Alexander James Murphy OBE (born 22 April 1939) is an English former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer, and coach of the mid to late 20th century. Known as 'Murphy the Mouth' (or ''"Yapper"'' by some referees) and regarded as one of the greatest halfbacks in the history of the British game, he represented Great Britain in 27 Tests and his club career was played at three clubs, St. Helens, Leigh and

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

. Murphy assumed a

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

role of the last two clubs and expanded his coaching role toward the end of his playing career to include clubs such as

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

and

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

. He later returned to both Warrington and Leigh respectively as a football manager. He was the first player to captain three different clubs to victory in the Challenge Cup Final .

Background

Born in St. Helens,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

on 22 April 1939, Murphy was brought up in Thatto Heath, and at ten years of age had played in both the junior and senior XIIIs at St Austin's School.

Playing career

Murphy had received town and county schoolboy honours by the time he signed with his native St. Helens for £80 on his 16th birthday in 1955. The signing itself was almost akin to a military operation. St. Helens representatives smuggled Murphy 'under cover' to a nearby house until the clock struck midnight to signal Murphy's 16th birthday, and his eligibility to sign professional terms. He was coached from an early age by Jim Sullivan. During his

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

Murphy played

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

for the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

, frequently playing for an Air Force team the same week as playing rugby league for St. Helens.

St. Helens

Murphy began his career at St. Helens playing reserve team rugby (known then as the 'A' team). After several "A" team games, Murphy demanded a place in the first team. This demand was refused and so he promptly demanded a transfer. The dispute was settled and Murphy's first team début was against

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It i ...

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside, was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For a period, the venue also hoste ...

. Murphy's career at St. Helens went on to be long and successful. While still a teenager, he was selected to tour

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologi ...

with the Great Britain side in 1958, becoming the youngest touring player at the time, and helping Great Britain to victory in the famous second Test in which they were down to ten men. He scored 21 tries in 20 appearances on that tour. He won the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

with St. Helens in 1958–59 season. The following year he played in Great Britain's

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

-winning side. With his club he claimed the Challenge Cup in 1961. On the 1962 Ashes tour he suffered a shoulder injury which caused him to miss three months of the domestic season and there was some speculation he would never play again. On this tour he scored 9 tries in 11 appearances. Murphy became the first British rugby league footballer to have two

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

es. They were at St. Helens in 1965, and at

in 1976. Alex Murphy played right-, i.e. number 3, and scored a conversion in St. Helens' 35–12 victory over Halifax in the

Final during the 1965–66 season at Station Road, Swinton on Saturday 28 May 1966, in front of a crowd of 30,165. Alex Murphy played , and scored a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

in St. Helens' 12–6 victory over

in the

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

Challenge Cup Final during the 1960–61 season at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

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on Saturday 13 May 1961, in front of a crowd of 94,672, and played right-, i.e. number 3, and scored a conversion in the 21–2 victory over

in the 1966 Challenge Cup Final during the 1965–66 season at

on Saturday 21 May 1966, in front of a crowd of 98,536. Alex Murphy played in St. Helens' 2–12 defeat by

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...

in the

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

County Cup Final during the 1958–59 season at Station Road, Swinton on Saturday 25 October 1958, played in the 4–5 defeat by

in the

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

County Cup Final during the 1959–60 season at

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on Saturday 31 October 1959, played in the 15–9 victory over Swinton in the

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

County Cup Final during the 1960–61 season at

on Saturday 29 October 1960, played , and scored a

in the 25–9 victory over Swinton in the

County Cup Final during the 1961–62 season at

on Saturday 11 November 1961, played in the 15–4 victory over Leigh in the

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

County Cup Final during the 1962–63 season at Station Road, Swinton on Saturday 26 October 1963, and played in the 12–4 victory over Swinton in the

County Cup Final during the 1964–65 season at

on Saturday 24 October 1964. Alex Murphy played in St. Helens' 0–4 defeat by

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins th ...

in the 1965 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1965–66 season at

, St. Helens on Tuesday 14 December 1965

Leigh

Murphy left St. Helens to become

at Leigh because he was unhappy at being moved to the s to accommodate the signing of

Tommy Bishop Tommy Bishop (born 15 October 1940) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s, and coached in the 1970s and 1980s. He played for Blackpool Borough, Barrow and St Helens in the English Champion ...

. As the 1966–67 season began, Murphy declined to play for St. Helens. The Australian club, North Sydney indicated their interest in signing him. At the end of September, Murphy submitted a written transfer request to the St. Helens board who accepted it, putting him on the list at £12,000. North Sydney tabled a bid of £8,000 for Murphy which was accepted. However, at the last minute, Murphy agreed to a 5-year deal with Leigh to become the highest paid coach in the

Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisati ...

