William Murphy (23 May 1894 – 11 June 1975), often known as Spud Murphy, was an English footballer who played as a winger for

Manchester City 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 Salford to the west. The tw ...

, Southampton, Oldham Athletic and Tranmere Rovers. A runner in his youth, Murphy became an amateur footballer when the outbreak of the First World War caused his running club to disband. In 1918 he signed amateur terms with First Division Manchester City, turning professional when competitive football resumed after the war. He made 220 appearances for the club, before joining Southampton in 1926. He stayed on the south coast for three seasons, before returning to the north-west where he had spells with Oldham Athletic and Tranmere Rovers.

Early career

Born in St Helens, Lancashire, Murphy's speed gave him local renown in his youth, when he became known among pigeon keepers for the haste with which he reported the arrivals of birds. He was also a talented cross country runner, running for the Peasley Cross Harriers club. The club was disbanded at the start of the First World War, and Murphy turned his attention to football.

Football career

Manchester City

He signed for

from Alexandra Victoria on 2 February 1918, as an amateur. He made several appearances for the club in the wartime Lancashire League, including an appearance against Everton in which he scored in the first minutes to consign ''the Toffeemen'' to their first defeat of the season. When competitive football returned after the end of the war, Murphy turned professional, making his league debut against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

on 13 September 1919, and a further 37 appearances that season. In the 1919–20 season, Murphy scored nine goals in 41 appearances as Manchester City finished as runner-up in the league. his performances resulted in interest from the Irish Football Association, who prompted by Murphy's Irish-sounding surname wrote to enquire about his birthplace. In his reply, Manchester City manager Ernest Mangnall wrote "He comes from St Helens, where the pills come from". Murphy was a regular on the Manchester City left wing for six seasons, but by 1925–26 he was no longer first choice, making only nine appearances, and on 18 August 1926, having scored 31 goals in 220 appearances for Manchester City, he joined Southampton for £350.

Southampton

Murphy was brought to the south coast by new manager Arthur Chadwick and, by Christmas 1926, prospects looked good as the Saints were only two points behind the

Division Two NCL Division Two The NCL or National Conference League Division Two (known as the Kingstone Press NCL Division Two) League winners {, class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" , - , colspan=4 style="text-align:center;" , NCL DIVISION TWO , ...

leaders, with Murphy linking up well with

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

Bill Rawlings. A reporter for the local newspaper described Murphy as "''cute, quick and clever''". The New Year saw a slump in the team's performances and by the end of the season they had fallen back to 13th place in the table. They did, however, have a good run in the FA Cup, reaching the semi-finals where they went out to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, with Murphy appearing in all the cup matches. In the 1926–27 season, in which he linked up well with

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and

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on the left, Murphy only missed one league match, scoring four goals. The following season saw Murphy continuing on the left-wing until early March when he lost his place to

Stan Cribb Stanley Roy Cribb (11 May 1905 – 13 January 1989) was an English professional footballer who played for Southampton, Queens Park Rangers and Cardiff City as an outside-left in the 1920s and 1930s. He later went on to help found and to manage ...

. Although he regained his place for the start of the 1928–29 season, Cribb once again replaced him and Murphy only made the occasional appearance before being released at the end of the season, with Saints having recruited

Johnny Arnold John Arnold (30 November 1907, Cowley, Oxford – 4 April 1984, Southampton, Hampshire) was an English cricketer and Football player. Cricket career John Arnold was an attacking opening batsman for Hampshire for 20 years from 1930, when he ...

to fill the left wing position. In his time with the Saints, Murphy made a total of 81 appearances, scoring nine goals.

Later career

After leaving the Dell he joined Oldham Athletic for £100, with

Reg Watson Reginald James Watson (27 August 1926 – 8 October 2019) was an Australian television producer and screenwriter. He was executive producer on ''Crossroads (British TV series), Crossroads'' and created Australian media exports serials such as ' ...

going in the opposite direction. He spent one season at Oldham, before joining his final league club Tranmere Rovers, after which he joined non-league Ellesmere Port Town. He died at St. Helens in June 1975, aged 81.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Billy 1894 births 1975 deaths Men's association football wingers Ellesmere Port Town F.C. players English Football League players English men's footballers Footballers from St Helens, Merseyside Manchester City F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Pigeon fanciers Southampton F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players