Joseph Murphy (born 21 August 1981) is an Irish 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 ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

. Murphy began his career with

, and has since represented eight other clubs, making over 500 appearances in the Football League and playing twice 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 Fo ...

for

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

in 2002. Born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, he was capped twice by the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

at international level in 2003 and 2010.

Club career

Early career

With his first club,

, Murphy played in the

2000 Football League Cup final The 2000 Football League Cup Final was played between Leicester City, in their third final appearance in four years, and First Division side Tranmere Rovers at Wembley Stadium on 27 February 2000. It was the 34th and last League Cup Final to be ...

, before joining

in July 2002. With his first touches in a Premier League game, Murphy saved a

Michael Owen Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Stoke City, as well as for the England national team. Since r ...

penalty following the sending off of

Russell Hoult Russell Hoult (born 22 November 1972) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He notably spent time playing in the Premier League and played for Leicester City, Derby County and West Bromwi ...

. He spent the majority of the 2004–05 season on loan at

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

. In August 2005, he moved from West Brom to Sunderland, but was again loaned to Walsall during 2005–06.

Scunthorpe United

Murphy signed for Scunthorpe United in May 2006 after being released by Sunderland. He had an excellent 2006–07 season, and was an integral part of the team that led

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A ...

to the League One trophy. He was in the League One team of the season, and also won the golden glove (award for most clean sheets). He was also named League One player of the month for February 2007. On top of this, he hit the crossbar during

Soccer AM ''Soccer AM'' is a British football-based comedy/talk show, produced by Sky Sports. First broadcast in 1995, the programme currently airs on Sky Showcase, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Football at 10.30am on Saturdays during the f ...

's crossbar challenge. His clean sheet in Scunthorpe's 2–0 home victory over

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

on 30 September 2007 earned him a place in the Championship Team of the Week. He made the Team of the Week once more following his side's 1–0 victory over

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

in February. Murphy enjoyed a good set of performances during the 2008–09 season but never caught the eye of Republic of Ireland manager

Giovanni Trapattoni Giovanni Trapattoni (; born 17 March 1939), sometimes popularly known as "Trap" or "Il Trap", is an Italian football manager and former player, considered the most successful club coach of Italian football. A former defensive midfielder, as a p ...

due to playing in the third tier. Murphy's performance in the League One play-off semi-final second leg against

MK Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

helped the team proceed to the final as he kept a clean sheet in 120 minutes and saved two penalties in the shootout from

Jason Puncheon Jason David Ian Puncheon (born 18 June 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Cypriot First Division club Anorthosis Famagusta . Following his goal against Everton on his Blackpool debut, he has scored in all ...

and

Jude Stirling Jude Barrington Stirling (born 29 June 1982) is an English former footballer who plays as a defender. He has previously played for Luton Town, Stevenage Borough, St Albans City, Boreham Wood, Hornchurch, Dover Athletic, Tamworth, Grays Ath ...

. Scunthorpe won the play-off final against

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

. Murphy's contract was to end at the end of the 2008–09 season and there was much speculation as to where his future lay; many reports suggested that he would be moving to a much bigger club to gain international football for Ireland. This speculation was ended when he signed a one-year contract extension with Scunthorpe, extendable to 2011 if the Iron remained in the Championship. He told local newspapers that he signed the new deal because "He owed the club for all it has done for him". He was selected as a member of the League One team of the year for 2008–09. Murphy was one of seven players to be released by Scunthorpe in May 2011. He was not offered a new contract because of cost-cutting measures implemented after the team was relegated.

Coventry City

On 30 June 2011, Murphy joined Championship club

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

on a three-year deal.

Huddersfield Town

Murphy signed for Championship side

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

on a two-year contract, with the option of a further year in the club's favour, on 17 June 2014. Although expected to start as 2nd choice, he aimed to challenge Alex Smithies for the goalkeeper spot. After making his début in the League Cup first round match against

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

in August, he would make his league début against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

on 22 November 2014.

Chesterfield (loan)

On 9 May 2015, Murphy was sent on a week-long emergency loan to

for their play-off campaign, following an injury to

Tommy Lee Thomas Lee Bass (born October 3, 1962) is an American musician and founding member of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. As well as being the band's long-term drummer, Lee founded rap metal band Methods of Mayhem and has pursued solo musical ...

. Unfortunately, he couldn't help the Spireites get to

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

, as they lost in the two-legged semi-final to

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 ...

Bury

On 30 January 2017, Murphy signed a loan deal with

Football League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

to the end of the 2016–17 season, making sixteen first team appearances. He left Huddersfield on 1 July 2017 to sign a full contract with Bury and made eighteen first team appearances in 2017–18. Bury were relegated to League Two in May 2018 but Murphy's contract was extended by one year and he has played in every Bury match of the 2018–19 season to date.

Shrewsbury Town

On 4 July 2019, Murphy signed for

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

on a free transfer, signing a one-year deal, becoming the club's seventh summer signing. At the end of the season, Murphy was not offered a contract extension and was released by the club on 11 June 2020.

Tranmere Rovers

On 22 August 2020, Murphy signed a 1-year deal to rejoin Tranmere Rovers. Having made 21 appearances the previous season, this was extended by a further year on 10 June 2021. On 26 May 2022, Murphy extended his stay for a further 12 months, taking on the additional role of goalkeeping coach while remaining on the playing staff. At the age of 41 years and 187 days, Murphy became the oldest player to represent Tranmere Rovers, keeping a clean sheet against promotion-chasing

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

in a 1-0 away win on 25 February 2023. On 26 June 2023, Murphy signed a 4th consecutive 12 month contract, continuing his role of goalkeeping coach while remaining on the playing staff supporting new #1 Luke McGee as coach and understudy. On 29 August 2023, he started in the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

against Championship leaders

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

, 23 years after playing in goal for Rovers against Leicester in the

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

final.

International career

Murphy is a former member of the Republic of Ireland national under-21 team and has been capped twice at senior level for the Republic. His first senior international appearance came in a 2-2 draw in a friendly at Landsdowne Road on 9 September 2003 against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

having come on as a 76th minute substitute for

Nick Colgan Nicholas Vincent Colgan (born 19 September 1973) is an Irish football coach and former professional footballer who is goalkeeping coach at EFL League Two side Stockport County. As a player, he was a goalkeeper from 1991 to 2013 and first briefl ...

. His second, and final appearance came over 7 years later in 2010 as he appeared as an 86th minute substitute for Kieren Westwood in a 3-0 friendly win over

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

at the Royal Dublin Society Showgrounds on 28 May 2010.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Tranmere Rovers *

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

runner-up: 1999–2000 *

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

runner-up:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Scunthorpe United *

: 2006–07 *

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

runner-up: 2008–09 *

Football League One play-offs The EFL League One play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL League One table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , the play-offs comprise ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Bury *

EFL League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

runner-up: 2018–19 Republic of Ireland U16 *

UEFA European Under-16 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Under-17 Championship, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the European men's under-17 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain national under ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

: 2006–07 League One, 2008–09 League One, 2018–19 League Two * FAI Under-21 Footballer of The Year: 2002 * Football League One Golden Glove: 2006–07

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Joe 1981 births Living people Association footballers from Dublin (city) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Tranmere Rovers F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Bury F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Bury F.C. non-playing staff Shrewsbury Town F.C. players