Tony Morley - Player Profile

Tony Morley: born Ormskirk, August 26, 1954

At first it seemed as though a lack of inches might prevent Tony Morley from making the grade as a professional footballer. Then when he was making a name for himself in the lower divisions Morley himself made a decision which jeopardised his chances of really making an impression in the football world.

Belatedly, however, Morley reached the top of English football and for two seasons he was as dangerous an attacker as anyone in Europe.

As a schoolboy Tony Morley's natural sporting aptitude was immediately apparent. Despite his delicate looking build Morley was a fine athlete and an outstanding footballer. Several clubs showed an interest in the exciting youngster but could not convince themselves that the tiny youth would develop into a man capable of handling the rigours of professional football.

The club that finally decided to take that chance was Preston North End, not quite his local club, and they immediately set about beefing him up with a programme of steaks, malt and weight training. Sounds reasonable.

Whether this was responsible for his physical development or if nature had just taken its course Morley was deemed ready to take his first tentative steps in the North End first team at the age of 18 during the 1972-73 season.

His debut came as a substitute for Dave Wilson at Queens Park Rangers during a 3-0 defeat in early January and Morley made only three further appearances that season as Preston struggled to keep their place in the second division.

The following season started in a wave of optimism at Deepdale for the club and Morley. The arrival as manager of Bobby Charlton brought a buzz of anticipation and the young winger also looked likely to benefit as he started the early games of the campaign.

The lustre quickly faded, however, and as Preston became embroiled in another fraught struggle at the foot of the table Morley slipped quietly back into the reserves to continue his development.

North End were to suffer relegation at the end of the season and Morley's total of ten appearances, three coming as substitute, seems wholly inadequate now.

Indeed his omission was quickly made to look baffling as he became a regular in the third division and immediately began to impress with his forthright wing play. Morley quickly demonstrated that he had two good feet, could beat a man and was capable of scoring himself as well as providing chances for others. Above all, however, from the very start his outstanding attribute was his searing pace.

Morley announced his arrival by scoring his first goal for North End on the opening day of the season in a 1-0 win over Plymouth Argyle which was covered for ITV by Granada Television.

Preston were creating quite a stir in the third division as fans up and down the country flocked to see them. They were drawn by the presence of Charlton, who had got his boots out of the attic to resume playing, and Nobby Stiles who had joined his former Manchester United and England colleague at Deepdale.

Charlton was still able to unleash the occasional missile from distance and Stiles provided the galleries with a pantomime villain as he did his level best to impersonate the fierce little pitbull that had terrorised attackers throughout the world during the previous decade. It was generally the dashing winger the crowds had never heard of who captured their attention, however.

Morley was a splendid sight in full flight. Lean framed, clean cut with long flowing blonde locks he certainly looked the part and there was no denying the quality of his performances. Indeed, midway through his first full season in the Preston side Morley was called up to the England Under 23's despite playing his football in the third division.

At a time when George Best's star was fading badly and Peter Marinello had drowned in the publicity heralding his arrival in England as footballs' new playboy, Morley could easily have been targetted as the next "football pop star".

Perhaps that is why, the following season, Morley turned down the chance to join Arsenal when the London giants offered Preston £110,000 for his services.

With Charlton having resigned after the Deepdale board had sanctioned a transfer without his knowledge Preston were only too happy to accept this offer and remained open for business when neighbours Burnley came calling shortly afterwards.

The bright lights of London and the distance from home might have unnerved the 21 year old Morley but the more comfortable passage into the first division that the move to Turf Moor presented was eagerly accepted.

In some ways this decision looks sound. There was no guarantee that Morley would have cut it at Highbury at that time and the move to London would have been loaded with dangers for a young professional who had yet to leave home. It was not a good time to be joining Burnley, however. The club were already locked in a losing battle to avoid relegation when Morley got there and his introduction to life in Division One would be all too brief.

Burnley's relegation made it even more surprising that Morley struggled to make an impact at Turf Moor. Although he was a regular in the side much of the spark seemed to have left his game and he certainly struggled to find the net in a team that found it hard to assert itself in the lower standard.

Perhaps swapping one Lancashire mill town for another had not been the best move for Morley. Although he had baulked at a move to Arsenal he was possibly more naturally suited to the big city than the Lancashire backwater.

