Paul Murray (born 31 August 1976) is an English
football coach and former professional player who was most recently the youth academy manager at Oldham Athletic before leaving that position in July 2021.
Playing career
Murray was born on 31 August 1976, in
Carlisle,
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...
, England. He started his career at
Carlisle United and made his
Football League debut for them on 27 December 1993, coming on as a substitute against
Darlington.
[Rothmans Football Yearbook 1994–95] In May 1996 he joined
Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...
on loan, making his debut at
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
. After the Hoops'
relegation
In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...
that season, he joined the team permanently for a transfer fee of £300,000. Whilst at QPR he was called up four times for the
England U21
The England national under-21 football team, also known as England under-21s or England U21(s), is considered to be the feeder team for the England national football team.
This team is for England players aged under 21 at the start of the calen ...
squad, and in February 1998 he made his solitary appearance for
England B as a substitute against
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
. He enjoyed a successful time at
Loftus Road
Loftus Road is a football stadium in White City, London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers.
In 1981, it became the first stadium in British professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf installed. This remained in ...
, playing 140 league games before he joined
Premiership club
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
in July 2001, though he played only one game for the south coast side.
In December 2001 Murray joined
Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.
The history of Oldham Athletic be ...
, where he spent three and a half years, before he joined Portuguese club
Beira-Mar. He re-joined Carlisle United in the close-season of 2006 after their promotion to
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 ...
, and scored against
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 ...
in the opening game of the
2006–07 season. This was the first match for new manager
Neil McDonald. He was released by the club in May 2007.
Murray joined newly promoted
Scottish Premier League outfit
Gretna in June 2007 on a one-year contract.
With his contract expired at Gretna, Murray turned down a number of clubs to move south of the border and join
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 ...
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 ...
in May 2008, alongside former teammate
Stephen Hindmarch. After two years at the club he was released on 14 May 2010.
He joined
Hartlepool United
Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system.
They were founded i ...
on trial in the summer of 2010 and signed a short-term deal with the club in August 2010. Murray extended his contract with Hartlepool and won their player of the year trophy in the
2011–12 season.
Murray was released by Hartlepool midway through the 2012–13 season,
and re-signed by Oldham Athletic on a contract until the end of the season, returning to the club after almost nine years.
Management career
Murray completed his
coaching badges alongside former
Manchester United and
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
defender
Phil Neville
Philip John Neville (born 21 January 1977) is an English football manager and former player, who is the head coach of MLS team Inter Miami CF. He is also the co-owner of Salford City, along with several of his former Manchester United teamma ...
.
After a successful spell as a coach at Oldham Athletic, Murray joined
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 ...
club
Hartlepool United
Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system.
They were founded i ...
as manager on 23 October 2014, with
Willie Donachie
William Donachie (born 5 October 1951) is a Scottish former professional association football, footballer. Donachie had a long playing career, the majority of which was with Manchester City F.C., Manchester City. He also played for Norwich City F ...
assisting him. Murray was sacked by Hartlepool following defeat by
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 d ...
club
Blyth Spartans
Blyth Spartans Association Football Club is a football club based in Blyth, Northumberland. They are currently members of and play at Croft Park.
They were founded in September 1899 by Fred Stoker, who was the club's first secretary before fo ...
just six weeks after taking the reins at the League Two club.
In the summer of 2015, Murray was appointed as a coach at
Barrow, but departed the club on 4 September, after seven games of the season.
Murray joined
Fleetwood Town
Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...
as the head coach of their development squad in November 2016. On 13 June 2018, Murray left Fleetwood Town to become first-team coach at
Carlisle United.
Managerial statistics
Honours
Individual
*Hartlepool United Player of the Year: 2012
References
External links
Paul Murray profilea
Vital Hartlepool*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Paul
1976 births
Living people
Footballers from Carlisle, Cumbria
English footballers
English people of Scottish descent
Association football midfielders
England under-21 international footballers
England B international footballers
Premier League players
English Football League players
Scottish Premier League players
Expatriate footballers in Portugal
Primeira Liga players
Carlisle United F.C. players
Queens Park Rangers F.C. players
Southampton F.C. players
Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players
S.C. Beira-Mar players
Gretna F.C. players
Shrewsbury Town F.C. players
Hartlepool United F.C. players
Hartlepool United F.C. managers
English Football League managers
Sheffield Wednesday F.C. non-playing staff
Fleetwood Town F.C. non-playing staff
Carlisle United F.C. non-playing staff
Barrow A.F.C. non-playing staff
Oldham Athletic A.F.C. non-playing staff
English football managers