Early career Born in
Inverness though a native of
Kinlochbervie, Morrison moved to
Plymouth at the age of eight. At the age of 13, Morrison had a trial at
Southampton along with 39 other hopefuls including
Alan Shearer,
Tim Flowers and
Matt Le Tissier. Morrison began his career at
Plymouth Argyle. He made his Football League debut as a substitute in a 5–2 defeat at
Aston Villa, in 1987, in which
David Platt scored the winning goal. Morrison did not establish himself in the Argyle first team until the 1989–90 season. An uncompromising centre-half with a broad Plymothian accent, Morrison scored his first senior goal in a 1–0 win at home to
Ipswich Town in March 1990. Morrison was a regular fixture in the Plymouth side under manager
Dave Kemp, but the arrival of
Peter Shilton as player-manager in February 1991 marked the beginning of the end of his time at Plymouth. Morrison took exception to Shilton's managerial style, while Shilton, for his part, was keen to cash in on one of his most saleable assets to bring in signings of his own. Morrison spent one final season at Home Park following the club's relegation from the second tier in 1992, before Shilton accepted a £500,000 offer from
Blackburn Rovers, then managed by
Kenny Dalglish.
Blackburn Rovers Morrison made 5 appearances for
Blackburn Rovers in the
1993–94 season, in which the club finished second in the premier league. He made his Premier League debut for the club when he replaced
Tim Sherwood in a 3–0 victory over
Wimbledon F.C. in February 1994. Morrison started, and almost scored, in a 1–0 defeat to
Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup. He subsequently replaced
Kevin Moran in a 1–0 defeat to
Arsenal (in which
Paul Merson scored the winner) and
David Batty in a 3–1 defeat to
Southampton (in which
Stuart Ripley scored Blackburn's goal). Morrison started for Blackburn in a 2–1 victory against
West Ham United (in which
Henning Berg and
Ian Pearce scored Blackburn's goals) in April 1994. His last game for Blackburn was a 2–1 defeat to
Coventry City, in May 1994, which ended Blackburn's title hopes that season. Morrison was given a 'torrid time' by
Peter Ndlovu in the game and later claimed that Ndlovu had ruined his career with Blackburn. Morrison also played for Blackburn's reserve team, alongside
Shay Given and former Plymouth teammate
Nicky Marker. Morrison played in the reserve team defeat against
Manchester United's reserve team, which featured
Bryan Robson and
Dion Dublin, in which Marker's tackle on
Ben Thornley led to the latter being sidelined for over a year and ultimately to legal action. Morrison was unable to break into the Rovers side on a regular basis, as he faced competition from
Colin Hendry,
Henning Berg and
Ian Pearce. Morrison began the
1994–95 season as a member of the Blackburn squad that went on to win the Premier League that season. He was an unused substitute in the
1994 FA Charity Shield in which Blackburn were beaten 2–0 by
Manchester United after goals from
Eric Cantona and
Paul Ince. In December 1994 Morrison was bought by
Sam Allardyce for
Blackpool. The transfer fee was £245,000, which was then a Blackpool club-record.
Celtic F.C. were also interested in Morrison, but ended up signing
John Hughes from
Falkirk F.C. Blackpool Allardyce described Morrison as a "horrible in-your-face" centre-back and a "complete nutter". Morrison made his debut for
the Tangerines on 10 December, in a 3–1 victory over
AFC Bournemouth. He was suspended for the next two games, however, after picking up a booking during the match and, thus, hitting the relevant number of disciplinary points. Morrison spent two years at Blackpool and was made club captain by Allardyce In a match against
Plymouth Argyle, in January of the
1994–95, Morrison was moved from defence into midfield, at half time (at which time Blackpool were losing 2–0), which proved to be the catalyst for a 5–2 victory. In the
1995–96 season Blackpool finished in the
playoff places. Blackpool won the first leg of their play-off game against
Bradford City (who were managed by
Chris Kamara) 2–0. Kamara changed his tactics in the second leg, to dissipate Morrison's influence in the game, and Blackpool were defeated 3–0. Bradford went on to beat
Notts County in the final to earn promotion. Blackpool's defeat led to Allardyce's departure. Morrison also moved on from Blackpool.
