Ravel Morrison

Ravel Ryan Morrison (/ræˈvɛl/, /rəˈ-/; /ˈrævɛl/, /-vəl/; born 2 February 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays for Championship club Middlesbrough, on loan from Premier League side Sheffield United.

He began his career with Manchester United, before joining West Ham United in January 2012. Morrison spent the 2012–13 season on loan with Birmingham City, and also played for Queens Park Rangers and Cardiff City on loan in 2014, featuring in the QPR side that won the 2014 Football League Championship play-off Final. In July 2015, on the expiry of his West Ham United contract, he joined Lazio. In 2017, he had a loan spell back at QPR, before spending the 2017–18 season on loan at Mexican club Atlas. He joined Swedish club Östersund in February 2019, before returning to England to join Sheffield United in July 2019.

Morrison played for England at under-16, under-17, under-18 and under-21 levels.

Manchester United

Morrison was born in Wythenshawe, Manchester. He was first scouted for the Manchester United Academy by former United coach Phil Brogan. According to Rio Ferdinand, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson "thought he was the best player he had seen at that age". Morrison signed on as a first-year scholar in 2009 and turned professional on 2 February 2010, on his 17th birthday.

He made his first team debut in a 3–2 League Cup win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on 26 October 2010, coming on as a substitute for Park Ji-Sung. On 20 April 2011 he scored the opening goal against Chelsea in the semi-final of the FA Youth Cup at Old Trafford, which Manchester United went on to win 4–0. Morrison added two more goals in the second leg of the Youth Cup final against Sheffield United, a match that United went on to win 4–1, securing the title 6–3 on aggregate. On 25 October 2011, he came on as a substitute for Mame Biram Diouf in a 3–0 League Cup win over Aldershot Town. He then came on at half-time during United's 2–1 League Cup fifth round loss to Crystal Palace, replacing Dimitar Berbatov. On 13 January 2012, Manchester United confirmed that they rejected an offer from Newcastle United, despite Morrison's contract being due to expire in June 2012.

West Ham United

On 31 January 2012, Morrison signed for Championship club West Ham United on a three-and-a-half year contract for an undisclosed fee. A clause in the contract between Manchester United and West Ham United ensured that the Manchester club would receive £25,000 for every game Morrison played for West Ham United. Allowing him to leave Manchester United, manager Sir Alex Ferguson told West Ham United manager, Sam Allardyce of Morrison, "A brilliant footballer. Brilliant ability. Top class ability. Needs to get away from Manchester and start a new life". On 17 March 2012, he made his debut for The Hammers, replacing Jack Collison in the 81st minute of the 1–1 draw at Leeds United.

Birmingham City (loan)

With West Ham manager Sam Allardyce keen for him to gain experience of first-team football, Morrison joined Championship club Birmingham City on loan for the 2012–13 season. He made his competitive debut for the club on 14 August 2012, playing 78 minutes in a 5–1 win over Barnet in the League Cup, and kept his place for the opening match of the league season, a 1–1 draw at home to Charlton Athletic. Problems with Morrison's attitude in training had led manager Lee Clark to consider terminating his loan, but he returned to the team in October with an influential performance as Birmingham City narrowly failed to beat league leaders Leicester City. The improvement continued as Birmingham City came back from 3–0 down to draw at Millwall; as the Birmingham Mail's reporter noted, "it wasn't just his elegant, effortless ability on the ball and passing, but work rate, too". He scored his first goal in league football on 17 November 2012, a "spectacular volley" from Nikola Žigić's knockdown, to start Birmingham City's attempted comeback from 3–0 at home to Hull City.

Return to West Ham United

Morrison returned to West Ham United from his loan with Birmingham City for the 2013–14 season. He was given the squad number 15 with only his first name, "Ravel", listed on the back of his shirt. Morrison scored his first goal for West Ham United on his full debut, in the second round of the League Cup, on 27 August 2013, in a 2–1 win against Cheltenham Town. Starting the game against Everton on 21 September 2013, Morrison scored his first Premier League goal, and West Ham United's first of the game, in a 3–2 home defeat. On 6 October 2013, he scored West Ham's third goal in a 3–0 derby win away against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. Manager Sam Allardyce said of the goal, "That's a genius goal for me. You'll struggle to see a better goal than that all season".

Queens Park Rangers (loan)

On 19 February 2014, Morrison's 93-day loan, to commence on 21 February, to Championship side Queens Park Rangers was announced. Morrison's first goals for Queens Park Rangers came on 8 March 2014. Playing against Birmingham City he scored both goals in a 2–0 win; the first from a free-kick after Paul Robinson had fouled Kevin Doyle and the second from a cross by Jermaine Jenas. Morrison was a member of the Queens Park Rangers side which won the 2014 Football League Championship play-off Final, 1–0 against Derby County at Wembley on 24 May 2014 when he was an unused substitute.

In the 2013–2014 season Morrison scored 13 goals in 33 starts for clubs and country in all competitions. West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce said of Morrison in September 2014, "It's not that he has to impress me as a footballer, we know about his talent. It's about playing the talent and himself to a disciplined life in general, is what needs to happen with Rav. If that happens we'd want him here."

Cardiff City (loan)

On 23 September 2014, Morrison completed a three-month loan move, until 26 December 2014, to Championship side Cardiff City.

