Joe Morrell

DOB: 3rd February 1997

Position: Central midfielder

Season of first appearance: 2016/17

Season of last appearance: 2016/17

Full Appearances: 0

Substitute: 2

Goals: 0

Also played for:

Bristol City, Sutton United, Cheltenham Town, Lincoln City, Luton Town, Portsmouth.

Player Profile:

A midfielder born in Ipswich who in 2022 became the first former Margate player to play in a World Cup Finals tournament.

Joe began his career with Bristol City as a schoolboy in Gloucestershire and signed a professional contract with the club in December 2012 after turning down an offer from Liverpool. Aged 16, he made his debut for the Robins on 8.10.13 in a 2-1 Football League Trophy defeat against Wycombe Wanderers.

In August 2016, Joe joined National League club Sutton United on a one-month loan.

On 24.2.17, Joe joined Margate on loan for a month. The next day he made his debut as a 58th minute sub in a 2-0 home loss to Whitehawk in National League South.

He then appeared as a sub in Margate's next game on 28.2.17 at home to Chelmsford, which was another 2-0 defeat.

A few years later in an interview with the i newspaper, Joe said Margate was the only club who wanted to take him with manager Nikki Bull sacked just hours after signing him. He was travelling 200 miles to training sessions.

"I’ve had some very low times as a footballer and therefore as a person because you become so engrossed in the job," he said. "I got so low. Margate were bottom of the league but they were the only club that would take me. I signed for them on loan and on the same afternoon the manager got sacked."

He added: "I made two substitute appearances but I was travelling five hours to train on an Astroturf pitch at a local leisure centre. Eventually the manager pulled me aside and said that he didn’t want me spending so long for not many minutes, so it was best to pull the plug. If someone had said to me that I’d be representing my country and then playing in the Euros just a few years later, I’d have questioned their sanity."

He told the Guardian that, after the Chelmsford defeat, he checked into a Maidstone services hotel on the advice of Brian Tinnion, Bristol City’s loans manager, who was concerned about Joe driving the five-hour journey home late at night.

"It was the worst hotel after the worst game you could ever imagine and I’d probably go as far to say it was the lowest point in my life," he said. "I just wanted to give up. I was so low I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry but I ended up laughing, which was good in the end."

In August 2017, he signed for Cheltenham Town on loan until January 2018.

Joe qualifies to play for Wales through his Welsh mother Sian and made his debut for Wales' U21 team in October 2017 in a 3-1 victory against Liechtenstein.

Joe then went on a season-long loan to Lincoln City for 2019-20 and was named Lincoln's Player of the Season.

In August 2019, he was named in Wales' senior squad ahead of their Euro 2020 qualifier against Azerbaijan. He made his senior international debut for Wales against Belarus on 9.9.19.

In November 2019, he signed a new contract with Bristol City but, in October 2020, joined Championship club Luton Town for an undisclosed fee.

In May 2021, he was selected for the Wales squad for the delayed UEFA Euro 2020 tournament.

In August 2021, Joe joined League One Portsmouth on a three-year contract.

He was named in the Wales squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Joe made his World Cup debut as a late substitute in Wales' opening Group B game on 21.11.22 against the USA, a 1-1 draw. He also came on as a substitute in the 3-0 group stage defeat against England on 29.11.22.

Joe, released by Pompey at the end of the 2023-24 season, announced his retirement from football in October 2025 aged 28. He had not played since sustaining knee cartilage damage in January 2024. He had won a total of 37 caps for Wales.

Joe is short for his real name of Joseff. In 2022, he became a co-owner of Merthyr Town.