Samuel Morris

Samuel Alfredo Morris de Olea (1870 – 23 August 1935), was an Anglo-Filipino football pioneer who played as a goalkeeper and midfielder for some of the earliest Catalan clubs in existence. His younger brothers, Enrique and Miguel, followed him every step through, and together with them, he was one of the first pioneers of football in Catalonia, participating in some of the first football matches of the city and playing for several experimental teams in the 1890s such as Barcelona Football Club and Sociedad de Foot-Ball de Barcelona. being a member of the Hispania side that won the 1900–01 Copa Macaya, which was the very first football competition played on the Iberian Peninsula, and a member of the Barça side that reached the final of the 1902 Copa de la Coronación. In addition to being a footballer, he also practiced cricket, athletics, cycling, rugby, tennis, and hockey, and was also an outstanding football referee.

Early life Samuel Morris was born in 1870 in the Philippines, as the son of the English businessman and engineer Samuel James Morris Campbell (1842–1909) and María del Socorro de Olea y Marabea (1852–1877), a teenager of Basque origin.

Sporting career Barcelona Cricket Club In the late 1880s, Morris became a member of the British Club de Barcelona, just like his father. They played their first cricket matches in a field near the Hippodrome of Can Tunis, which were disputed between the club's members and on some occasions against British sailors who docked in the port of Barcelona, with the earliest example of this dating back to 28 August 1891.

Morris also played against teams from Sant Martí in 1893 and another from Torelló in 1895, the Torelló Foot-ball Association, the latter of which marked the first time that teams from two different cities played against each other in Catalonia.

Either way, Samuel did play for Team Anglès on 6 January 1900, featuring in midfield alongside Morrison (Enrique) after being ousted from his usual position by John Hamilton, a Scottish goalkeeper from Escocès FC who had been called up to cover the losses of Team Anglès. and the second in May of 1902, when they reinforced FC Barcelona during its participation in the Copa de la Coronación (predecessor of Copa del Rey). This was only his second match for the club, but also his last.

After this parenthesis with Barça, the Morris brothers continued to play at Hispania AC until 1903, when the club was dissolved for lack of players, but while Enrique and Miguel then joined FC Barcelona permanently, Samuel decided to retire due to his already advanced age. In fact, in the Los Deportes issue of 26 January 1902, the sports journalist Alberto Serra described him as "one of the oldest players in this capital". On 24 September 1903, he played in a test match between two "Barcelona teams" that was meant to decide who would integrate the first selection of the Catalonia national team the following year. He was also described as "perhaps the best goalkeeper in Spain" and as a "Great runner of 100 meters".

Later career Also considered one of the best football referees of the time, in 1909 he received a distinction from the Catalan Football Federation.

Honours Hispania AC Copa Macaya: Champion: 1900–01 Runner-up: 1901–02

Barcelona Copa de la Coronación: Runner-up: 1902