Morgan spent the first ten years of his career with his boyhood club, Nottingham Forest, playing 402 matches and scoring 14 goals. He was their longest-serving player when he transferred to Leicester City in January 2012.
Morgan became Leicester's captain later that year, and captained the club for 9 years until his retirement in 2021. He captained the club during its most successful ever period,[6][7] captaining them to the Championship title in 2014, their first Premier League title two years later in 2016 and their first FA Cup win in 2021, in which he made his final ever professional appearance coming on as a substitute in the 2021 FA Cup Final.
Born and raised in England, Morgan chose to represent Jamaica at international level, making his debut for them in 2013 and was part of their teams that competed in two Copa América tournaments and finished runners-up at the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He was also the first Jamaican player to score in a UEFA Champions League game.
Morgan was born in Nottingham.[2] Having been rejected by Nottingham Forest's near neighbours Notts County at the age of 15, he went to study business at South Notts College while playing semi-professionally in central midfield for Dunkirk in the Midland Football Alliance. His performances were tracked by non-League teams and Forest, who took him as an apprentice while he continued studying. There was no transfer fee, but Dunkirk received two Forest kits. Their clubhouse has his Forest and Leicester shirts on the wall.[8]
In February 2003, with manager Paul Hart considering him close to a first-team breakthrough after his reserve performances, Morgan was loaned to Kidderminster Harriers of the Third Division.[9] He made his professional debut on 1 March, playing the full 90 minutes of a 3-1 loss to Scunthorpe United at Aggborough, deflecting a 25-yard Peter Beagrie shot for the first goal.[10] Morgan totalled five appearances for the Worcestershire side, scoring his first goal two weeks after his debut, heading to confirm a 2–0 victory at Cambridge United.[11]
Hart wanted Morgan to lose weight before joining the first team, which became a priority as the team had lost several players after losing in the last season's play-offs.[8] He made his debut at left-back on 12 August 2003 away to Port Vale at the age of 19; after a goalless draw, Forest won a penalty shoot-out to advance to the second round of the League Cup.[12] Four days later he made his First Division debut in a 3–0 loss to Reading; Hart considered him the man of the match.[8] On 18 October, he scored his first goal for Forest, heading Eoin Jess' cross to finish a 6–0 win over bottom team Wimbledon at the City Ground.[13] He totalled 32 games across the season, also scoring an equaliser on 3 December in the home game against Ipswich Town, and was sent off twice over the campaign.
First-team regular
In the 2007–08 campaign, Morgan missed only four games all season, as he helped Forest finish second in the league and gain promotion from League One to the Championship.[14] His only goal of the season came in a 2–0 victory at Tranmere Rovers, while Forest kept a season-record 24 clean sheets.
Morgan found it hard adapting to life back in the Championship during the first half of the 2008–09 season, with Forest languishing in the relegation zone by Christmas. Following the dismissal of Colin Calderwood on Boxing Day 2008, and the arrival of Billy Davies soon after, Morgan and the Forest defence looked far more solid as the season progressed which eventually led to the Reds retaining their Championship status. At the end of the 2008–09 season he had made a total of 274 appearances in all competitions, including 255 starts.
October 2011 saw Wes Morgan make his 400th appearance for Nottingham Forest against Hull City in a match in which he was also handed the captaincy.
On 20 January 2012, Nottingham Forest announced they rejected a bid for Morgan from local rivals Leicester City.[15]
On 30 January 2012, Morgan joined East Midland rivals Leicester City for an undisclosed fee believed to be in the region of £1million. As a result of his performances towards the end of the 2011–12 season, he was rewarded with the Leicester City captaincy ahead of the 2012–13 season.[16] His impressive performances early on earned him a nomination for Championship Player of the Month for September.[17]
Leicester won the 2013–14 Championship, in which he missed only one game.[18] Afterwards, the club used a clause in his would-be expired contract to keep him for another season;[19] he eventually signed a new three-year deal.[18]
Morgan kept his place for the 2015–16 season, playing in every minute of all 38 Premier League matches,[21] one of only 4 players to achieve that accolade (including teammate Kasper Schmeichel) in that season. On 3 April 2016, he scored the only goal against Southampton,[22] despite feeling ill.[8] On 1 May, he equalised with a header in a 1–1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford, and the next day Leicester won the title, with Morgan becoming the first Jamaican to win a Premier League medal.[23] After captaining Leicester City to the title, Morgan was included in the Premier League PFA Team of the Year, alongside teammates Jamie Vardy, N'Golo Kanté and Riyad Mahrez.[24] He also became the third outfield player in Premier League history to play every minute of a title-winning season after Gary Pallister in 1992–93 and John Terry in 2014–15.[25]
Manager Claudio Ranieri said "Wes Morgan is Baloo off The Jungle Book. He is a big gentle bear who looks after all the lads. He does not speak so much but when he does speak, everybody listens. He is the perfect captain. I never knew anything about him before I came here. But I watched all the matches, I watched how solid, strong and intelligent he was".[8] On 25 February 2017, reports emerged alleging that Morgan was among several teammates who met with chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha following their 2–1 Champions League defeat at Sevilla on 22 February,[26] which led to Ranieri being sacked.[27][28][29]
On 14 March 2017, he scored the first goal in Leicester's 2–0 win against Sevilla, contributing to a 3–2 aggregate score which allowed the club to qualify for the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League. This also made him the first Jamaican player to score in a Champions League game.[30]
Morgan later came on in the 82nd minute of the 2021 FA Cup Final to help Leicester win their first ever FA Cup.[31]
On 21 May 2021, Leicester City announced that Morgan would retire at the end of the season.[32]
International career
On 1 September 2013, Morgan was called up to the Jamaican squad for the first time.[33][34] He made his debut in a 0–0 draw against Panama at the Estadio Rommel Fernández in Panama City on 7 September 2013.[35] Morgan captained the Reggae Boyz for the first time in the 3–1 defeat to Canada on 9 September 2014.[36]
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