. Murphy's first game in charge of his new team was against his former club in a league match at Hilton Park. Murphy's Leigh overcame a depleted St. Helens side by 29–5. Murphy later recounted in an issue of the Rugby Leaguer some 20 years later that: ''"It never entered my mind to leave Saints in the first place. But events took over and there was a lot of pride involved on both sides and the situation reached the stage where a parting of the ways became inevitable."'' Alex Murphy played , and was the coach, and was man-of-the-match winning the

Lance Todd Trophy The Lance Todd Trophy is a trophy in rugby league, awarded to the annual Challenge Cup Final's man of the match. Introduced in 1945–46, the trophy was named in memory of Lance Todd, the New Zealand-born player and administrator, who was killed i ...

in Leigh's 24–7 victory over

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

in the 1971 Challenge Cup Final during the 1970–71 season at

on Saturday 15 May 1971, in front of a crowd of 85,514. This was a match where Murphy's ability to attract controversy was once again exemplified. He was involved in an altercation with Leeds' Syd Hynes which resulted in Hynes being sent off for headbutting Murphy. Murphy was carried off the pitch on a stretcher, but later returned to the bench and was able to lift the trophy at the end of the game. Over the years, tales of Murphy winking to his teammates as he was carried from the field have endured, and Hynes always maintained his innocence. Alex Murphy played , and scored a conversion in Leigh's 2–11 defeat by Swinton in the

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

County Cup Final during the 1969–70 season at

on Saturday 1 November 1969, and played in the 7–4 victory over St. Helens in the

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

County Cup Final replay during the 1970–71 season at Station Road, Swinton on Saturday 28 November 1970. Alex Murphy played , and was the coach in Leigh's 5–8 defeat by

in the

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1967–68 season at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

Rugby Stadium,

on Saturday 16 January 1968, and played , was the coach, and scored a conversion in the 11–6 victory over

in the

BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1969–70 season at

on Tuesday 16 December 1969.

Warrington

Murphy left Leigh shortly afterwards to become

at Warrington. Murphy won one Great Britain cap while at Warrington. In 1973 a 20-match unbeaten run in the league helped Warrington win the League Leader's Trophy. The 1973–74 season was the most successful at Warrington, with the club winning the Challenge Cup, Captain Morgan trophy, John Player trophy and Club Merit trophy. The highlight was when Murphy coached, captained and played in

's 24–9 victory over

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rovers are one of the last "smal ...

in the 1974 Challenge Cup Final during the 1973–74 season at

on Saturday 11 May 1974, in front of a crowd of 77,400. He was again the coach in the 7–14 defeat by

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form th ...

in the

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

Challenge Cup Final during the 1974–75 season at

on Saturday 10 May 1975, in front of a crowd of 85,998, but missed playing in the match through injury, retiring as a player shortly after but remaining as coach of the club until 1978. During his time as the Warrington coach, his old rivals, Widnes succeeded in reaching another Challenge Cup final in 1976, their opponents being St. Helens. Murphy caused controversy by declaring that he would jump off the Silver Jubilee Bridge and into the River Mersey if Widnes won; luckily, Widnes were defeated 20 points to 5 and Murphy managed to keep his feet on dry land. Alex Murphy was the coach in

's 0–0 draw with

in the 1974 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1974–75 season at

The Willows, Salford The Willows was a rugby league stadium in Weaste, Salford, England. It had a final capacity of 11,363 with 2,500 seats. History In 1900, Salford agreed a 14-year lease on of land belonging to the Willows Estate Company, named after the abunda ...

on Tuesday 17 December 1974, and in the 5–10 defeat by

in the 1974 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final replay during the 1974–75 season at

Wilderspool Stadium Wilderspool Stadium was a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England. The ground was Warrington RLFC's old ground before moving to the Halliwell Jones Stadium. History In 1898, Warrington RLFC moved to the Wilderspool Stadium. A 10-year lea ...

on Tuesday 28 January 1975. Alex Murphy was the coach in

's 4–0 victory over

in the 1973–74 Captain Morgan Trophy Final during the 1973–74 season at The Willows,

on Saturday 26 January 1974, in front of a crowd of 5,259.

Coaching career

Upon retirement, Murphy built upon the experience he had acquired as a

by taking up the reins as a full-time coach. He was co-coach of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

with Bill Oxley during the

1975 World Series The 1975 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1975 season. The 72nd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Boston Red Sox and the Natio ...

