James Gerald Murray (born 27 December 1958) is a Scottish retired 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 ...

who played as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on N ...

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

and

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. He was described by ''

Cambridge News The ''Cambridge News'' (formerly the ''Cambridge Evening News'') is a British daily newspaper. Published each weekday and on Saturdays, it is distributed from its Waterbeach base. In the period December 2010 – June 2011 it had an average dail ...

'' as "one of the greatest left backs to have featured" for Cambridge United.

Career

Cambridge United

A full back, Murray joined

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

club

from

non-League Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

club Rivet Sports in September 1976. He quickly became an important player in the club's rise from the Fourth to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

and made 147 consecutive appearances between 1980 and his departure in 1984. As of November 2014, Murray is 11th on Cambridge United's record-appearances list.

Sunderland (loan)

In March 1984, Murray joined First Division club

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

with a view to a permanent move. He made just one appearance, in a 1–1 draw with

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

on 7 April, before returning to the

Abbey Stadium Abbey Stadium is a association football, football stadium in Cambridge, England. It has been the home ground of Cambridge United F.C. since 1932, and currently has a maximum Seating capacity, capacity of 8,127 spectators. Cambridge Regional Coll ...

Brentford

Murray joined

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

club

for a £30,000 fee in July 1984. He was an ever-present during the 1984–85 season and missed just one match in 1985–86. He continued his virtual ever-present status through the 1986–87 season, before departing

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...

in September 1987. Murray made 166 appearances and scored four goals in just over three years with Brentford.

Return to Cambridge United

In September 1987, Murray returned to Cambridge United for a £5,000 fee. Now playing in the Fourth Division, he appeared sparingly and left at the end of the 1987–88 season.

Soham Town Rangers

Murray closed out his career with a spell at

Eastern Counties League The Eastern Counties Football League, currently known as the Thurlow Nunn League for sponsorship purposes, is an English football league at levels 9 and 10 of the English football league system. It currently contains clubs from Norfolk, Suff ...

club

Soham Town Rangers Soham Town Rangers Football Club is an English football club based in Soham, Cambridgeshire. The club are currently members of the and play at Julius Martin Lane. History The club was established in 1947 by a merger of Soham Town and Soham Ran ...

Coaching career

Murray briefly served as assistant to Steve Fallon at

Histon Histon is a village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is immediately north of Cambridge – and is separated from the city – by the A14 road (England), A14 road which r ...

during the 2000s.

Personal life

Murray's son

Antonio Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...

is semi-professional footballer.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Jamie Scottish footballers Cambridge United F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Soham Town Rangers F.C. players Living people 1958 births Association football fullbacks English Football League players Footballers from Ayr