Man City cult hero Andy Morrison brings fairy tale with Welsh club to an end after trophy laden spell

Former Manchester City defender Andy Morrison is taking a break from management after a fairytale spell with the Connah’s Quay Nomads.

The 51-year-old, who usually appears alongside Shaun Goater on Manchester City’s We’re Not Really Here show, ended his six-year tenure at Deeside Stadium last week by resigning from his role.

He led the club to two Welsh League title wins, as well as the League Cup and the Welsh Cup, taking his winning spirit from Manchester to a town of just over 16,000 people.

Citing his reasons to the BBC, he said: "The drive is still there. One of the key things is knowing when to take that breather and I’m really going to enjoy these next six to eight weeks.

"I’ve got a lot of good contacts, right from the Premier League all the way down the league’s where I can go in and just watch what managers are doing and see how the game is progressing, away from the Welsh pyramid and then I’m sure my batteries will be fully recharged and I’ll be ready to go again."

Morrison has been linked with the vacancy at English League Two outfit Newport County, though his comments on him taking a break are likely to rule him out of the race.

Similar to how City toppled their main rivals to win the league, Morrison used his City blue spirit to topple The New Saints, who had built up a dynasty in Welsh football.

At the start of his tenure, the play-off winning captain was tasked with preserving their Cymru Premier status after taking over them whilst they were in the relegation zone.

What happened next stunned everyone, as in the same season, he led the club into the Europa League after winning the end-of-season play-offs.

Since then they qualified for Europe every season after, including a memorable 3-2 aggregate win over Kilmarnock, who had boasted several Scotland internationals.

As well as on the continental stage, Morrison was a success domestically. He won the clubs first Welsh Cup in 2018 and also claimed the League Cup, another maiden trophy in the curtailed 2019/20 season.

Their first league title was won on a points-per-game basis but determined to prove it wasn’t a flash in the pan, he pipped TNS to the title in a dramatic final day shootout for the league title.

What has he said about it?

Reflecting on his time in Wales, he added: "There’s so many moments that were incredible and so many relationships built and also over a period of time watching young men become grown men and good men and I’ve been very fortunate to work with really strong characters and I’ve been able to watch players grow.

"As I walk away I’ll be proud of the men that I leave behind, who when they came, they were young insecure footballers and are now established footballers and I take great pride in that.”

For Man City fans, Morrison is a cult-hero following his involvement in the club’s days in the lower leagues. He captained the club at Wembley in the League One play-off triumph in 1999.

He also played 12 times in City’s 1999/2000 campaign in which they were promoted to the Premier League after finishing runners-up.