Matt Healey continues the series.
Dave Morris was born in Bournemouth on the 19th November 1971. He started out as a YTS on the south coast and signed professional forms for the club. He played a couple of first team games for his hometown club and joined Hereford United in February 1993.
Morris told me how he became a Bull “I was at Bournemouth under Tony Pulis, he said there was some interest from Hereford, it was a long way away, but I met Greg Downs (Hereford Manager) and played a reserve game, I did well and scored. He then offered me a contract”
Morris made his Hereford debut in a 2-0 defeat away at Scarborough on the 6th February 1993.
Morris has vivid memories of his debut “I remember being tired, Greg asked me to play wing back, in that position you’ve got so much ground to cover, as fit as I was, it was a different level to reserve team football, it was tough going”
Morris made 11 league appearances that season. The final game of the campaign was away at Halifax Town. Hereford had pushed themselves clear of relegation but Halifax needed a win to stay up and had to hope Northampton didn’t win at Shrewsbury.
Morris recalls the occasion “The atmosphere was intense, you don’t want to see a club go out the Football League, but we had a job to do, the game was exciting, at the end the referee was saying we needed to get off the pitch quick, as there would be a pitch invasion from the Halifax fans, as a full back I had the longest journey of all the players, but I felt for the Halifax fans when we beat them”
Former Halifax player Derek Hall scored the winning goal in a 1-0 win, but Halifax would have been down anyway as Northampton came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat Shrewsbury 3-2 at the now demolished Gay Meadow.
Morris remained at Edgar Street for the 1993/1994 season and in September of that campaign the club would face the Crazy Gang of Wimbledon in the 2nd round of the Coca Cola Cup.
“We beat Torquay over two legs in the 1st round and had the opportunity, to play a top Premier League side, to be honest we were hoping for the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool and Aston Villa, but we got Wimbledon.
I was a physical player and playing alongside Vinnie Jones and John Fashanu, I knew I was going into battle, Greg Downs asked me to man mark Robbie Earle, the results didn’t go our way, but it was exciting to test ourselves against top flight players, those were great memories”
Most of the games that season saw crowds struggle to break the 2,000 mark but nearly 5,000 packed into Edgar Street for the 1st leg.
“A bigger crowd gives you that extra energy, we were testing ourselves against the best and there was a real buzz under the floodlights for the 1st game”.
Hereford would lose the 1st leg 1-0.
Then in the 2nd leg went down 4-1.
Morris would score his only Hereford league goal in a dramatic 3-3 draw away at Walsall. I can sense Morris is breaking out into a smile by the tone of his voice.
“Those words are bringing a huge smile to my face, I’m smiling ear to ear, it was single handedly the best moment of my career, it was what I always dreamed of doing, to score that equalizer, right at the end, was the best feeling ever, I cannot explain it, it was fantastic, we took a good following of fans to the game, I remember running off to the fans when it went in and it’s something that cant ever be taken away from me”
Morris scored a couple more in a 3-0 win over Mostyn in a Welsh Cup tie on the 27th October 1993.
He even had a stint playing in goal when Alan Judge was sent off in a 3-2 home loss to Mansfield Town on the 4th April 1994.
“I joined in training and played in goal if Judgy (Alan Judge) wasn’t available, it very rarely happens a goalkeeper goes off, it was brilliant, playing a league game in goal, we nearly managed to get a draw, we were 3-0 when Judge went off, then Chris Pike and Darren Roberts pulled it back, it was a fantastic moment for me, I remember the Meadow End singing I was England’s number one”
Morris made 29 league appearances during the 1993/1994 campaign, but was released at the end of the season. Spells in non league followed with his club’s including Yeovil, Farnborough and Bashley.
I asked Morris if he is still involved in the game “I’ve got a lot of friends at Bournemouth, I watch Lymington who play in the Wessex Premier, football has been a big part of my life, I enjoy watching them play”
Morris is delighted that he has been able to reconnect with former Hereford colleagues “I’ve spoken to Max Nicholson, Owen Pickard, Derek Hall and Gareth Davies.
Social Media gives us this great opportunity to get back in contact, we are now living in different parts of the country and the world (Derek is in Australia) it’s tough, but once covid is over it would be great to meet up asap”
Photos supplied by Ron Parrott, Keith Middleton and the MH Archive