Early on in his time at Turf Moor Morley appeared with his long hair gone and his head completely shaven. He explained this change by claiming his hair had been putting him off as he sped down the wing but it was also rumoured that the Burnley chairman and institution Bob Lord had ordered a hair cut when confronted by his new wingers generous mane for the first time.

Whatever the rights or wrongs Morley's career stalled at Turf Moor despite the fact that flashes of brilliance were never far below the surface.

After a notably disappointing season for both player and club, therefore, it came as no little surprise when Aston Villa paid the Clarets £200,000 to take Morley back into the first division in 1979. The gamble was to pay off spectacularly, however.

After his first season at Villa Park was spoiled by injury Morley hit the richest vein of form of his career the year after. It would last for two seasons and play a huge part in the most glorious phase of Villa's illustrious history.

Villa began the 1980-81 season in fine style, winning three and drawing one of their first four games. Morley set them on their way scoring the teams opening goal of the season in a 2-1 win at Leeds. From there on in the momentum scarcely wavered as a remarkably settled side embarked on an unlikely title challenge.

Throughout the league campaign Villa would use only 14 players and Morley would end up as one of 7 ever present players. It was an ideal situation for the wingers talent to flourish and he was consistently outstanding down the left flank as Villa's challenge refused to die.

Morley's service was vital to the prolific partnership of Peter Withe and Gary Shaw, who netted 38 goals between them, and the flying winger chipped in with ten himself for good measure. His goals were often spectacular as he possessed a strong shot in either foot which he was able to unleash with accuracy at full speed.

One such effort, cutting inside onto his right foot in a 3-1 win over Everton at Goodison Park, brought Morley the Match of the Day Goal of the Season award.

At the end of the season Villa were crowned champions over an exhausted Ipswich Town. Villa had shown the good sense to get knocked out of both cups early and took their place in the following seasons' European Cup.

To the surprise of many Villa now began to progress in this competition and Morley's pace and goalscoring threat was their chief weapon as they sought to conquer Europe.

Morley scored both goals in a 2-1 win away to Dynamo Berlin, a tie Villa only ended up winning by virtue of their away goals, and also scored the only goal of the semi final clashes with Anderlecht.

The wingers part in the goal that won the final itself cannot be overlooked. With Villa enduring, and somehow surviving, an almost total bombardment from Bayern Munich Gary Shaw cleverly slipped a ball out to Morley on the left flank. Quick as a flash he hared towards the deadball line, tricked his man and sent over a perfect low centre which Peter Withe all but squandered with a scuffed shot from six yards which happily went in off the far post.

This was enough to give Aston Villa the European Cup and ensure Tony Morley a place in the history books forever. From here on, however, his fortunes slumped as quickly as they had risen.

The following season included a memorable hammering of Barcelona in the European Super Cup but Villa lost their European crown after being comprehensively outplayed in both legs of their quarter final by a Zbigniew Boniek inspired Juventus.

After this Morley slipped into footballing oblivion. £75,000 took him to West Bromwich Albion in December 1983. As a former Villa player Morley was an obvious target for discontented Baggies fans as their team struggled to stay in the first division and after swapping the frying pan for the fire in spending a short time on loan at Birmingham City, Morley removed to Holland for a couple of seasons with Den Haag.

Returning to England Morley saw out his league career back at West Brom, by now struggling in the second division, and with a loan spell at Burnley, now struggling in the fourth division!

During his golden spell at Aston Villa Morley had managed a brief flirtation with the England side. He was a popular choice as he made his debut as substitute for Steve Coppell in the vital 1981 World Cup qualifier against Hungary at Wembley and he showed plenty of promise during his brief appearance in a 1-0 win which sent England to the finals in Spain the following year.

He was overlooked by Ron Greenwood for the final squad, however. This was a disappointing omission and the absence of a genuine winger was certainly felt as England came home undefeated but having failed to score against both West Germany and Spain in the second group stage.

Morley was immediately re-instated by Bobby Robson as he took over from Greenwood after these finals but was just as quickly cast aside as England laboured to a fortuitous 2-2 draw in Denmark.

The winger won one more cap when injuries left Robson's squad severely depleted but despite a fine 3-0 win in Greece Morley had to settle for a total of six international caps.

While it is possible to imagine that Morley, who on his day was as exciting and effective a winger as this country has seen in the last 30 years, could have achieved much more in his career it should be remembered that what he did manage wasn't half bad.