. After Warrington, Murphy was appointed to high-profile roles at

(May 1978 to November 1980),Leigh (1980 to 1982) where in 1982 he guided Leigh to the Division 1 championship and Lancashire cup winners, before taking the role of coach of Wigan in 1982. There, he led them to victory in the John Player Trophy in 1983, and took them to the Challenge Cup Final in 1984, where they lost to Widnes. He left at the start of the next season, following a row with vice chairman Maurice Lindsay. In 1988 Murphy was an inaugural inductee into the Rugby League Hall of Fame. He took over as coach of St. Helens in 1986, taking them to

in 1987, against Halifax, and again in 1989 where they played Wigan. St Helens lost by one point to Halifax, and were humiliated by Wigan in an error-ridden performance two years later, losing 27–0, becoming the first side ever held scoreless in a Challenge Cup Final at Wembley. During the last 10 minutes of the Challenge Cup Final, St. Helens received a penalty that was well within kicking range for either of their goal kickers, Great Britain international

Paul Loughlin Paul John Loughlin (born 28 July 1966) is an English former rugby league who played for his hometown team St. Helens, the Bradford Bulls, the Huddersfield Giants and the Swinton Lions. Loughlin was born in St. Helens, Lancashire, England. ...

, and Australian dual international

Michael O'Connor Michael O'Connor may refer to: Politicians * Michael O'Connor (Australian politician) (1865–1940), Australian politician * Michael O'Connor (Wisconsin politician) (1856–1925), Wisconsin State Assemblyman * Michael J. O'Connor (politici ...

. Knowing that no side had ever been held scoreless in a Cup Final at Wembley and not wanting his St. Helens to be the first, Murphy frantically gestured from the sideline to team captain

Paul Vautin Paul Vautin (born 21 July 1959) nicknamed Fatty, is an Australian football commentator and formerly a professional rugby league footballer, captain and coach. He has provided commentary for the Nine Network's coverage of rugby league since joi ...

to take the kick at goal despite the scoreline. Vautin ignored Murphy's instructions and instead the ball was kicked into touch for a tap restart. Wigan's defense held firm though and St. Helens last scoring opportunity was lost. This led to tension between Murphy and Vautin for a number of years until they worked together for the Australian Nine Network during television coverage of The Ashes series during the

1994 Kangaroo tour The 1994 Kangaroo Tour was the 18th and last Kangaroo Tour played in the conventional format, where the Australia national rugby league team (known as the XXXX Kangaroos due to sponsorship reasons) played a number of matches against British and Fre ...

. In 1991, he joined

: within a year, promotion to the Second Division had been achieved. After a six-year absence from rugby league, Murphy returned to the game in 2003 as football director of Leigh after the National League One club sacked coach Paul Terzis.

Post-retirement

In 1998 Murphy was awarded the OBE for services to the game of rugby league. In 2000 his autobiography, ''Saint and Sinner'' was published. Murphy was also employed as a commentator by BBC television for a number of years working alongside long-time league commentators

Eddie Waring Edward Marsden Waring, MBE (21 February 1910 – 28 October 1986) was a British rugby league football coach, commentator and television presenter. Early life Waring was born on 21 February 1910 in Dewsbury in the West Riding of Yorkshire to Art ...

, and later former dual rugby international

Ray French Raymond James French, MBE (born 23 December 1939) is an English former rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. French played at international level in both codes. He won four caps for England in rugby union ...

. He also worked for Australia's Nine Network as an expert commentator during the

. He was also employed to write opinion columns for newspapers such as the

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...

, and the

Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 20 ...

. One was known as 'Murphy's Mouth.' In 2006 he became Chairman of

Oxford Cavaliers Oxford Cavaliers Rugby League Football Club is the first amateur rugby league club formed in Oxford in the summer era. Over 16 years the Cavaliers have coached and developed several players who have gone on to play the game both professionally a ...

rugby league club. Murphy is an inductee in both the St Helens RFC Hall of Fame, and the Warrington Wolves RLFC Hall of Fame.

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Alex Murphy at rugbyleaguehistory.com
* https://web.archive.org/web/20060507140342/http://www.rlhalloffame.org.uk/murphy.htm
Profile at saints.org.uk
* http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9910-1134312_2,00.html * http://www.saintsrlfc.com/ * http://www.oxfordrl.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Alex 1939 births Living people England national rugby league team coaches England national rugby league team players English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Huddersfield Giants coaches Lancashire rugby league team coaches Lancashire rugby league team players Lance Todd Trophy winners Leigh Centurions captains Leigh Centurions coaches Leigh Centurions players Officers of the Order of the British Empire Royal Air Force airmen Royal Air Force rugby union players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from St Helens, Merseyside Salford Red Devils coaches St Helens R.F.C. coaches St Helens R.F.C. players Warrington Wolves captains Warrington Wolves coaches Warrington Wolves players Wigan Warriors coaches