Morris William Image 1 Aston Villa 1913

Description

Danesmoor, Derbyshire born centre half William Morris began his football career with Clay Cross, from where he joined Derby County in 1907, spending 1907-08 at The Baseball Ground without making a first team appearance for The Rams. Morris returned to Clay Cross and subsequently joined Alfreton Town in 1910, playing for Midland League club Chesterfield Town in 1911. From there he was signed in early 1912 by First Division club Aston Villa, making his Football League debut at Liverpool in April 1912. He came into Villa’s team the following September and held his place until February 1913, making 22 appearances for Villa during the season, scoring his only goal for Aston Villa in an FA Cup tie against West Ham United in February 1913.

However he only played around a third of Villa’s matches during the final two seasons before the onset of the First World War forced the suspension of peacetime football in May 1915, by when he had played 53 matches for Aston Villa. He served on the Western Front with the Royal Army Service Corps during the First World War, and after the War he played for Shrewsbury Town in 1919, Cradley Heath in 1920, and finished his career with Clay Cross, re-joining them in 1921 before his eventual retirement.