TRIBUTE TO FORMER HOOPS BOSS TERRY MORRIS

Former Hoops manager Terry Morris has died at the age of 77.
Terry took charge at the Charles Ground in February 1975 and continued as manager for the next three seasons after joining Deal from Margate, where at various times during his long career he was a player, coach and manager.
One of the Hoops’ players in Morris’s squad for his final season at the Charles Ground was current club chairman Dave Chmura, who recalled: “Coming from Thanet Terry brought with him a number of players who were an excellent addition to our squad. One of them was Dave Parsons who would eventually become Deal’s manager in his own right.
“Back then money was as always at a premium and at one point we rented the ground out to a circus complete with elephants and clowns! Terry wasn’t too impressed with that idea but it raised enough money for the club equivalent to about £1000 today.”
Morris used to wear a long brown leather coat on the touchline and Chmura added: “Terry was a very flamboyant person who always impressed with his dress with a style not unlike that of former Manchester United manager Ron Atkinson. He (Terry) was a great character who gave a lot of his time for local grassroots football and especially Deal Town Football Club.”
Morris’s playing career began as a junior with West Ham and, apart from Margate, he also played senior football for Ilford, Cambridge City, Woodford and Folkestone Invicta. But it was Hartsdown Park that became his “second home”, where he was still a regular visitor in recent years, and Margate held a minute’s applause for him before their recent home game with Folkestone.