Skip to content
Stoke City confirm key appointment as Alex Neil adds to coaching staff
Former Stoke City season ticket holder Alex Morris has been confirmed as the club’s new under-21s head coach.
The 40-year-old Crewe Alexandra stalwart is heading down the A500 as a key member of Alex Neil’s backroom team, tasked with helping the development of highly-rated youngsters such as Emre Tezgel, Nathan Lowe, Sol Sidibe and Christy Grogan. He has been appointed in time for the start of pre-season training next week as activity builds up at Clayton Wood.
It is a big move on an individual level for Morris, from Kidsgrove, who grew up a Stoke supporter but has been with Crewe variously as player, coach and manager since he was 12.
“I am really excited to join Stoke City and look forward to working with Ricky (Martin), Alex (Neil) and the academy staff to develop homegrown talent, principally through the important phase of young professionals’ development within the under 21s programme,” he said.
READ MORE: Jaden Philogene to Stoke City, the Cardiff verdict and ‘no doubt’ about his potential
READ MORE: Stoke City among Championship transfer trio linked with Derby County rising star
“The opportunity to work alongside Alex was really attractive to me, having experienced the meticulous and methodical nature of his work during the period of time he spent advising the staff at Crewe a couple of years ago.
“On a personal note, this is a proud moment for both me and my family. I have supported Stoke City all my life and previously had a season card in the 1990s before my own career progressed, while my Dad and members of my family have been coming to the games for over 50 years.
“I enjoyed an incredible 28 years at Crewe Alexandra in a variety of roles from playing through to coaching, during which time I was fortunate to work with so many excellent young players who have progressed to represent the first team and also earned fantastic opportunities at the top level of the game. It was always going to take an extraordinary opportunity for me to leave and this new challenge at Stoke City is exactly that.”
Injuries forced Morris to focus on coaching as early as 2005 and he is extensively qualified.
Technical director Martin said: “Alex has a breadth of experience having coached at both under 18 and 21 levels with Crewe prior to more recently working as a manager and assistant Manager within their senior set-up.
“To develop and sustain a clear identity around the Stoke City way of playing football, we need to work towards ensuring that every position on the field is sustainably stocked with homegrown players. We believe that Alex is well placed to help us achieve that over the course of the coming years and we are delighted to have him on board.”
Morris will replace long-serving Stoke coach Kevin Russell at the helm of the 21s while Danny Pugh and head of academy coaching Jimmy Hunter have also left the club this summer – as well as under-18s coach Rich Walker, who has joined Wolves.
Martin said: “We would like to thank James, Kevin and Danny for their efforts on behalf of Stoke City and wish them well for their future careers.”
