Colin James Murdock (born 2 July 1975) is a former

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player, who played for clubs including

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

, Hibernian and

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

, and for

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. He is now a lawyer, and a member of

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

's Football Judicial Panel.

Playing career

Club

A former Northern Ireland international, Murdock started his career as an apprentice at

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 ...

on leaving

Ballymena Academy Ballymena Academy is a mixed gender grammar school in the market town of Ballymena in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1828 as a small provincial school for children in the town and surrounding agricultural hinterland. Admissi ...

in 1991. He featured in the youth side that were

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

runners-up in 1993 and turned professional a year later, but never played a first team game for the club and was transferred to Preston for £165,000 in May 1997. Murdock made more than 200 league and cup appearances while at

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England, the home of Preston North End. Deepdale is "widely recognised as being the oldest 'continuously used' football stadium in the world, though this is contested". History ...

, collecting a Division Two title medal in 2000 and featuring in the side that reached the

Division One The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

playoff final in 2001 (losing 3–0 to

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 ...

) before moving to Scottish club Hibernian in 2003. This gave him the long-awaited chance to experience top division football. During his time at

Easter Road Easter Road is a football stadium located in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish Premiership club Hibernian (Hibs). The stadium currently has an all-seated capacity of , which makes it the fifth-larges ...

, he scored the winning goal in a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

against Rangers in a

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

semi-final. Murdock joined

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...

in the latter part of 2004–05. He skippered the team and his form helped to steer them clear of relegation. In summer 2005, Murdock signed for

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

, where he captained the team and brought experience to the centre of the Rotherham defence, making 43 league appearances in two seasons, scoring twice. At the end of the 2006–07 season after a season blighted by injuries he left Rotherham. Following a brief trial period he signed a one-year contract with Shrewsbury. He made 29 league appearances and scored two goals for the Shrews, but was released by new manager Paul Simpson on 29 April 2008. On 16 May 2008, Murdock signed a one-year deal with Accrington Stanley . He scored his first and only goal for Accrington in a 2–1 defeat to

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

on 4 October 2008. At the end of season 2008/09, Murdock retired from professional football after 17 years and 417 appearances.

International career

Murdock earned 34 caps for

. He scored one goal, a powerful header, in a 3–3 draw against

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in 2004.

Legal career

Murdock studied for a law degree at

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...

, graduating in 2000. After retiring from professional football, he started a new career as a sports lawyer. After postgraduate legal studies at

Leeds Beckett University Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The univ ...

, he was a trainee solicitor with Manchester law firm George Davies LLP, and after qualifying in 2011 joined another Manchester firm, Pannone, while also setting up his own business, Murdock Sports Management. He was also a member of

's Football Judicial Panel.

References

External links

*
Biography & Cap Details
a
NIFG
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murdock, Colin 1975 births Sportspeople from Ballymena Living people Association football defenders Association footballers from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland international footballers Manchester United F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Premier League players