Former Portsmouth and Luton Town favourite Joe Morrell suffers Bristol City blow - 4 months after appointment
Former Pompey midfielder Joe Morrell is looking for a new coaching role after departing Bristol City’s academy.
Joe Morrell’s brief stint in charge of Bristol City’s U21s is over.
The former Pompey favourite took charge of the Young Robins on an interim basis in April after taking the leap into coaching at the start of the year.
After turning down the chance to join John Mousinho’s backroom staff - the role of the departing Zesh Rehman - in late 2025, the 29-year-old returned to Asthon Gate to embark on his new coaching career.
Former Pompey favourite Joe Morrell leaves Bristol City
Morrell, of course, started his playing career with Bristol City, going on to make six first-team appearances prior to his 2020 departure.
But following the dismissal of Dennis Baranowski in April, the ex-Luton Town man was handed the reins of the club’s U21s on an interim basis for the remainder of the campaign.
During his short spell in the hot-seat, Morrell won two of his three Premier League 2 matches, which included impressive results over Sheffield United and Colchester United.
Ahead of the new campaign, though, the energetic midfielder has since been replaced by former Bristol City favourite Louis Carey and has subsequently departed Ashton Gate.
It brings an end to his seven-month stay in the Robins’ coaching set-up and now begins his search for a new role.
Why Joe Morrell started coaching after shock retirement
He was unable to recover from the knee injury sustained on Pompey duty at Oxford United in January 2024, but despite his release that summer, remained at Fratton Park to undergo rehabilitation following surgery on his left knee.
Speaking earlier this year, Morrell said: ‘I’m loving it here at Bristol City, there are so many things I’ve missed during those couple of years when injured. The pressure, the purpose, the drive football gives you. Obviously I didn’t have that - but it’s back now.
‘I always knew I’d go into coaching and I was prepared for it. I didn’t want it to be at 28, of course, I would much rather it be at 38 following a 20-year playing career. Now I have a unique opportunity to learn and make loads of mistakes.
‘I wanted to work in an Academy for those reasons, it was very deliberate. I didn’t want to be in a first-team environment just yet, it's too early for me and this was the perfect place to do it at a club I know well.
‘Bristol City have a really good Academy and also a good age of player. I feel I can make a real impact and make a difference, building a relationship with players who can see someone who has done what they want to achieve.
‘I’ve always been really passionate about it, I have started my Pro Licence, which is the last step in the coaching badges. I’m really, really excited for the future and want to be the best coach I can possibly be.
‘Pompey did offer me a job with their first-team, but I wanted something different. I had been there for a long time, I had rehabbed there, but it came down to the fact that I wanted to work in the Academy. I have the time to be very deliberate about that, I don’t have to rush into a first-team set-up.
‘If I was aged 34-35, I might want to take a job in a first-team, but, in the here and now, it’s about being able to make loads of mistakes, learning and being able to coach loads. In a first-team environment you can’t because you aren’t the manager and actual time on the grass would be limited.
‘As opposed to here, where I do 5-7 sessions a week and sit in loads of meetings, it really gives me a chance to improve. That was the rationale behind turning down Pompey, I needed something different at a different football club, trying to plan my path to become the best head coach I can. This was the logical first step for me.’