| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 25 June 2004 | ||
| Place of birth | Galway, Ireland | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) [1] | ||
| Position(s) | Centre back, left-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Newcastle United | ||
| Number | 37 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2019 | Corrib Celtic | ||
| 2019–2021 | Galway United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2021–2022 | Galway United | 30 | (2) |
| 2022– | Newcastle United | 2 | (0) |
| 2025 | → Bolton Wanderers (loan) | 13 | (2) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2021 | Republic of Ireland U18 | 4 | (1) |
| 2021–2023 | Republic of Ireland U19 | 9 | (0) |
| 2024– | Republic of Ireland U21 | 9 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 13:22, 14 May 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 22:32, 9 September 2025 (UTC) | |||
Alex Murphy (born 25 June 2004) is an Irish footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Newcastle United . He is a youth international footballer for the Republic of Ireland. Primarily a centre-back, he can also play as a left-back. [2]
From Annaghdown, his dad was a coach at his local club, Corrib Celtic, where Murphy would play until joining Galway United in 2019, debuting at U15 level. Murphy made his senior debut for Galway United in 2020, against Athlone Town at 16 years-old, as a left back.
Murphy joined Newcastle United from Galway United in July 2022. [3] [4] [5]
During the 2022–23 season, Murphy trained with the Newcastle first-team squad. [6] He featured in first-team friendly matches, playing in a 5–0 win over Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal SFC in Riyadh in December 2022. [7] He also captained the Newcastle under-21 team, and played at both left-back and centre-back. [8]
After impressing during the 2023–24 pre-season, Murphy made his first senior start in a 2–0 victory over ACF Fiorentina, keeping a clean sheet and playing the full 90 minutes. [9] He made his league debut for Newcastle on 25 November 2023, appearing as a second-half substitute in a 4-1 win in the Premier League against Chelsea. [10] In May 2024 Murphy signed a new long term contract with Newcastle. On 20 January 2025, he signed for Bolton Wanderers on loan for the rest of the season. [11]
He was included in Newcastle's pre-season tour of the Far East but on 27 July 2025, in Singapore, he scored a spectacular own goal in a 3-2 defeat against Arsenal. [12] [13]
Murphy played as a youth international footballer for the Republic of Ireland, and has captained age-group teams. [14] [15] On 31 August 2023, Murphy received his first call up to the Republic of Ireland U21 squad for their 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification fixtures against Turkey U21 and San Marino U21 on 8 and 12 September 2023. [16] He made his debut for the U21 side on 7 June 2024, in a 3–2 win away to Croatia U21 in a friendly. [17] [18]
Murphy is said to be comfortable in possession at centre back, with recovery speed. [19] He is able to play as a left back, as well as both right and left centre back. [9]
| Club | Season | League | National cup [a] | League cup [b] | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Galway United | 2021 | LOI First Division | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 1 [c] | 0 | 12 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 20 | 2 | — | — | — | 20 | 2 | |||||
| Total | 30 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 32 | 2 | |||
| Newcastle United U23 | 2022–23 | — | 2 [d] | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||||
| 2024–25 | — | 3 [e] | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||||||
| Total | — | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |||||||
| Newcastle United | 2023–24 | Premier League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2024–25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2025–26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Bolton Wanderers (loan) | 2024–25 | League One | 13 | 2 | — | — | — | 13 | 2 | |||
| Career total | 45 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 53 | 4 | ||
Individual