Huddersfield Town Morrison was signed by
Brian Horton for
Huddersfield Town in the
1996–97 season. Horton used the £2.7 million that
Sheffield Wednesday had used to purchase
Andy Booth from Huddersfield, to invest in Morrison as well as
Marcus Stewart from
Bristol Rovers and
Andy Payton from
Barnsley. Horton, like Allardyce before him, also made Morrison captain. Morrison scored in his debut for Huddersfield against
Charlton (which Huddersfield won 2–0). Morrison's Huddersfield teammate
Ben Thornley described him as 'the hardest person to have ever played football'. Morrison won the respect of fans 'with his braveheart style warrior performances'. A knee injury restricted Morrison's appearances for Huddersfield in the
1996–97 season. He was replaced by
Sam Collins in a 1–0 defeat to
Tranmere Rovers in September 1996 and did not play for Huddersfield again until a 0–0 draw with
Manchester City in November 1996, in which he was replaced by
Kevin Gray just after half time. He did not play again until April 1997 when he replaced
David Beresford, at half time, in a 2–1 defeat to
Charlton Athletic. In the
1997–98 season, Morrison played in Huddersfield's 3–0 defeat to
West Ham United in the
League Cup, in which
John Hartson scored a hat trick. He also played in Huddersfield's 1–0 defeat to
Wimbledon, in the FA Cup, in which
Neal Ardley scored the only goal. Huddersfield's poor results in the league that season (they went nine games without a win) led to Horton being sacked. Horton was replaced by
Peter Jackson, who managed to keep the team up. Morrison played in Huddersfield's first victory that season, a 3–1 win against
Stoke City (in which
Lee Richardson, Stewart and
Paul Dalton scored Huddersfield's goals). He also played in Huddersfield's second win of the season, a 1–0 victory against
Manchester City at
Maine Road, in which
Rob Edwards scored the winner. In the
1998–99 season, Morrison played in Huddersfield's 2–1 defeat to
Everton, in the
League Cup, in which
Olivier Dacourt and
Marco Materazzi scored Everton's goals and Stewart scored Huddersfield's goal. Morrison fell out with Jackson early that season when the latter decided to make
Barry Horne Huddersfield captain, leading to Morrison's departure.
Manchester City Morrison was signed by
Joe Royle for
Manchester City, in the
1998–99 season, following their relegation to Division Two. The transfer fee was £80,000. Morrison made his debut in a 2–1 victory against
Colchester United in October 1998. Morrison headed in City's second goal of the game and received a man of the match award, which was presented to him by former City winger
Dennis Tueart. Morrison also scored in his second game for City, a 3–0 victory against
Oldham Athletic. Morrison endeared himself to the City fans and was soon made captain. He scored his third goal for City in a 1–1 draw with
Luton Town. One fanzine asked: "Where can we get another half-dozen Andy Morrisons?" According to goalkeeper
Nicky Weaver: "Morrison was a huge signing for us. Joe made him captain straight away. He was an intimidating figure for the opposition and he could be intimidating as a team-mate as well. I'd stand behind him in the tunnel and he'd be beating his chest, ready for battle. The other team would be thinking, 'I don't fancy tangling with him today'. But to be fair to Andy, he wasn't just a brute and growling pitbull. He had a great touch, too." In an 1–0 defeat to
Wimbledon, in the FA Cup, Morrison was sent off after a scuffle with
Carl Cort. Morrison scored his fourth goal of the season, via a thundering header from a corner, in a 6–0 victory against
Burnley (
Shaun Goater scored a hat trick and
Kevin Horlock and
Danny Allsopp scored the other goals). City finished in the play-off places in the league. Morrison captained City to victory over
Gillingham in the
1999 Football League Second Division play-off final at
Wembley in May 1999. In the match Morrison's teammates
Kevin Horlock and
Paul Dickov scored late goals to take the match to extra time and penalties (which City won). Morrison was presented with the playoff trophy at the end of the game and became the fifth City captain (following
Sam Cowan,
Roy Paul,
Tony Book and
Mike Doyle) to lift a trophy at
Wembley. He has been succeeded, in this respect, by
Carlos Tevez (who captained City to victory in the
2011 FA Cup Final) and
Vincent Kompany (who has won the
EFL Cup four times with City), although they captained City to victories at the new
Wembley Stadium. In City's first game in
Division One, they lost 1–0 to
Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Robbie Keane scored the only goal of the game. In City's second game in
Division One, Morrison was famously sent off for sticking out his tongue at
Stan Collymore in a 0–0 draw with
Fulham. Morrison remonstrated angrily before leaving the pitch, pushing Collymore in the face as he left. Collymore mentioned the incident in his autobiography, stating that Morrison 'stuck his tongue in my mouth' and that he was one of three players (along with
