In our new series at Everything Orient, we take a look at ex-Orient players and see where their careers have taken them since their departure from Brisbane Road.
Glenn Morris was known for being part of the Leyton Orient youth team that won the Youth Team Alliance Cup against Bradford with a squad of players that included Billy Jones, Aaron Mclean and Jabo Ibehre who all went onto play for the first team.
He made his debut in October 2001 in the LDV Vans Trophy against Dagenham & Redbridge. He played in 150 league and cup games for Orient, with recognition of being voted young player of year in 2003 and 2004. He was also part of the squad that won promotion to League One in 2005/06 season.
Unfortunately for Morris, he was always seen as a reliable number two goalkeeper playing understudy to Ashley Bayes, Lee Harrison, Glyn Garner, Stuart Nelson and Jamie Jones. At the end of 2009/10 season he was released by Russell Slade, ending his 9 year career at Orient.
He stayed local, moving to arch rivals Southend the following year. He initially signed a one year contract but quickly gained the number one jersey for Southend and was given a further one year deal. He played a total of 64 league and cup games for Southend. Following Southend’s failure in the playoffs, the club restructured and released 11 players including Morris in May 2012.
The summer of 2012 was a hard one for Morris as he struggled to get a club. While on trial at Portsmouth, he played in a friendly against Aldershot Town. They saw him and had recently just lost a goalkeeper to long-term injury. This twist of fate resulted in a 6 month contract at Aldershot Town, albeit as a number 2. Following their relegation to the National Conference, Morris remained at the club for a further year.
Having played 60 times for Aldershot, he was released in the summer of 2014. He signed for Gillingham but had to play second fiddle to Stuart Nelson most of the season but played the last 9 games of the season, keeping 2 clean sheets, resulting in a further one year contract. However, Morris did not feature in any games the following season. In the summer of 2016, he signed for Crawley Town as a player-coach and became the team’s goalkeeping coach where he remains. Initially on a one year contract, he played 41 games which resulted him receiving a new contract in summer 2017 for a further two years.
Since leaving Orient, he hasn’t remained at a club for any great length of time, which has been unfortunate for him. I always thought he was a good shot stopper and had a good kick on him, I just don’t think the clubs have given him the chance to prove his worth. Though it does seem he has found his feet at Crawley Town having played 42 times this season, the most in his career to date! At the age of 34, it may be his last club before hanging up his gloves but hopefully he continues his success as a coach.
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