Colin Murphy (footballer)
Encyclopedia
Colin Murphy is a former amateur footballer and professional manager who has taken charge of numerous clubs during a long management career, including Derby County
, Lincoln City
, Stockport County
, Southend United
, Shelbourne
, Notts County
, Cork City and the Vietnam national side
.
and Hastings United. However he failed to break through into professional football. Turning to coaching, Murphy was quickly catapulted into the spotlight when Derby County
surprisingly appointed him as their manager in November 1976. However, he lasted only ten months in the role before being sacked in September 1977 having led the Rams to just seven wins in 35 games.
side that was beset by financial problems and had just completed a lacklustre campaign in Division Four. In arguably his most successful period in management, Murphy secured Lincoln’s promotion to Division Three in the 1980–81 season with a second place finish behind Southend United, thanks in large measure to Gordon Hobson
's 21 goals. The following season was almost as successful, with the Imps knocking out First Division
side Leicester City in the League Cup
and leading the Division Three table for four months. A loss of form, possibly in part caused by a fierce boardroom row over transfer budgets, resulted in Lincoln throwing away their advantage and finishing in a disappointing sixth place.
The next two seasons were less impressive and Murphy eventually resigned on 1 May 1985, after seven years at Sincil Bank
. His departure came just 10 days before Lincoln played Bradford on the final day of the season in the game where 56 spectators burnt to death in the Bradford City disaster. The Murphy era is remembered fondly by the Imps faithful, with players such as Steve Thompson and John Fashanu
(both signed by Murphy) contributing to one of the finest teams in Lincoln's history.
While manager at Lincoln Murphy gained cult status for his notes in the club's match day programme. His column demonstrated a level of inventiveness with the English language and surrealist imagery that marked it out from any other offering in this medium. Lincoln programmes from this era are now collector's items far beyond what would be considered the norm for the publications of lower division and Conference clubs from this era.
, but left the club on the 24th October after a disappointing start to their Division Four campaign. However, in a bizarre U-turn, Murphy took charge of Stockport again in November 1986. In another ironic twist, Murphy masterminded the club’s dramatic escape from relegation to the Conference at the expense of Lincoln City, who were relegated in their place.
Just a few weeks after the end of the 1986-87 season, Murphy resigned as Stockport manager and began a second spell at Lincoln City on 26 May 1987. Over the next three years he was able to both guide Lincoln City back to league football in his first season and secure them two tenth place finishes in Division Four. Despite this renewed success, Murphy left the club by mutual consent on 20 May 1990 and spent the next two years away from football.
side Shelbourne from December 1994 to May 1995. He took the club from the edge of the relegation zone to a final day finish that left Shelbourne just a few points short of the title. The club were also the beaten finalists in that year's FAI Cup
.
He then left to manage Notts County
on 5 June 1995. Although the Magpies narrowly missed out on promotion to Division One in his first season in charge after a 2–0 defeat to Bradford City
in the playoff final, the 1996-97 season was a disaster for Murphy and the club, with a series of heavy defeats that eventually led to his sacking on 23 December 1996.
In July 1997 he was appointed coach of the Vietnam national football team
, leading the team to a bronze medal at the 1997 Southeast Asian Games
. In March 1998 he was appointed Director of Tottenham Hotspur
's youth academy. He resigned the post in July 1999 to take up the position of coach of the Myanmar national football team
with Peter Suddaby
replacing him as academy director. With Dave Barry announcing his intention to step down as manager of Cork City
at the end of the 1999–2000 League of Ireland season, Murphy emerged as the favoured candidate to succeed him. He was duly appointed and led the club in their first game of the 2000-01 season, a Super Cup
clash with Bohemian
on 30 June 2000, but resigned a week later to become Football Co-ordinator at Leicester City
working under their newly appointed manager Peter Taylor.
With the arrival of Phil Parkinson
as Manager with Frank Barlow as his Assistant at the start of the 2006-07
season, Murphy took up the new role of Director of Development at the club - responsible for all scouting and youth development. He reverted to Assistant Manager, however, when Barlow left the club towards the end of October. After Phil Parkinson also left the club, Murphy and First-team coach Phil Brown were appointed as joint caretaker managers. Phil Brown was later appointed as permanent manager, with Murphy reverting to his assistant role for the remainder of the season. With the appointment of Brian Horton
, he resumed the role of Director of Development.
Murphy suffered a stroke
in November 2007, and retired from his role at Hull City during the 2008-09 season.
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
, 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....
, Stockport County
Stockport County F.C.
Stockport County Football Club is an English football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The club formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, shortly afterwards merging with Heaton Norris F.C., and adopted the current name on 24 May 1890 on the creation of the County Borough of Stockport...
, Southend United
Southend United F.C.
Southend United Football Club is an English football club based at Roots Hall Stadium, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, who play in Football League Two. Their home ground is Roots Hall, and the club plan to move into a new 22,000-seater stadium located at Fossetts Farm.-Stadium:The club has had...
