The ‘bad boy’ tag can be a difficult one to shake off in professional football. And, as one time West Ham United cult hero Ravel Morrison explains, his phasing out from the Premier League picture brought about more than its fair share of misinformation.
At the risk of making all West Ham United supporters painfully aware of their own mortality, it is 12 years now since Ravel Morrison ran half the length of White Hart Lane to cap a famous 3-0 win away at bitter London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
A goal which, at the time, felt like a coming-of-age sort of moment for young Ravel Morrison.
One which, in hindsight, would also be the closest Premier League viewers came to seeing one of the most mercurial talents of his generation in full, formidable flow.
Morrison would only play another 13 matches in England’s top flight after that stunning solo goal against Spurs, what he himself describes as ‘stupid mistakes’ eventually taking their toll.
Ravel Morrison explains his West Ham United struggles
James Collins puts Ravel Morrison alongside Dimitri Payet and Yossi Benayoun when listing the most naturally gifted players he shared a dressing room with at Upton Park. Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney said Morrison shone brighter than even Paul Pogba at Carrington.
But, while Morrison’s younger days were indeed beset by off-field issues, the now-32-year-old midfielder takes the chance to explain to The Athletic that there is far more to him than the ‘bad boy’ visage forced upon him by an unforgiving press.
“I do feel unfairly represented sometimes,” Morrison reflects. “But then again, I have to look at myself because it all stems from my own mistakes. I did some things that were wrong and I can’t blame anyone but myself.”
The Daily Mail reported back in 2015, after a dispute with Sam Allardyce saw him frozen out of the West Ham picture, that Morrison had been accused of missing training on a number of occasions during his time in East London.
This was not, however, a classic case of a young player distracted by the lights and the lure of the late-night London party scene. More a teenager struggling to adapt to life away from home, and spending a little too much time sitting squared-eyed in front of the television.
“I was still really young when I moved to London,” says the Wythenshaw-born Morrison, who joined West Ham at the age of just 19. “When you’re on the PlayStation, you feel like you’ve been on an hour. But when you look at the time, it’s three in the morning and you’ve been on for four hours!
“I just couldn’t wake up sometimes. They were easy mistakes to make — stupid mistakes, yeah — but it’s not like I was out drinking in town every weekend and having fights.
“It was only once in a blue moon when I would be late.
“I got on really well with Sam until that disagreement about the contract. He’s said what he’s said, but I’ve only got good things to say about him.”
Morrison now in Dubai as part of Precision FC’s English revolution
While Morrison may not have nailed down his place among the Premier League’s peak playmakers, this most well-travelled of sportsmen will still be able to reflect on a nomadic career with so many stories and even more far-flung destinations.
After leaving West Ham in 2015, Morrison went on to represent the likes of Lazio, Atlas, Ostersunds, ADO Den Haag and DC United in Italy, Mexico, Sweden, the Netherlands and the USA.
Ravel Morrison now earns a living in Dubai with Precision FC.
Managed by Sonny Cobbs – once of Lewes, Eastbourne and Bognor Regis – Precision FC is also home to a host of English football journeymen, from Joel Lynch and Jamie Ward to Ben Pringle and ex-Nottingham Forest midfielder Harry Arter.
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