After three stints at Millwall, where he became known as a prolific goal scorer and a fan favourite at The Den, Steve Morison departed the team in 2019 as a legend.
Morison made an incredible 336 appearances for the Lions in all, 277 more than he had made for any other team, demonstrating the success of his tenure there.
When it came to establishing oneself in professional football, the Wales international had to work hard, but Millwall’s 2009 signing will be remembered as one of the club’s greatest moves ever.
He performed so well at The Den that he was transferred to Norwich City of the Premier League in 2011. It’s obvious that Kenny Jackett made the right choice in signing him in the summer of 2009.
Millwall’s decision to sign Steve Morison from Stevenage proved to be a bargain
Morison started his career at Northampton Town, but the groundwork for his future career was laid in 2004 when he joined non-league team Bishop’s Stortford after the Cobblers failed to make an impression in the Football League.
That was sufficient to draw interest from Stevenage of the National League in 2006. Morison established himself as one of the most lethal strikers in non-league football during this time, and in 2008 he came very close to returning to the EFL with Crewe Alexandra, but in retrospect, the move never happened, much to Millwall’s relief.
Instead, that summer, Morison signed a three-year contract that included a clause allowing him to leave the team at the end of the season if Stevenage didn’t get promoted and if he was given
the EFL’s interest.
After the team failed to secure promotion, Millwall took advantage of the situation in the summer of 2009 and paid £130,000 to sign Morison. This move turned out to be well worth the money in the years that followed.
Making the step-up from the National League to League One would be daunting for most, but Morison scored 23 goals in his first season at The Den, helping his side win promotion to the Championship after winning the play-off final against Swindon.
Morison had no problems with the step-up in quality that the Championship brought either, and he scored 15 league goals in his first season in the second tier, attracting interest from Premier League side Norwich City in the summer of 2011, and he moved to the top-flight for a fee of £2.8million.
It was a meteoric rise for the Welsh international, and while it seemed like his Millwall career was over after just two years, there was plenty more to come.
Steve Morison made a huge impact upon his return to Millwall
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