'It was a bit of pride:' Ex-Blackpool striker makes admission over nature of his Bloomfield Road exit

After joining the Seasiders in 2006 from Coventry City, the 50-year-old represented the club for two seasons, scoring 25 goals in 91 appearances.

Morrell’s first season on the Fylde Coast ended with promotion to the Championship via the play-offs, but the following summer he found himself heading to the exit door after making the decision to join Bury.

“I had agreed with Simon (Grayson) that I would get another year,” he stated.

“I said I was happy with the money I was on, but the chairman wasn’t, he wanted to cut my wages by 25 percent, which annoyed me a little bit.

“I was getting older, and Simon had said that I might not play as much, so I said I’d take 25 percent less on my basic, but just put it on appearance because I backed myself to play.

“That went on throughout pre-season. I was training with the team but not playing games because if I had got injured then I would’ve been stuck.

“Simon was just saying we’d get it sorted, but then a day before the season he was like the chairman doesn’t want to do it.

“With my pride I felt it was a bit out of order because I hadn’t done anything wrong and there was no real negotiation to try to steer towards anything. It was just take it or leave it, and I didn’t really like that.

“Bury had shown an interest and they wanted me to play, so I thought if somebody wants me and somebody doesn’t, it makes sense to go.

“Hindsight is great, maybe I should’ve just signed it because I ended up going for less money again.”