Sammy Morgan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the mixed martial arts fighter, see Sammy Morgan (fighter).

Sammy Morgan
Personal information
Full name Samuel John Morgan[1]
Date of birth (1946-12-03) 3 December 1946 (age 74)
Place of birth Belfast, Northern Ireland
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
Gorleston
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1970–1973 Port Vale 114 (25)
1973–1975 Aston Villa 40 (9)
1975–1977 Brighton & Hove Albion 35 (8)
1977–1978 Cambridge United 37 (4)
1978–1979 Sparta Rotterdam 23 (5)
1979–1980 FC Groningen 17 (2)
Gorleston
Total 266+ (53+)
National team
1972–1978 Northern Ireland 18 (3)
Teams managed
1982–1985 Gorleston
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Samuel John Morgan (born 3 December 1946) is a Northern Irish former football player and coach.

Moving from non-league Gorleston to Port Vale in 1970, the young forward picked up the club's Player of the Year award 1972, before winning a move to Aston Villa the following year. Villa won promotion out of the Second Division in 1974–75, though he was never a first team regular and so was sold on to Brighton & Hove Albion later in 1975. Helping Brighton to promotion out of the Third Division in 1976–77, following this success he moved on to Cambridge United. With United he won promotion out of the third tier for a second successive season, before moving on to Sparta Rotterdam in the Netherlands. In 1979, he transferred to FC Groningen, helping them to the Eerste Divisie title in 1979–80. He then returned to his native Gorleston, who he later managed.

Between 1972 and 1978 he won eighteen caps for Northern Ireland, and scored three goals at international level. These goals came against Spain, Cyprus, and Norway. After his retirement he worked behind the scenes at various Football League clubs.

Club career[]

Morgan was born in East Belfast and attended Nettlefield Primary School alongside George Best. When he was 11 years old, his family settled in Gorleston-on-Sea, in England. He studied at the Nottingham Trent University to become a maths and physical education teacher.[2]

Morgan entered the English Football League at the relatively older age of 23, having played for local club Gorleston in the Eastern Counties League before signing for Fourth Division Port Vale in January 1970, after impressing on trial. The late bloomer made his professional debut as a substitute on 30 March 1970, scoring in a 1–1 draw at Newport County. After quitting teaching to take up professional football,[2] he had to wait until the following season to make his full debut, appearing as the No. 10 on 15 August 1970, finding the net in a 2–0 win at Swansea City. The club won promotion to the Third Division at the end of the campaign, and he found himself to be a regular starter in the first team,[3] and picked up six goals in forty games in the 1970–71 season.

He nearly left the club at the start of the 1971–72 campaign after falling out with manager Gordon Lee over his decision to remain resident in Great Yarmouth, rather than move closer to Vale Park. However the pair settled their dispute, and Morgan went on to score nine goals in 41 games, picking up the club's Player of the Year award.[4] He went on to become the joint-top scorer in the 1972–73 season with eleven goals in 44 games (tied with strike partner Ray Williams). Aston Villa purchased Morgan for £22,222 in August 1973 (£5,400 also changed hands due to goalscoring bonuses).[3]

He scored four goals in twelve games during Villa's 1974–75 Second Division promotion campaign, though his season was hampered by a back injury which kept him out of the 1975 League Cup final.[5] He played just the three games in the First Division before being sold to Brighton & Hove Albion for £10,000 in December 1975.[2]

Seven goals in eighteen games from Morgan helped him return to the Second Division as a Third Division runner-up. His time at the Goldstone Ground was also ravaged with injury and in August 1977 he dropped back into the third tier, signing with Cambridge United for £15,000.[2] He chose Cambridge over a return to Port Vale, then managed by Roy Sproson.[6]

