Benjamin Robinson Muirhead (born 5 January 1983) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

and coach. As a player, he was a winger. He notably played in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

for

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, going on to make a loan move to

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

before signing with

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

. He played more than 100 games in four years at Bradford, before signing for

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

. Muirhead dropped into non-league football in 2008 where he has played for

Alfreton Town Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street. History The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alfr ...

Farsley Celtic Farsley Celtic Football Club is a football club based in Farsley, West Yorkshire, England. The club was founded in 1908, but folded in 2010 and were reformed as Farsley AFC before returning to the name Farsley Celtic in 2015.

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

Harrogate Town Harrogate Town A.F.C. is a professional association football club in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the Sulphurites, due to the ...

and

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.

, Armthorpe Welfare and

Retford United Retford United Football Club (also known as the Badgers) are an English football club based at Cannon Park in Retford, Nottinghamshire. They currently play in the . History The club was founded in 1987 by Retfordian Brian Jackson to give the ...

. In 2015 he returned to Armthorpe as assistant manager.

Playing areer

Born in

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

, Muirhead was a highly rated youngster and played for England schoolboys, including playing against an Argentina Under-15 squad starring

Carlos Tevez Carlos Alberto Tevez (; born 5 February 1984) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player. A quick, tenacious, powerful, hard-working and dynamic forward in his prime, Tevez was capable of playing as a striker, as a winger ...

at Wembley. After beginning his career at

, he moved to

. He then moved to

on loan and scored on his debut versus

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

, which Rochdale went on to win 2–1. Muirhead caught the eye of many League Two pundits during his loan spell and it was a disappointment when Bantams caretaker boss

David Wetherall David Wetherall (born 14 March 1971) is an English football coach and former professional footballer, who is as head of youth development with the Football League. As a player, he was a central defender, he played most of his career in the Pre ...

recalled him. He was released by Bradford City in May 2007. The following month, he signed a permanent deal with League Two outfit Rochdale. He scored the winning penalty as Rochdale reached the play-off final after defeating

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

. In June 2008, he was transfer listed by Rochdale. Muirhead left the club on 31 July by mutual consent, stating a wish to play higher up the Football League. Muirhead was given a trial with Darlington, but in August 2008, he instead signed for

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

side

under the management of Nicky Law, who had brought Muirhead to Bradford. After a month with the club, he was rewarded for a string of good performances by being given a one-year contract. He was released after one season with Alfreton because he required an operation which would keep him out of action for eight months. He signed for Conference North side

at the end of August 2009. He moved onto

before signing for

in December 2009. Muirhead's time at

would prove to be a very short one as on 8 March 2010, he left the CNG stadium and signed for

Buxton F.C. Buxton Football Club is a football club based in Buxton, Derbyshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Silverlands. History The club was established in autumn 1877 as an offshoot of the local cricket club, playing thei ...

Coaching career

In June 2015 Muirhead was announced as an assistant manager at Armthorpe Welfare, alongside his role as a player there.

References

External links

*
Buxton FC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muirhead, Ben 1983 births Living people Footballers from Doncaster English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Manchester United F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Alfreton Town F.C. players Farsley Celtic F.C. players King's Lynn F.C. players Harrogate Town A.F.C. players Buxton F.C. players Armthorpe Welfare F.C. players Retford United F.C. players English Football League players