Full name Thomas Morrison Role Football player Place of birth Belfast, Ireland Died March 26, 1940 | Years Team Position Inside forward Name Tommy Morrison | |
Date of birth (1874-12-16)16 December 1874 Date of death 26 March 1940(1940-03-26) (aged 65) Playing position | ||
Thomas "Tommy" Morrison (16 December 1874 – 26 March 1940), also known as Ching Morrison, was a former football player for Glentoran, Burnley, Celtic and Manchester United.
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Morrison was the youngest of five sons born to James and Annie Morrison. The first three boys were born in Scotland and the youngest of them, Bob who was also an international, played for Linfield. Another brother, Alex, also played for Glentoran in the 1890s.
Club career
Morrison made his first appearance for Glentoran on 18 April 1891 in a Charity Cup game against Ulster at Solitude. He scored in that match which was abandoned with the Glens trailing 4–1. The following season (1891–92) saw Morrison score 11 goals in just nine games, including a hat-trick in the Irish League against Ligoniel. Two seasons later, he was part of Glentoran's Irish League winning side before moving to Burnley.
Morrison transferred to Burnley in March 1894 and made his debut in a game on 10 March against Derby. He scored one goal in a 3–1 victory. Early the following season he was dismissed by the Burnley committee for misconduct.
Morrison had another spell with Glentoran and a largely unsuccessful stint with Celtic in Scotland. Despite helping the Bhoys win the 1895 championship, his appearances the following season were limited to just 16. He is credited with being the first native Irishman to play for Celtic by manager Willie Maley meaning that, for a club with an overwhelmingly Catholic Irish reputation, a Protestant from East Belfast was their first Irish signing.
Morrison returned to Burnley in February 1897. The following season, he helped them to the Second Division title in 1898. He remained at Burnley until the 1902–03 season when he signed for Manchester United.
He gained the distinction of being Manchester United's first Irish player; although fellow Ulsterman Jack Peden had spent a season playing for United's predecessors Newton Heath during the previous decade.
Morrison spent only one full season at Bank Street in the Second Division but did leave an impression with the fans by scoring the first goal in a memorable 2–1 FA cup upset of first division Notts County in February 1904. Morrison remained at Manchester United until the beginning of the 1904–05 season when he signed for Colne.
He later returned home to Belfast to end his career with Glentoran, scoring two goals in 16 appearances in 1906–07.
International career
Morrison made his debut for Ireland in March 1895. Ireland lost the game in Derby 9–0 to England. All seven of Morrison's Ireland caps came in Home International Championship games. His last cap came on 22 March 1902 in a 0-1 defeat to England in Belfast.