268 Andy Morris

Position : Forward

Played : 1998-99  to  1999-2000

Appearances : 32

Goals : 7

Andy was signed just before Christmas 1998 after it had become clear that Mark Leonard’s injury was career-ending. Andy began his career at Rotherham but switched to Chesterfield in 1988 for £500 and played there for over a decade (with  a  brief  loan  spell  at  Exeter  in  1992) . Despite his formidable build Andy was frequently injured and missed as many games as he played but was still a big favourite at Saltergate. The highlight of his career was the FA Cup semi-final against Middlesbrough in 1997 when he scored one and won a penalty in the 3-3 draw. That was actually one of his last games for them as he struggled to recover from three operations on his knee. He was retained on monthly terms but left to sign for us with their blessing.


Obviously he was a risky signing and he looked anything but match fit in his first games. I must admit I wasn’t enthused by his arrival as I’d always seen him as a clumsy battering ram but as his fitness improved you started to see that he could be a useful player. At 6’5 and 15 stone “Bruno” was always a threatening presence in the box but was nimbler-footed than you’d expect and most of his goals were scored with his feet. He didn’t give the ball away much and was a very useful defender at corners. He scored a respectable 7 goals in 24 appearances to finish as joint top scorer. He was responsible for our last two wins that wretched season, first at home to Southend when he flicked in the winner with his back to goal (I think to date that’s my wife’s last game at Spotland) and then he scored a second half hat trick to turn the match around against Chester after injuries had forced Barrow to alter his ridiculous formation.

Andy started the next season in the side but was soon edged out by Clive Platt and on loan at Scarborough by the middle of September. He did OK there scoring twice in 10 appearances.He returned to us in the new year and made three substitute appearances while Graham Lancashire was out injured, bowing out after the 4-1 defeat at Darlington in March 2000.

On his release he went straight into the Football In The Community role at Chesterfield (where he remains today) playing for a short while at Hucknall Town.