, Shelbourne
Shelbourne F.C.
Shelbourne Football Club is an Irish professional football club based in the Drumcondra area of Dublin, currently playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division....
, Notts County
Notts County F.C.
Notts County Football Club are an English professional football club based in Nottingham. They are the oldest of all the clubs in the world that are now professional, having been formed in 1862. They currently play in League One of The Football League, the third tier of the English football system...
, Cork City and the Vietnam national side
Vietnam national football team
The Vietnam national football team is the national football team representing Vietnam and is managed by the Vietnam Football Federation.In the FIFA World Rankings, Vietnam's highest standing was in the first release of the figures, in September 1998, at 84th...
.
Early career
Murphy had a brief career in semi-professional football for several non-league clubs in the early 1970s. These included Gravesend & Northfleet, Folkestone TownFolkestone F.C.
Folkestone Football Club was the name of two English football clubs based in the town of Folkestone, Kent. It is unclear if the two clubs were in fact connected, but neither has any formal connection to Folkestone Invicta, who took over the Cheriton Road stadium after the demise of Folkestone F.C....
and Hastings United. However he failed to break through into professional football. Turning to coaching, Murphy was quickly catapulted into the spotlight when Derby County
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
surprisingly appointed him as their manager in November 1976. However, he lasted only ten months in the role before being sacked in September 1977 having led the Rams to just seven wins in 35 games.
Lincoln City
After a brief break from football, Murphy took charge of a struggling Lincoln CityLincoln 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....
side that was beset by financial problems and had just completed a lacklustre campaign in Division Four. In arguably his most successful period in management, Murphy secured Lincoln’s promotion to Division Three in the 1980–81 season with a second place finish behind Southend United, thanks in large measure to Gordon Hobson
Gordon Hobson
Gordon Hobson is a retired English footballer who played as a forward, spending most of his career with Lincoln City, with shorter periods at Grimsby Town, Southampton and Exeter City.-Football career:...
's 21 goals. The following season was almost as successful, with the Imps knocking out First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
side Leicester City in the League Cup
League Cup
In association football, a League Cup or Secondary Cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament to be called "League Cup" was held in Scotland in 1946/47 and was entitled the Scottish...
and leading the Division Three table for four months. A loss of form, possibly in part caused by a fierce boardroom row over transfer budgets, resulted in Lincoln throwing away their advantage and finishing in a disappointing sixth place.
The next two seasons were less impressive and Murphy eventually resigned on 1 May 1985, after seven years at Sincil Bank
Sincil Bank
Sincil Bank is a football stadium in Lincoln, England and has been the home of Lincoln City since 1895. Previously, Lincoln City had played at the nearby John O'Gaunts ground since the club's 1884 inception. Sincil Bank has an overall capacity of 10,120 and is colloquially known to fans as "The...
. His departure came just 10 days before Lincoln played Bradford on the final day of the season in the game where 56 spectators burnt to death in the Bradford City disaster. The Murphy era is remembered fondly by the Imps faithful, with players such as Steve Thompson and John Fashanu
John Fashanu
John "Fash" Fashanu is a British television presenter and ex-footballer of Nigerian and Guyanese descent. In his former career, he was a centre-forward, who scored 134 league goals in a career lasting 17 years...
(both signed by Murphy) contributing to one of the finest teams in Lincoln's history.
While manager at Lincoln Murphy gained cult status for his notes in the club's match day programme. His column demonstrated a level of inventiveness with the English language and surrealist imagery that marked it out from any other offering in this medium. Lincoln programmes from this era are now collector's items far beyond what would be considered the norm for the publications of lower division and Conference clubs from this era.
Stockport County and return to Lincoln City
Murphy quickly returned to management on 8 August 1985 as manager of Stockport CountyStockport County F.C.
Stockport County Football Club is an English football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The club formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, shortly afterwards merging with Heaton Norris F.C., and adopted the current name on 24 May 1890 on the creation of the County Borough of Stockport...
, but left the club on the 24th October after a disappointing start to their Division Four campaign. However, in a bizarre U-turn, Murphy took charge of Stockport again in November 1986. In another ironic twist, Murphy masterminded the club’s dramatic escape from relegation to the Conference at the expense of Lincoln City, who were relegated in their place.
Just a few weeks after the end of the 1986-87 season, Murphy resigned as Stockport manager and began a second spell at Lincoln City on 26 May 1987. Over the next three years he was able to both guide Lincoln City back to league football in his first season and secure them two tenth place finishes in Division Four. Despite this renewed success, Murphy left the club by mutual consent on 20 May 1990 and spent the next two years away from football.
