Steve Morison – Official Ambassador

Thru Life has appointed Steve Morison as an official ambassador. Steve was born and grew up in Enfield, north London. He was a professional footballer who represented Wales and played in the EFL and Premier League . He highlights consistency and taking advantage of opportunities as key to achieving success in his career.

Steve Morison's Story

Once described as “a player who is always in the right place at the right time” by his former Manager at Stevenage, Graham Westley, Steve Morison has always tried to position himself to make the most of opportunities that have come his way, but he had to overcome his own share of challenges before he got his shot at success.

Growing up in Ponders End, Enfield he dreamed of a career in football like many young school boys his age. However, he struggled with a stutter which affected his performance in school.

“I had a stutter when I was younger, so I struggled in school as I didn’t really know when to talk. So I went to speech therapy and managed to get a grip of it as I got older.”

His family were very supportive of his footballing endeavours, diligently driving him to games and training, and as his career progressed they followed him around the country giving him the emotional support he needed.

During his early teens, he trained with the Tottenham Hotspur youth academy, however, he was not awarded a youth contract. At 17 he went on to join Northampton Town F.C Centre of Excellence – after joining from Protec Football Academy – progressing through their youth system until he made his first team debut in 2002. He was then released from Northampton Town in 2004 aged 21.
“In my early years, most of the events that pushed me towards greater achievements were negative ones. I got released twice, first from Tottenham and then from Northampton when I was 21. So it was more negative things that inspired me to do positive things. I realised that I had to stop just trying to float through life.”

After these initial disappointments, Steve pressed on and eventually signed with Stevenage Borough Football Club in 2006 after a two-year stint with Bishop’s Stortford Football Club. He played a part in helping Stevenage experience some of their best glory days, scoring the winning goal in the 88th minute of the 2007 FA Trophy final. It was the first competitive match and final to be played at the new Wembley Stadium. In 2009 he then captained the team to win the FA Trophy again, scoring the first goal in a 2-0 victory over York City.

In 2011 after 2 years with Millwall, he was presented with an opportunity to play in the Premier League which he pursued persistently. Norwich City had recently been promoted to the Premier League and showed interest in Steve who had scored 40 goals in two seasons at Millwall. After Millwall rejected several bids from Norwich City, Steve handed in a written transfer request. He said at the time:

“Norwich has made a couple of bids that have been turned down so I’ve done what I’ve done. I want to play in the Premier League, I might not get another opportunity”.

The two clubs eventually agreed on a deal and Steve had long last fulfilled a major career goal – playing in the top flight of English football.

“Being in the Premier League was miles away from the leagues and from where I thought I would get, but I managed to do it.”

Steve also got the opportunity to represent Wales from 2010 – 2012 through his grandmother’s Welsh ancestry. He earned 20 caps for Wales and relished the opportunity to play alongside some of Welsh football’s greatest players.

“Playing for Wales was a great achievement for me. I got to play alongside the likes of Gareth Bale, Craig Bellamy, Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen under the great Gary Speed. It was a magical time.”

In October 2019 after two decades of playing professional football, Steve retired. However, the closing of one chapter was merely the beginning of another. In fact, he had been planning the next chapter for quite some time, earning his first coaching badge while still at Protec Football Academy as a teen.

“Coaching was something I wanted to do when I was playing. I finished my UEFA B, A and PRO licenses before I finished playing, so when I decided to retire I went into coaching right away for Northampton Town Under-18s team. I then got the opportunity to coach Cardiff City Under-23s and then on to the first team. It was a great opportunity, one I enjoyed and want to do more of.”

Now that he has moved on from playing in the professional game, Steve hopes that being a Thru Life ambassador will enable him to impart some of the life lessons he learned and the personal values that helped guide his playing career.

“If any of the people involved with Thru Life needs help or advice then I’m here to be a mentor and or just someone to talk to. My aim is to inspire people that even if you’re not quite there yet or haven’t reached the heights that you want to get to – you can.”

“I would encourage young people to be consistent with whatever they are aiming to do. Even if it’s something that other people may not be doing, but you know it’s right for you, then don’t worry about the noise around you. Be consistent and don’t be afraid to invest your emotions and express them. Keep grinding and believing in yourself, don’t leave any stone unturned and whatever goal it is that you want to do whether it’s being a football player, accountant or nurse – do everything in your power to make sure that even if it doesn’t happen, you’ve left it all out there and don’t have any regrets.