He was named Man of the Match by WalesOnline on his first and only start for the club, against Blackpool, on 14 October 2014. While still on loan with Cardiff City, West Ham United placed Morrison on the transfer list making him available for transfer for a "nominal fee" in the January 2015 transfer window. In December 2014, Morrison returned early to West Ham United from his loan, after Cardiff City manager Russell Slade said Morrison had no future at the club. He had played seven games, one start and six as a substitute, without scoring.

Lazio

In January 2015, it was reported that Morrison had signed a pre-contract agreement to join Lazio on a four-year deal at the end of the 2014–15 season. In February 2015, Morrison's contract with West Ham United was terminated early and the player began training with Lazio ahead of his proposed move. By June, various reports in the English media suggested that Morrison had become unsettled in Rome and in turn had instructed his representatives to seek out a move back home. Soon after, it emerged that former club Queens Park Rangers were the lead club to secure Morrison's signature, with the player reportedly keen to return to London, however Morrison himself later denied these claims.

Morrison made his Lazio debut in a 14–0 victory against C.S. Auronzo on 12 July 2015, scoring two goals and providing two assists, with his overall performance "sending the fans into ecstasy". He made his competitive debut for Lazio in the UEFA Champions League play-off round second leg match, away to Bayer Leverkusen on 26 August 2015. Morrison played the final eight minutes in place of Ogenyi Onazi in a 3–0 loss (3–1 on aggregate). Four days later, he made his Serie A debut in a 4–0 loss to Chievo, coming on at half time in place of Senad Lulić.

Morrison featured scarcely in Lazio's start to the 2015–16 season, with coach Stefano Pioli criticising his effort and inability to speak Italian. In October 2015, he posted a message on Twitter saying solely "January..", leading to more reports of an exit from the club.

On 31 January 2017, Morrison returned to Queens Park Rangers on loan until the end of the 2016–17 season. He made five appearances for them in the Championship, all but one as a substitute, and the West London club did not take the option to sign him for £2 million.

On 31 August 2017, Morrison joined Atlas on loan until the end of the 2017–18 season. Only one other Englishman had previously played in Liga MX, Chester-born Antonio Pedroza, who was raised in Mexico and whose father is Mexican.

Östersund

In February 2019, having returned to Lazio in the previous July, Morrison trained with Allsvenskan side Östersund at their pre-season camp in Marbella. On 14 February, it was confirmed that he had signed a six-month contract with the club. He scored his first goal for the club on 3 March 2019, in a Svenska Cupen match against IK Sirius, the first goal of a 3–0 win. In June 2019, Morrison's contract was not renewed due to frequent injury and his salary, despite the manager's praise of him.

Sheffield United

In July 2019, manager Chris Wilder confirmed that Morrison had begun training with newly promoted Premier League side Sheffield United ahead of the new season, describing the move as being "a good fit for the player and the club". On 16 July, it was confirmed that Morrison had signed a one-year deal.

Middlesbrough (loan)

On 31 January 2020, Morrison signed for Middlesbrough, on loan for the remainder of the 2019–20 season.

Morrison has been capped by England at under-16, under-17, under-18 and under-21 levels. Morrison is also eligible to play for Jamaica and, in November 2012, he was reported to be considering representing them at international level. He made his England under-21 debut on 10 October 2013, in a 4–0 away win against San Marino. He scored his first goals for the under-21 team in a 5–0 UEFA Euro 2015 qualifying win over Lithuania.

In March 2018, he was invited to a training camp with Jamaica to discuss switching his national allegiance with Jamaican officials. In May 2019, Morrison was named as one of the 40 players in Theodore Whitmore's preliminary Jamaica squad for the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Lazio director Igli Tare said in October 2015 that Morrison "has undoubted quality and is world class, as well as being a little mad". FourFourTwo writer Alasdair Mackenzie predicted that with a more humble approach, Morrison could become a favourite of the Lazio fans, who had previously revered other eccentric players such as Paul Gascoigne and Paolo Di Canio. While Morrison's former Manchester United teammate Rio Ferdinand named Morrison as the most talented young player that he had seen, his manager at West Ham, Sam Allardyce, said in 2017 that he considered Morrison to be "the biggest waste of talent" he had worked with.

As of match played 22 February 2020

Morrison was born in Wythenshawe, and lived with his grandparents in Denton, Greater Manchester, before his transfer to West Ham United.

Legal history

In early 2011, Morrison received a 12-month referral order and was ordered to pay £1,445 in costs and compensation after admitting two counts of witness intimidation. After an assault charge was dropped when Morrison's girlfriend refused to testify, he was convicted of criminal damage for throwing her mobile phone out of a window and advised to undergo domestic violence counselling. In February 2012, Morrison was involved in controversy after posting a homophobic threat on Twitter, responding to criticism by calling another user a "faggot". He was charged under FA rule E3, which governs use of abusive and/or insulting words including reference to a person's sexual orientation, and accepted his guilt. He was fined £7,000.

Morrison was remanded in custody on 31 July 2014 after being charged with two counts of common assault against a former girlfriend and her mother. He was freed on bail after three days in custody. In August 2014 he appeared at Manchester Crown Court entering not-guilty pleas to two counts of assault, one of assault causing actual bodily harm and one count of harassment. A provisional trial date was set for 26 January 2015. In November 2014 he was found not guilty of the harassment charge of threatening to throw acid in the face of his ex-girlfriend and have her killed after the Crown Prosecution Service withdrew the charge. On 15 January 2015, Morrison was cleared of all charges of assaulting his ex-girlfriend and her mother.

Club

Queens Park Rangers

• Football League Championship play-offs: 2013–14

Individual

• Football League Championship Player of the Month: March 2014