Steve Murray (born 9 October 1944) is a Scottish former

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

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He spent the majority of his career in the north-east of Scotland, with

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

and

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. Murray also enjoyed success with Glasgow club

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

and represented

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

once. He later managed

Forfar Athletic Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in Scottish League Two. They play their home games a ...

and Montrose.

Playing career

Murray began his career in the early 1960s with

, spending six years at

Dens Park Dens Park, officially known as Kilmac Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland, which is the home of club Dundee F.C. and has a capacity of . Tannadice Park, the home of rivals Dundee United, is just 200 yards ...

and picking up runners-up medals in both domestic cup competitions, making around 200 appearances in total. In 1970, he became

's record signing in a £50,000 deal, missing the

1970 Scottish Cup Final The 1970 Scottish Cup Final was played on 11 April 1970 at Hampden Park in Glasgow and was the final of the 85th Scottish Cup. Aberdeen and Celtic contested the match, Aberdeen won the match 3–1 with a goal from Joe Harper and two from Derek ...

due to being cup-tied but winning a solitary

cap in 1971, coincidentally in a fixture played at

Pittodrie Pittodrie Stadium, commonly referred to as Pittodrie, is an all-seater stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland. Used primarily for football, it has been the home ground of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) club Aberdeen F.C. since they wer ...

. Following

Martin Buchan Martin McLean Buchan (born 6 March 1949) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a centre back. Born in Aberdeen, he played for Aberdeen, Manchester United and Oldham Athletic. He also played in 34 international matches for Sc ...

's departure to

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 ...

, Murray became

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. He moved to Celtic in a £55,000 deal in May 1973 after a contractual disagreement. Murray won all three domestic competitions during his two years at

Celtic Park Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is also ...

, retiring due to a toe injury in early 1976. Murray joined

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

in 1979 as a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

but after having

acupuncture Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine and a component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in which thin needles are inserted into the body. Acupuncture is a pseudoscience; the theories and practices of TCM are not based on scientifi ...

treatment was able to resume his playing career and made three league appearances, also appearing as a substitute in the first game of the Scottish League Cup final that season.

Management

In 1980, Murray began his managerial career with

, but resigned one training session and three days later. He returned to management two years later with Montrose; however he left to pursue a career in banking. Murray then returned to former club Dundee United as assistant manager in July 1989. However he had a fall-out with then manager

Jim McLean James Yuille McLean (2 August 1937 – 26 December 2020) was a Scottish football player, manager and director. He managed Dundee United between 1971 and 1993, becoming the longest-serving and most successful manager in the club's history, winni ...

(a teammate in the 1967 Scottish League Cup Final). Murray left before the end of the year, later winning a "substantial sum" in a court action.

Family

Murray, whose son Chris was a youth player at Dundee United, Celtic and had coaching spells with Dundee and

Brechin City Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club ...

, has now retired from banking and now concentrates on his painting.

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial record

Honours

;Dundee *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1963–64 *

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 ...

Runner-up: 1 :: 1967–68 ;Celtic *

Scottish League Division One The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sout ...

: 1 :: 1973–74 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1973–74, 1974–75 *

: 1 :: 1974–75 ;Dundee United *

: 1 :: 1979–80

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Steve 1944 births Footballers from Dumbarton Living people Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Scottish Football League players Scottish football managers Dundee F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players Forfar Athletic F.C. managers Montrose F.C. managers Dundee United F.C. non-playing staff Men's association football midfielders Scotland men's under-23 international footballers Scottish Football League managers