Frank Lampard will be joined at Derby County by one of his former Chelsea teammates, Jody Morris.
Morris has established an exceptional reputation throughout his time as a coach at Stamford Bridge, during which the club’s academy has enjoyed a sustained and unprecedented period of success.
Here, dcfc.co.uk takes a look back at Morris’ career so far, as both a player and coach…
Local Lad
The tweet at the top of Morris’ Twitter account tells the story.
Just a local kid from West London who had a dream to play for his local team @ChelseaFC ⚽️💙 pic.twitter.com/6tcDkARxb8
— Jody Morris (@JodyMorris) October 20, 2016
Morris is regarded as the last true west Londoner to progress through the academy at Chelsea to become a regular member of the first team.
He remains the youngest player ever to play for Chelsea in the Premier League, a record that he set when he replaced John Spencer after 72 minutes of a 5-0 win against Middlesbrough in February 1996 at the age of 17 years and 43 days.
Morris was named as the club’s Young Player of the Year at the end of the 1996/97 campaign, but he wasn’t included in Ruud Gullit’s matchday squad for the FA Cup final against Middlesbrough.
He didn’t have to wait too long to secure his first winners’ medal though, as Chelsea beat Stuttgart 1-0 in Stockholm to win the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup and although Morris was an unused substitute in the final, he more than played his part.
Morris established himself as a regular in Gianluca Vialli’s midfield during the 1999/2000 season, and he played a key role in Chelsea’s first ever Champions League campaign.
The Blues were eventually knocked out by Barcelona, but the young midfielder had made quite the impression - Xavi once named Morris as his toughest opponent.
Belatedly, he got his FA Cup medal as Chelsea beat Aston Villa 1-0 in the last final at the old Wembley Stadium, but under Claudio Ranieri, he lost his regular place before departing in 2003.
The Next Chapter
Morris joined Leeds United on a free transfer ahead of the 2003/04 season, but the Elland Road club were in trouble and on their way to the First Division.
He made 12 Premier League appearances in Yorkshire before joining Rotherham United, where he remained until joining Millwall in the summer of 2004.
At The Den, Morris reunited with his former Chelsea captain Dennis Wise, who was the club’s player-manager.
Morris appeared in the UEFA Cup for Millwall and he was a regular in the newly-rebranded Championship, but he was released at the end of the 2006/07 campaign, and he had to wait until February 2008 to join Scottish side St Johnstone.
He made McDiarmid Park home for the next four seasons and he racked up over 100 league appearances for the club, mostly playing under his former Millwall teammate Derek McInnes.
McInnes then brought Morris with him to Bristol City, but the midfielder left after just four appearances before hanging up his boots.
Coaching Success
Morris initially re-joined Chelsea as an Under-21 coach, but he soon settled into a role as No.2 to Under-18s manager Joe Edwards.
The pair set about breaking records from the off and they won their first FA Youth Cup in 2015, with the highly-rated attacking trio of Dominic Solanke, Tammy Abraham and Izzy Brown getting the goals against Manchester City.
Abraham was on the scoresheet again one year later against the same opponents, with Mason Mount, Dujon Sterling and Fikayo Tomori the other scorers as Chelsea made it three in a row.
Apart from Mount, each player to score in those two finals has made their Chelsea debut, highlighting the route through to the first team that was forged whilst Morris was involved at Stamford Bridge.
He took the reins from Edwards ahead of the 2016/17 season and continued the success, with a 5-1 second leg victory over City securing the cup once again, whilst his side were also crowned as Under-18 Premier League National champions.
Somehow, Morris took his side to another level last season by winning the the Youth Cup, Premier League and Premier League Cup.
Most notable though, is the style that Chelsea have won with.
#CFCU18 have scored 444 goals in 148 matches over the past four seasons (113, 106, 115, 110), averaging exactly three goals per match.
— Chelsea Youth (@chelseayouth) May 22, 2018
Over four seasons.