1990s
Murphy returned to football as manager of Southend United on the 8 May 1992, but left just short of the end of a disappointing season on 1 April 1993. His next post in management was at the League of IrelandLeague of Ireland
The League of Ireland is the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. Founded in 1921, as a league of eight clubs, it has expanded over time into a two-tiered league of 22 clubs. It is currently split into the League of Ireland Premier Division and the League of Ireland...
side Shelbourne from December 1994 to May 1995. He took the club from the edge of the relegation zone to a final day finish that left Shelbourne just a few points short of the title. The club were also the beaten finalists in that year's FAI Cup
FAI Cup
The Football Association of Ireland Challenge Cup, known as the FAI Ford Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland...
.
He then left to manage Notts County
Notts County F.C.
Notts County Football Club are an English professional football club based in Nottingham. They are the oldest of all the clubs in the world that are now professional, having been formed in 1862. They currently play in League One of The Football League, the third tier of the English football system...
on 5 June 1995. Although the Magpies narrowly missed out on promotion to Division One in his first season in charge after a 2–0 defeat to Bradford City
Bradford City A.F.C.
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, playing in League Two....
in the playoff final, the 1996-97 season was a disaster for Murphy and the club, with a series of heavy defeats that eventually led to his sacking on 23 December 1996.
In July 1997 he was appointed coach of the Vietnam national football team
Vietnam national football team
The Vietnam national football team is the national football team representing Vietnam and is managed by the Vietnam Football Federation.In the FIFA World Rankings, Vietnam's highest standing was in the first release of the figures, in September 1998, at 84th...
, leading the team to a bronze medal at the 1997 Southeast Asian Games
Football at the 1997 Southeast Asian Games
The football tournament at the 1997 Southeast Asian Games was held from October 5 to 18, 1997 in the cities of Jakarta, Indonesia, All 10 Southeast Asian nations joined the football tournament.- Medal winners :- Group A :----------------...
. In March 1998 he was appointed Director of Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
's youth academy. He resigned the post in July 1999 to take up the position of coach of the Myanmar national football team
Myanmar national football team
The Myanmar national football team is the national team of Myanmar and is controlled by the Myanmar Football Federation. It was known as the Burma national football team until 1989, when Burma was renamed Myanmar. It finished second in the 1968 Asian Cup. They have participated in the Summer...
with Peter Suddaby
Peter Suddaby
Peter Suddaby is an English former professional footballer. He played as a defender.-Playing career:After spells as an amateur with Skelmersdale United and Wycombe Wanderers, Suddaby began his professional career with Blackpool in 1970, and went on to make over 300 league appearances in a decade...
replacing him as academy director. With Dave Barry announcing his intention to step down as manager of Cork City
Cork City F.C.
Cork City Football Club is an Irish football team that plays in the League of Ireland. Founded and elected to the league in 1984 to continue the long tradition of Association Football in Cork, City's traditional colours are green and white with red trim, and the crest is a variant of the Cork...
at the end of the 1999–2000 League of Ireland season, Murphy emerged as the favoured candidate to succeed him. He was duly appointed and led the club in their first game of the 2000-01 season, a Super Cup
FAI Super Cup
The FAI Super Cup is a defunct football tournament which was played for 3 years between 1998 and 2000. It was played before the League of Ireland season began, usually in July. The first tournament was played in the neutral Morton Stadium and the 1999 and 2000 editions were both played for in...
clash with Bohemian
Bohemian F.C.
Bohemian F.C. , more commonly referred to as Bohemians, is a professional football club from Dublin, Ireland. Bohemians compete in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland and are the third most successful club in League of Ireland football history, having won the League of Ireland title 11...
on 30 June 2000, but resigned a week later to become Football Co-ordinator at Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...
working under their newly appointed manager Peter Taylor.
Hull City
Murphy joined the Tigers in 2002 as Assistant Manager to Peter Taylor.With the arrival of Phil Parkinson
Phil Parkinson
Philip John "Phil" Parkinson is an English football manager and former player who currently manages Bradford City.-Playing career:...
as Manager with Frank Barlow as his Assistant at the start of the 2006-07
2006-07 in English football
The 2006–07 season was the 127th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:* The number of divisions at Level 8 of the English football league system increased from four to five...
season, Murphy took up the new role of Director of Development at the club - responsible for all scouting and youth development. He reverted to Assistant Manager, however, when Barlow left the club towards the end of October. After Phil Parkinson also left the club, Murphy and First-team coach Phil Brown were appointed as joint caretaker managers. Phil Brown was later appointed as permanent manager, with Murphy reverting to his assistant role for the remainder of the season. With the appointment of Brian Horton
Brian Horton
Brian Horton is an English former footballer and manager, who is working as Phil Brown's assistant at Preston North End.Horton played for Hednesford Town, Port Vale, Brighton & Hove Albion, Luton Town and Hull City as a midfielder...
, he resumed the role of Director of Development.
Murphy suffered a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
in November 2007, and retired from his role at Hull City during the 2008-09 season.