Simon Morgan

Simon Morgan
Personal information
Date of birth (1966-09-05) 5 September 1966
Place of birth Birmingham, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1984–1990 Leicester City 160 (3)
1990–2001 Fulham 352 (47)
2001–2002 Brighton & Hove Albion 42 (1)
National team
1986 England U21 2 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Simon Morgan (born 5 September 1966 in Birmingham) is a former professional footballer, who most famously played for Fulham and Leicester. He also represented England at Under 21 level, playing two matches in 1986.[1]

Morgan began his football career with Leicester City, representing them in the First and Second Divisions of The Football League,[2] before being bought to then Third Division[3] Fulham in October 1990 by Alan Dicks.[4] The Cottagers finished 21st in Morgan's first season there (avoiding relegation by two points),[3] and 9th in his second season (during which the club replaced Dicks with Don Mackay[5][6] and missed out on the play-offs by four points)[7] with a squad which Morgan felt "should have got promoted but for one reason or another we blew it".[4] However, a 12th-placed finish in 1992/93[8] was followed by the club slipping to 18th with nine matches remaining of the 1993/94 season,[9] as a result of which Mackay was replaced by Ray Lewington,[6][10] and after going through these managerial changes, Fulham were relegated to the Fourth Division.[11]

After finishing within three points of the play-offs in 1994/95 under Ian Branfoot,[12] the club had slipped to 23rd by February 1996,[13] and eventually appointed Micky Adams as manager, who helped them retain their Football League status.[14] The team was promoted to the Second Division in 1997.[15] The club was then bought by Mohamed Al Fayed,[16] which was followed by Fulham's rise into the Premier League in 2001.[17] Due to injury, Morgan only played once in Fulham's victorious 2000-01 Division One campaign,[18] coming on as a substitute against Wolverhampton Wanderers,[19] which earned him the Man of the Match award despite playing only 13 minutes.[20]

Morgan was granted a testimonial year in the 2000-01 season.[21] This included a special edition of Fulham fanzine TOOFIF, called "There's Only One Simon Morgan" (TOOSM),[21][22] and culminated in a friendly match against Spurs,[23] supported by a Fulham vs. Chelsea veterans' game (in which his son played). Morgan was unable to participate in the Spurs match due to injury, but kicked the match off before being shown a pre-arranged red card by referee Graham Poll.[20]

Morgan then went to play at Brighton & Hove Albion for a season, scoring once against Northampton,[24] before bringing his playing career to an end in 2002.[25] After retiring he rejoined Fulham as head of the club's community scheme.[4] He left the club in 2007 to become the Premier League's Head of Community Development.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "England - U-21 International Results 1986-1995 - Details". RSSSF. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  2. ↑ "Leicester City career stats for Simon Morgan". Foxes History. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  3. 1 2 "Fulham 1990-1991 : English Division Three (old) Table". Statto. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Simon Morgan Departs". Fulham Football Club. 11 June 2007. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  5. ↑ "Alan Dicks 1990-1991". Fulham Football Club. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  6. 1 2 "Don Mackay 1991-1994". Fulham Football Club. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  7. ↑ "Fulham 1991-1992 : English Division Three (old) Table". Statto. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  8. ↑ "Fulham 1992-1993 : English Division Two Table". Statto. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  9. ↑ "English Division Two Table as of 26 March 1994". Statto. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  10. ↑ "Ray Lewington 1986-1990, 1991, 1994 & 2007". Fulham Football Club. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  11. ↑ "Fulham 1993-1994 : English Division Two Table". Statto. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  12. ↑ "Fulham 1994-1995 : English Division Three Table". Statto. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  13. ↑ "English Division Three Table as of 17 February 1996". Statto. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  14. ↑ "Fulham 1995-1996 : English Division Three Table". Statto. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  15. ↑ "Fulham 1996-1997 : English Division Three Table". Statto. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  16. ↑ "Mohamed Al Fayed". Fulham F.C. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  17. ↑ "Fulham 2000-2001 : English Division One Table". Statto. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  18. ↑ "Games played by Simon Morgan in 2000/2001". Soccerbase. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  19. ↑ "Fulham 2-0 Wolves". BBC. 24 April 2001. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  20. 1 2 Swains, Howard; Fanning, Evan (3 December 2008). "What's the shortest time a man of the match has been on the pitch?". Guardian. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  21. 1 2 "Diary". Guardian. 1 April 2000. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  22. ↑ "Three Fulham Cult Heroes". sport.co.uk. 10 March 2010. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  23. ↑ "Spurs lack flair". BBC Sport. 2 August 2000. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  24. ↑ "Brighton 2-0 Northampton". BBC. 12 March 2002. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  25. ↑ "Morgan forced to retire". BBC Sport. 9 May 2002. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
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