John Murphy

Courtesy of Tonyc

Name: John Murphy
Born: 1886, Dublin
Died:
Height:
Weight:
Position: Inside-Left

Representative Honours: Ireland: 3 Full Caps (1910); Irish League: 2 Caps (1907-1910).
Club Honours: (with Shelbourne) Irish Cup Winner 1910/11, Runner-Up 1906/07, 1907/08.

Club Career:

Teams	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA Cup	Other
Shelbourne	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bradford City	09/10	May-09	-	6/0	-	-
Shelbourne	-	-	-	-	-	-
Luton Town	-	Aug-12	-	(Southern League)
Shamrock Rovers	-	-	-	-	-	-
TOTALS	-	£-		-	-	-

Biography:
Capped three times while with Bradford City, John Murphy had most success on the domestic front while at Shelbourne. With Shels he played in Irish Cup Final defeats by Cliftonville and Bohemians in 1907 and 1908 respectively, aided them to runners-up spot in the Irish League in 1906/07 and represented the Irish League in a 6-3 defeat by the Football League at Roker Park, Sunderland, in October 1907.

In all those big games Murphy played at inside-right, and it was for this role that Bradford City bought him in May 1909. He managed just six appearances and not a single goal in his only campaign at Valley Parade. He did play in each of Ireland’s International Championship ties that season, with a home draw against England and win over Scotland leaving the Irish needing to beat Wales at Wrexham in the last game of the series to claim the Championship for the first time, while even a draw would see them share the title for only the second time. The Welsh however saw it differently and, with nothing but pride to play for, cruised to a 3-0 half-time lead. Johnny Darling’ 47th minute penalty proved scant consolation in the eventual 1-4 scoreline.

Murphy re-joined Shelbourne at the end of the 1909/10 season and was quickly proving his worth again. He was selected by the Irish League for the visit of the Football League to Celtic Park in October 1910 and by the end of that season finally had his hands on an Irish Cup winner’s medal following a 2-1 defeat of Bohemians in a replayed final at Dalymount Park.

After two fairly turbulent years back with Shels, Murphy took a second shot at football in England. He signed for Luton Town in August 1912 (the deal required the approval of Bradford City who still held his registration) and played out the years leading up to the First World War in the Southern League. He later played for the fledgling Shamrock Rovers.

Ireland Cap Details:
12-02-1910 England. H D 1-1 BC
19-03-1910 Scotland H W 1-0 BC
11-04-1910 Wales... A L 1-4 BC

Summary: 3/0. Won 1, Drew 1, Lost 1.