the club'sScottish Cup semi-final defeat toRangers in April 2008 but was one of two Saints players to miss in thepenalty shoot-out.[20] After a successful five months atMcDiarmid Park, Morris signed a two-year deal with the Perth side at the end of the season. He was part of the title-winning team that in May 2009 gained promotion to theScottish Premier League after a seven-year absence. Morris signed a new contract with Saints in October 2009, while Derek McInnes praised his influence on the squad.[21] After McInnes left St Johnstone to manageBristol City in October 2011, Morris assisted caretaker managerAlec Cleland with the coaching of the squad.[22]
Morris signed a one-year contract with Bristol City in June 2012, reuniting him with Derek McInnes.[23] Morris had his contract terminated with Bristol City on 31 January 2013 having only made four league appearances for the club.
In the 2013–14 season Morris returned to Chelsea, initially to help coach the Under-21 squad. He was then an assistant coach of theUnder-18 team, and moved to head coach of the team for the 2016–17 season.[24] The team won theFA Youth Cup for the fifth successive time in 2018.[25] At Chelsea, Morris coachedpossession-based attacking football, and used severalformations including the3–4–3,3–5–2,4–3–3 and4–4–2.[26] In his two seasons as head coach, Chelsea's Under-18s won 59 matches and lost 5 times.[26] They won the treble in 2016–17 and the quadruple in 2017–18.[7][27][26]
In May 2018, Morris became assistant to former Chelsea teammateFrank Lampard atDerby County.[28] Their first game in charge was a 2–1 win overReading, thanks to a last-minute winner fromTom Lawrence. On 25 September, Derby knockedPremier League teamManchester United out of theEFL Cup atOld Trafford on penalties, following a 2–2 draw. At the end of the season, Derby qualified for the Championship play-offs after coming sixth in the league. In the semi-finals, they overturned a 1–0 loss at home toLeeds United in the first leg with a 4–2 win atElland Road in the second that gave them a 4–3 aggregate win. This took them to the final againstAston Villa, which Derby lost 2–1.[29]
Morris returned to Chelsea in July 2019 as part of the first-team coaching staff following the appointment of Lampard as head coach.[30] They finished 4th in the Premier League and qualified for theUEFA Champions League.[31] The following season, Morris left Chelsea in January 2021 after Lampard was sacked.[32]
On 31 January 2023, Morris was appointed manager of Swindon Town on a two-and-a-half-year contract. On 1 May 2023, it was announced that he had been sacked by Swindon Town after just four wins from 18.[33]
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Swindon Town | 31 January 2023 | 1 May 2023 | 18 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 022.22 |
| Total | 18 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 022.22 | ||
Morris grew up inHammersmith,London, a mile-and-a-half away from Chelsea'sStamford Bridge.[4] His skill as a footballer was evident at a young age, with fellow playerRio Ferdinand dubbing him "the best schoolboy footballer in London".[4]
In September 2001, Morris, Chelsea teammatesJohn Terry,Frank Lampard andEiður Guðjohnsen, andLeicester City'sFrank Sinclair, were drunk and unruly in aHeathrow Airport hotel containing many Americans left stranded by theSeptember 11 attacks. The Chelsea quartet were each fined two weeks' wages, totalling around £100,000, which was donated to the 9/11 relief efforts.[34][35][36]
In August 2002, Morris, along with fellow footballersJohn Terry andDes Byrne, was cleared of a charge ofaffray in relation to an incident at a nightclub.[37][38] In 2006, Morris drove down a one-way street the wrong way while three times over the drink-drive limit.[39] This resulted in a driving ban for four years, 80 hours of community service and a two-year suspended jail sentence.[40]
Chelsea
Chelsea U18