Andy Todd and
Darren Purse) who sought to 'prove that they were real hard men when they were up against me'. City's first victory of the season came in 6–0 defeat of
Sheffield United. Morrison's performances endeared him to then
Scotland manager
Craig Brown. Brown was reportedly interested in calling Morrison up to the international team to play in the
UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying play-offs against
England. However, twelve games into the season, Morrison picked up an injury, in a 2–1 victory against
Port Vale. As a result, Morrison was not available to be picked by Brown for Scotland and he missed the rest of the
1999–2000 season. The season ended with City being promoted to the Premier League (a rare second successive promotion). Morrison spent 14 months attempting to return to the Manchester City team, even requesting that Royle loan him out to his former club Blackpool who were managed by
Steve McMahon at the time. Morrison played 6 times and scored once (in a game against
Hartlepool United However, due to the number of yellow cards he had picked up in reserve-team games he could not play Premier League football until
New Year's Day 2001, when he played in a 1–1 draw with
Coventry City. In his next outing, an
FA Cup game against
Birmingham City, he scored with a bullet header in a 3–2 victory (
Darren Huckerby and
Shaun Goater scored the other goals for City). Morrison made two further appearances for City in the league: a 4–0 defeat to
Leeds United and a 1–1 draw with
Liverpool. In the latter, Morrison was replaced, by
Andrei Kanchelskis (on loan from
Rangers), at half time, due to a hamstring injury. Morrison was forced to withdraw from the squad, which drew 1–1 with
Middlesbrough in early February, due to the same hamstring injury (he was replaced, in the squad, by
Shaun Wright-Phillips). Morrison played in City's 1–0 victory against
Coventry City in the fourth round of the FA Cup (in which Goater scored the only goal). Morrison also played in the fifth round of the FA Cup, against eventual winners
Liverpool (which ended in a 4–2 defeat). Morrison was spoken to by a police officer for squirting water at a Liverpool fan after he had been replaced by
Tony Grant. After the game, Royle dismissed speculation that Morrison had played his last game for the club. However, the defeat did prove to be Morrison's last appearance for City, as Royle became concerned about his injury record. Morrison was subsequently loaned out to
Sheffield United, who were then managed by
Neil Warnock. Morrison played alongside another former Manchester City captain,
Keith Curle, in defence at Sheffield United. The wisdom of allowing Morrison to be loaned out was questioned when Howey suffered an injury whilst playing for City. Morrison made his debut for
Sheffield United in a 4–1 defeat to
Gillingham. He came on as a substitute, replacing
Gus Uhlenbeek, in a 1–0 defeat to
Wimbledon in United's next game, in which he almost scored a late equaliser. In Morrison's third game for
Sheffield United they beat
Grimsby Town 1–0, with
Peter Ndlovu scoring the only goal. In Morrison's final game for
Sheffield United, a 2–0 victory against
Burnley, Morrison picked up the injury that ended his career. City were subsequently relegated to Division One once more.
Shaun Goater contended that City 'missed Andy Morrison's presence that season' and that 'with his motivational skills things might have turned out differently'. Royle was sacked following City's relegation and
Kevin Keegan became manager at
Maine Road. It was speculated that Morrison's time at the club was over. Morrison was linked with moves to
Burnley,
Stoke City and
Bristol City. Nevertheless, Keegan praised the Scot for his hard work in training, and with City's defence leaking goals (they conceded 52 goals in the
2001–02 season), fans hoped Morrison would be given his chance. Keegan hoped that Morrison could provide leadership in the dressing room to address the drinking culture at the club, but lamented that he 'couldn't get him in the team' (due to his continuing injury woes), which led to the signing of
Stuart Pearce. Morrison ultimately failed to recover from the injury that he sustained while he was at Sheffield United and he was released by the club at the end of the season. This was not before he was given his chance to say farewell to the Manchester City fans in a match against Crystal Palace. Keegan said of Morrison: "Andy received cult status when the club gained promotion. He is a first-class professional and deserves a chance to further his career." City went on to win the
2001–02 Football League First Division, thereby earning promotion to the Premier League.
Later career In late 2002, Morrison was given a trial at
Bury. He played 45 minutes for Bury's reserve team, but his injury prevented him taking any further part. ==Playing legacy==