Aaron Morris (footballer)

Aaron John Morris (born 30 December 1989) is a Welsh professional footballer who last played as a midfielder for League One club Gillingham. He can also play as a defender and has represented the Wales national under-21 team.

Aaron Morris
Personal information
Full name Aaron John Morris[1]
Date of birth (1989-12-30) 30 December 1989[1]
Place of birth Rumney, Cardiff, Wales
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Position(s) Defender / Midfielder
Youth career
0000–2008 Cardiff City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2010 Cardiff City 1 (0)
2009–2010 → Newport County (loan) 5 (0)
2010–2013 Aldershot Town 98 (2)
2014 AFC Wimbledon 17 (0)
2014–2018 Gillingham 58 (0)
National team
2009–2010 Wales U21 8 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:23, 3 June 2017 (UTC)

Club career

Cardiff City

Morris was born in Rumney, Cardiff.[1]

Joining Cardiff City as a youth player, he made his first-team debut in a 1–0 victory over Welshpool Town on 23 January 2007 in the FAW Premier Cup and went on to play in the semi-final penalty shoot-out defeat to Newport County three weeks later. The FAW Premier Cup matches would be the only matches he played for the first team during the 2007–08 season.

The start of the 2008–09 season saw Morris handed a full first-team squad number for the first time. In August 2008 Morris was set to join Bournemouth on loan, along with fellow Cardiff player Jonathan Brown. The move fell through later after both clubs overlooked the fact that Morris was still only an academy scholar at Cardiff and was ineligible to be loaned out.[2] On 26 August 2008, Morris came on as a substitute during Cardiff's 2–1 League Cup victory over Milton Keynes Dons after Darcy Blake suffered a hamstring injury.[3]

In December 2009, Morris joined Conference South leaders Newport County initially on a one-month loan arrangement,[4] making his debut in a 3–0 win over Dorchester Town on 28 December.[5] His loan period at Newport concluded 29 February 2010. After returning to Cardiff, Morris made his league debut for the club in the final league game of the 2009–10 season as a substitute in place of Solomon Taiwo during a 2–0 defeat to Derby County.[6] At the end of the 2009–10 season Morris was released by Cardiff, having played 4 games for the club.

Aldershot Town

Following his release, Morris spent time on trial with Brighton & Hove Albion and Exeter City before joining League Two side Aldershot Town on 30 July.[7] In his first start, Morris was named sponsors Man of the Match following a 0–0 draw with Wycombe Wanderers on 18 September 2010. In his first season at Aldershot, Morris made 25 appearances in all competitions.[8] The following season, he was a regular face in the first team squad, playing 45 games in all competitions[9] and scoring his first career goal in a 1–0 victory at Macclesfield Town on 18 February 2012.[10] He scored his second career goal less than a month later on 13 March 2012, scoring after 4 minutes to give Aldershot a 1–0 lead at Crawley Town in a game that ended 2–2.[11] Morris's third season at Aldershot was also his final season with the club, he was everpresent in the side, making 44 appearances, before suffering cruciate ligament damage in the 18th minute of a 3–2 victory over Oxford United[12] that ended his season.[13] He was released at the end of the season as his contract with Aldershot expired and the club was relegated from The Football League.[14]

AFC Wimbledon

Morris once again linked up with Neal Ardley, who brought him through the ranks at Cardiff City, by signing for AFC Wimbledon on 10 January 2014.[15] On the transfer, Ardley stated "I would have signed Aaron in the summer if he was not injured, Aaron can play in a number of positions, but he can be a very good centre-back in my eyes".[14] Morris later tweeted "Been a tough road back but delighted to be back on track and to have signed at AFC Wimbledon, good things to come I'm sure".[14]

Gillingham

Following the 2013–14 season, he signed for Gillingham on a two-year deal.[16] Morris was rewarded with another two-year contract at the conclusion of the 2015–16 season.[17]

International career

In June 2008, Morris was named as a stand-by player for the U19 squad for the Milk Cup tournament held in Northern Ireland.[18] He received his first call-up to the Wales U21 side in February 2009,[19] but the scheduled match against Northern Ireland U21s was called off due to adverse weather. Morris received his second call-up a month later for the qualifying matches against Luxembourg, being handed his first cap in the second meeting of the two sides when he played a full 90 minutes in a 5–1 win.[20]

Career statistics
As of match played 30 April 2017
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Cardiff City 2008–09[21] Championship 000010—10
2009–10[22] Championship 100000—10
Total 100010—20
Newport County (loan) 2009–10[23] Conference South 50——2[lower-alpha 1]070
Aldershot Town 2010–11[8] League Two 22020001[lower-alpha 2]0250
2011–12[9] League Two 392204000452
2012–13[24] League Two 37040102[lower-alpha 2]0440
Total 9828050301142
AFC Wimbledon 2013–14[25] League Two 170———170
Gillingham 2014–15[26] League One 230002100251
2015–16[27] League One 35010001[lower-alpha 2]0370
2016–17[28] League One 0000000000
Total 580102110621
Career total 17929081602023
  1. Appearance in FA Trophy
  2. Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy

References
  1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 295. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
  2. "Cardiff link up hits buffers". Vitalfootball.co.uk. Retrieved 3 September 2008.
  3. "Cardiff 2–1 MK Dons". BBC Sport. 26 August 2008. Retrieved 3 September 2008.
  4. "Deano's triple swoop". South Wales Argus. 23 December 2009. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
  5. "Newport County 3–0 Dorchester Town". dorchestertownfc.co.uk. 28 December 2009. Archived from the original on 20 April 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
  6. "Derby 2–0 Cardiff". BBC Sport. 2 May 2010. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  7. "Aldershot manager Dillon completes quadruple signing". BBC Sport. 30 July 2010. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
  8. "Games played by Aaron Morris in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  9. "Games played by Aaron Morris in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  10. "Aldershot's Aaron Morris scored to condemn 10-man Macclesfield to their seventh successive defeat". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  11. "Billy Clarke rescued a draw for fading Crawley as Aldershot missed a late chance to win all three points". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  12. "Jeff Goulding came off the bench to secure a last-gasp win over Oxford and keep Aldershot's survival hopes alive". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  13. "Aaron Morris: Aldershot Town player injures cruciate ligament". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  14. "Transfer window: Aaron Morris joins AFC Wimbledon". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  15. "Dons swoop for defender". AFC Wimbledon. 10 January 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  16. "Gillingham sign Glenn Morris and Aaron Morris". BBC. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  17. "Aaron Morris: Gillingham midfielder signs new contract". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  18. "City duo in young Wales squad". South Wales Echo. 19 May 2008. Retrieved 3 September 2008.
  19. "Wales squad changes". faw.org.uk. 6 February 2009. Archived from the original on 27 May 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
  20. "Wales U21 5–1 Luxembourg U21". BBC Sport. 31 March 2009. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
  21. "Games played by Aaron Morris in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  22. "Games played by Aaron Morris in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  23. Williams, Tony; Wright, James, eds. (2010). Non-League Club Directory 2011. Tony Williams Publications. pp. 130–131. ISBN 978-1-869833-68-8.
  24. "Games played by Aaron Morris in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  25. "Games played by Aaron Morris in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  26. "Games played by Aaron Morris in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  27. "Games played by Aaron Morris in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  28. "Games played by Aaron Morris in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
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