That season saw the club achieve promotion as runners-up, but Morgan left United in August 1978 after a dispute with the club. Choosing to head to the Netherlands, rather than Norway, he signed with Sparta Rotterdam. He moved on to FC Groningen in 1979, where he achieved a fourth promotion as the club claimed the Eerste Divisie title. He returned to his old club Gorleston in 1980 and was appointed manager in 1982, staying in the post until 1985.[7]

International career[]

Morgan won eighteen caps for his country between 1972 and 1978. He scored a goal on his debut in a 1–1 draw with Spain on 16 February 1972, after replacing Derek Dougan in the first eleven. He also scored against Cyprus on 8 May 1973 and Norway on 29 October 1975, both 3–0 home wins.[2]

Style of play[]

Morgan was a brave and bustling forward.[5]

Personal and later life[]

He married Alison and had a daughter, Hannah, and son, Ian.[5] When his playing days were over he became a teacher in Gorleston. He also became team manager, secretary and later chairman of Great Yarmouth Schools F.A.[5] He then became a schoolboy coach in the United States before returning to England to become a schoolboy coach at Norwich City youth team in 1990. In January 1998 he signed for Norwich full-time as the youth development officer and was able to become the club's first Director of their Football Academy, as he holds a UEFA Class A licence.[2] He resigned his Norwich post in 2004 and moved to East Anglian neighbours Ipswich Town as education officer.[2] In February 2009 he became Academy Manager.[8] In February 2015, he was reported to have underwent stomach surgery in his battle against cancer.[9]

Statistics[]

Club statistics[]

Source:[10]

Club Season Division League FA Cup Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Port Vale 1969–70 Fourth Division 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1
1970–71 Third Division 38 6 1 0 1 0 40 6
1971–72 Third Division 36 7 4 2 1 0 41 9
1972–73 Third Division 39 11 3 0 2 0 44 11
Total 114 25 8 2 4 0 126 27
Aston Villa 1973–74 Second Division 25 5 4 4 1 0 30 9
1974–75 Second Division 12 4 0 0 4 2 16 6
1975–76 First Division 3 0 0 0 2 0 5 0
Total 40 9 4 4 7 2 51 15
Brighton & Hove Albion Third Division 18 7 0 0 0 0 18 7
Third Division 17 1 2 0 0 0 19 1
Total 35 8 2 0 0 0 37 8
Cambridge United Third Division 37 4 2 0 1 0 40 4
Second Division 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 1
Total 37 4 2 0 3 1 42 5
Sparta Rotterdam[11][12] 1978–79 Eredivisie 23 5
FC Groningen[11][13] 1979–80 Eerste Divisie 17 2
Career total 266 53 16 6 14 3 296 62

International statistics[]

Northern Ireland national team[14]
Year Apps Goals
1972 2 1
1973 7 1
1974 3 0
1975 3 1
1976 2 0
1977 0 0
1978 1 0
Total 18 3

Honours[]

Individual
Port Vale
Aston Villa
Brighton & Hove Albion
Cambridge United
Groningen

References[]

  1. ^ "Sammy Morgan". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g "Sammy Morgan". nifootball.blogspot.com. 7 August 2007. Retrieved 19 June 2009.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 203. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Kent, Jeff (1990). The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. p. 305. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Aston Villa v Port Vale, 1990". onevalefan.co.uk. 19 August 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Kent, Jeff (1990). "Surviving on a Shoestring (1969–1979)". The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 227–257. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
  7. ^ Previous managers Gorleston F.C.
  8. ^ "Morgan takes over at academy". Ipswich Star. 10 February 2009. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  9. ^ Brammer, Chris (4 February 2015). "Former Ipswich Town academy manager Sammy Morgan battling cancer". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  10. ^ Sammy Morgan at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b "Player profile". National-Football-Teams.com. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  12. ^ "Sparts stats". vi.nl. Retrieved 19 June 2009.
  13. ^ "FC Gronigen stats". fcgstats.nl. Retrieved 19 June 2009.
  14. ^ Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Sammy Morgan". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
Retrieved from ""