Ernest "Ernie" Morgan is an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 former professional Association football player and manager. He spent the bulk of his career with Gillingham

Gillingham F.C.

Gillingham Football Club is an English professional football club based in the town of Gillingham, Kent. The only Kent-based club in the Football League, they play their home matches at the Priestfield Stadium...

, where he set a record for the highest number of goals scored in a single season which stands to this day.

Playing career

Morgan worked as a miner from the age of 14 and played for his colliery football team, leading them to a Sheffield Senior Cup

Sheffield and Hallamshire Senior Cup

The Sheffield and Hallamshire Senior Cup is a county cup competition involving teams within the Sheffield and Hallamshire County Football Association...

 win shortly after World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the first time a works team had won the cup.

Morgan initially turned down the chance to turn professional, despite being offered a contract by Barnsley

Barnsley F.C.

Barnsley Football Club are a professional English football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 under the name Barnsley St. Peter's...

, but eventually signed for Lincoln City

Lincoln City F.C.

Lincoln City Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. The club are currently members of the Conference National in 2011–12 following relegation from the Football League....

, albeit on a part-time basis. He only managed three Football League appearances for the "Red Imps" and was allowed to move on to Gillingham in 1953 for a fee of £3,000.

Finally turning fully professional with the Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

 club, he scored 21 goals in his debut season and then topped this by scoring 31 in 1954–55

1954-55 in English football

The 1954–1955 season was the 75th season of competitive football in England, from August 1954 to May 1955:-Overview:* Chelsea win the League Championship for the first time.* Newcastle United win the FA Cup....

, a new club record. This record was equalled by Brian Yeo

Brian Yeo

Brian George Yeo is a former English football striker. He spent almost his entire career playing for Gillingham, for whom he holds the all-time record for the most goals scored in the Football League.-Career:...

 during the 1970s but Morgan remains the joint holder of the record to this day.

He was selected to play for the Third Division South team

Football League Third Division North vs. South Representative Games

The Third Division North and Third Division South of The Football League was a level in English association football, which ran from 1921 to 1958.From 1954–55 season until 1957–58 season, there was a series of games between teams representing the Third Division North and the Third Division South.-...

 against the North in 1955/56.

Morgan's playing career came to an end due to injury in 1957.

Managerial career

In 1962 Morgan was appointed manager of Chatham Town

Chatham Town F.C.

Chatham Town are an English Association Football club based in Chatham, Kent. They currently play in Division One North of the Isthmian League and are nicknamed "The Chats"....

, having previously served as coach. He went on to manage a number of other Kent non-league

Non-league football

Non-League football is football in England played at a level below that of the Premier League and The Football League. The term non-League was commonly used well before 1992 when the top football clubs in England all belonged to The Football League; all clubs who were not a part of The Football...

 clubs, with his greatest success coming at Dartford

Dartford F.C.

Dartford F.C. are an English football club based in Dartford, Kent. After finishing as champions of the Isthmian League Division One North in the 2007–08 season, they compete in the Isthmian League Premier Division. They finished in 8th position in their first season...

, whom he led to the Southern League

Southern Football League

The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...

 championship and an appearance in the FA Trophy

FA Trophy

The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a knockout cup competition in English football, run by and named after The Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams...

 final at Wembley Stadium.