Peter Michael Murphy (born 27 October 1980) is an Irish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and coach, who is the manager of

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foot ...

club Queen of the South. Murphy played as a defender, but also operated through

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

. He currently holds the club record at

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

for the most appearances for the club as an outfield player with over 400, before being released after 12 years of service in 2013. He later played for Scottish clubs Ayr United and Annan Athletic, and then became Annan's manager. After seven seasons in that position he was appointed manager of Queen of the South in May 2024.

Playing career

Club

Murphy played his youth football at St Josephs Boys AFC football club in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. He then went on to play for

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

, Halifax Town (on loan, scoring his first career goal in a match against

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team competes in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system. Formed in ...

) and

. While at

Brunton Park Brunton Park is a football stadium and the home of Carlisle United. It is situated in the city of Carlisle and has a certified capacity of 17,949. The ground opened in 1909. Brunton Park's grandstand burned down in 1953 and the stadium floode ...

Murphy started 400+ games and scored the winning goal in the Conference National Playoff Final 2005, which ensured ''The Cumbrians'' return to

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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

. On their return, Murphy also played a major part in the team that won the League Two title in 2006 and that narrowly missed out on the League One play-offs in 2007. Murphy was out of contract at the end of the 2006–07 season initially rejecting an offer of a new contract. In July 2007, Murphy accepted a new contract from Carlisle United, signing a two-year contract. On 3 April 2011, Murphy scored the winning goal in the final of the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

against

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

. Two days before the match, Murphy's partner Lisa gave birth to a baby son. Murphy has become a Carlisle favourite because of his upbeat personality, and his record for most games of any outfield player in the club's history. On 7 October there was a testimonial match to mark his 10+ years of service with the Cumbrian club, in which a host of ex-Carlisle superstars took to the field on Brunton Park, with

Grant Holt Grant Holt (born 12 April 1981) is an English professional Association footballer, footballer who plays for Dereham Town F.C., Dereham Town. During his football career, Holt played as a Forward (association football), forward for a number of non ...

Danny Graham Daniel Graham (born 1978) is an American football player. Daniel Graham may also refer to: * Bob Graham (born 1936), Daniel Robert Graham, American politician * Daniel O. Graham (1926–1995), American general and political activist * Danny Graha ...

, Keiren Westwood and

Ian Harte Ian Patrick Harte (born 31 August 1977) is an Irish football agent and former professional footballer who played as a left back. He was best known for his ability to score goals from long range, including being a free kick specialist. He be ...

all making the trip to Cumbria for this special occasion to celebrate his loyalty and service to Carlisle United. At the end of the 2012–13 season, Murphy was released by Carlisle. Five Months after his release from Carlisle United, Murphy joined Carlisle based non-league side Celtic Nation. On 24 July 2014, Murphy signed for

club Ayr United. He scored his first goal for the club in a 3–2 defeat to Airdrieonians. Murphy spent three seasons with the Honest Men, before being released on 10 May 2017 after the club's relegation from the

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

International

Murphy is a former Ireland under-19 and under-21 international, playing in the UEFA Under-19 Championships in 1999. In May 2007, Murphy received his first call up to the senior

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

squad for the two-game American tour against

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

and

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

. Murphy's international début came against Bolivia when he started the match before being

substituted Substitution may refer to: Arts and media *Substitution (poetry), a variation in poetic scansion *Substitution (theatre), an acting methodology Music *Chord substitution, swapping one chord for a related one within a chord progression *Tritone ...

at half time. This appearance meant he became first Carlisle United player to win full international honours while with the

club since Eric Welsh, who won four caps for

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

in the 1960s.

Managerial career

Murphy's first managerial appointment came with

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foo ...

club Annan Athletic, where he was appointed player/manager on 2 June 2017. PeterMurphyAAFCMOTM

Peter Murphy won the Ladbrokes Manager of the Month in August 2018 and won it again alongside Chris Johnston who won Player of the Month in February 2019. He won promotion to League 1 with Annan in May 2023 beating Clyde 5–2 on aggregate. On 9 May 2024, Annan Athletic announced that Murphy had left the club to join fellow

side, and local rivals, Queen of the South.

Career statistics

Managerial record

Honours

Player

Carlisle United *

Football League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English Football League (EFL ...

: 2005–06 *

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

; runner-up: 2002–03, 2005–06, 2009–10

Manager

Annan Athletic * Scottish League One play-offs:

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

References

External links

*
Official Carlisle United profile
* https://web.archive.org/web/20120405211030/http://www.petermurphytestimonialyear.co.uk/
Ireland stats
at 11v11 {{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Peter 1980 births Living people Association footballers from Dublin (city) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football defenders Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Celtic Nation F.C. players Ayr United F.C. players Annan Athletic F.C. players Annan Athletic F.C. managers Queen of the South F.C. managers English Football League players National League (English football) players Scottish Professional Football League players Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Scottish Professional Football League managers Republic of Ireland association football managers 21st-century Irish sportsmen