Elliott Morris has announced his retirement from playing after 20 stellar years at Glentoran.
The legendary goalkeeper has decided to call time on his career to concentrate on his role as goalkeeping coach at the Oval.
Morris joined the Glens from West Bromwich Albion in 2002 and went on to make 743 first team appearances for the Big Two giants.
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During his time between the posts the 40-year-old lifted 14 senior trophies including three league titles, four Irish Cups, four League Cups and three County Antrim Shields.
He has also played 26 times for the club in Europe.
Morris' last first team appearance came in a 2-0 win over Crusaders in the final game of the 2020-2021 season, with the veteran keeper becoming the longest serving first team player in Glentoran’s 140-year with history.
He told www.Glentoran.com : “Its always a difficult decision to retire as a player, but I feel that after 20 seasons and with Aaron (McCarey) and Ross (Glendinning) now well established at the club the time is right for me to concentrate on my coaching responsibilities at the club.
"From the first day I signed for Roy Coyle and started at Glentoran, I have felt like part of the club and Glentoran has become a very important part of me. Glentoran means everything to me. I love the club and I’m very happy to still be here after such a long time.
"My two decades were very different. My first 10 years or so we were challenging for everything, winning a lot of trophies and playing in Europe every season. The second decade was one where the club struggled financially before the takeover.
"But I never thought of leaving during that hard period. Yes, there were times I definitely had opportunities to join other clubs, but I never lost sight of the fact that the club and supporters have also stuck by me during difficult times or when I was out of form. That meant so much to me.
"I owe Roy Coyle so much for bringing me to play in his great team, and also to Eddie Patterson who made me captain when Nicky (Colin Nixon) retired.
"Following two great friends and great captains like Nicky and Leeper (Paul Leeman) made me feel very proud and lifting the Irish Cup twice as captain when we’d been written off will always be two of my great memories.
"I also owe a lot to Davy McClelland who came in as goalkeeper coach when Alan McDonald was manager and worked closely with me here for over a decade. I learned a tremendous amount from Davy who’s another very good friend.
"I’m very happy to be staying at the club as part of the Gaffer’s coaching team and I’m looking forward to being part of a lot more of the success our fantastic supporters deserve.”
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