I’m a former Premier League footballer who only learned how to do my own washing thanks to being shipped out on loan
CARLTON MORRIS has no regrets about the 14 years he spent at Norwich.
The Luton striker returns to Carrow Road on Tuesday for the first time since leaving the club last year to join Barnsley.
But, despite joining the Canaries youth system at the age of 11, he left the club having only managed 13 minutes of first-team action.
And that was more than seven years ago, coming on as a late substitute for Nathan Redmond in a 1-0 Championship home defeat against Wigan.
He never got a look-in and instead was farmed out on loan to Oxford, York, Hamilton, Rotherham (twice), Shrewsbury and MK Dons (twice) before he moved to Yorkshire in January 2021.
However he scored 14 goals in 32 starts for Barnsley before the Hatters snapped him up in the summer and he is going great guns this season, with six goals from 11 starts under manager Nathan Jones.
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He said: “I have absolutely no regrets about my time at Norwich.
“I’m the person I am today because of all the loans I went on. Since the age of 18, I have always been moving around the country and even to Scotland.
“I got to play under different managers. I can’t put into words how much I learned. I am who I am today because of what I went through.
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“I learned so many life skills — simple things like not taking my clothes home for my mum to wash because I was away from home and had to fend for myself.
“Aged 26 now, I’m grateful for the journey I have been on so far but I am not finished yet. It’s time to get myself really going.
“I came on in that one game for Norwich but did not get another chance after that. The timing just did not work out for me.
“I was not in a position where I gave anyone at Norwich a choice to play me. They’re a great club and I’ll forever be grateful for everything they did for me.”
Before that trip to Norwich, Luton host high-flying QPR at Kenilworth Road today.
The Hatters are unbeaten in five games and Morris’ form has been so good that he won the Sky Bet Championship Player of the Month award for September.
Elijah Adebayo has proved to be the perfect foil up front.
He said: “Eli is a brilliant football and I love playing with him. You never quite know what he’s going to do next.
“I learned so many life skills — simple things like not taking my clothes home for my mum to wash because I was away from home and had to fend for myself.
Carlton Morris
“I’m glad I’m not playing against him as a defender, he’d be twisting me in circles.
“There will be no defence in this league that would be looking forward to playing against us two up top.
“It makes my job easier with him because opponents do not know who to focus on most.”
Morris believes he can return decent figures this term but his main target is to outscore team-mate Harry Cornick.
Close pal Cornick scored a bizarre winner against Reading last season, where he crept up behind unsuspecting keeper Orjan Nyland to rob the ball off him before rolling the ball home.
Morris laughed: “Harry hasn’t stopped talking about it. I’ll just have to make sure I score more this season.
“But I haven’t set myself a goals target. Thee priority is to score goals as an attacking unit.”
Luton had a fantastic campaign before losing 1-0 to Huddersfield in the play-off semi-finals — and Morris insists the Hatters can target another top-six finish again.
He said: “I watched Luton a lot last season as Harry is one of my best friends.
“This team reflects the gaffer’s personality. It’s a relentless, hard-working team that shows grit and never gives up, never says die and leaves it all on the pitch. I love that.
“This team 100 per cent has the quality. There is no reason why we cannot be successful.”