Jamie Murphy (footballer, born 1989)

For other people with the same name, see Jamie Murphy.

Jamie Murphy

Murphy representing Scotland U21 in 2009
Personal information
Full name	James Murphy [1]
Date of birth	(1989-08-28) 28 August 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth	Glasgow, Scotland
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Position(s)	Winger
Team information
Current team	Ayr United
Number	15
Youth career
0000–2002	Clyde
2002–2006	Motherwell
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2006–2013	Motherwell	176	(34)
2013–2015	Sheffield United	95	(17)
2015–2018	Brighton & Hove Albion	76	(8)
2018	→ Rangers (loan)	16	(4)
2018–2021	Rangers	4	(0)
2020	→ Burton Albion (loan)	10	(7)
2020–2021	→ Hibernian (loan)	19	(1)
2021–2022	Hibernian	18	(2)
2022	→ Mansfield Town (loan)	14	(1)
2022–2023	St. Johnstone	24	(3)
2023–	Ayr United	40	(7)
International career‡
2007	Scotland U19	4	(0)
2008–2010	Scotland U21	13	(4)
2018	Scotland	2	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 27 October 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 29 May 2018

James Murphy (born 28 August 1989) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Scottish Championship club Ayr United.

Born in Glasgow, Murphy has previously played for Scottish clubs Motherwell, Rangers, Hibernian and St Johnstone, and English clubs Sheffield United, Brighton & Hove Albion, Burton Albion and Mansfield Town. He played for the Scotland U19 and Scotland U21 representative teams, and made his full international debut for Scotland in March 2018.

Club career

Motherwell

Murphy played as a junior for Westwood Rovers, Drumchapel Thistle and Clyde before joining Motherwell's under-13 team. ^[2] After progressing through the ranks at Motherwell, Murphy made his first-team début during the 2006–07 season, and scored his first Motherwell goal from the penalty spot in a 2–0 away win over Hibernian in May 2008. ^[3]

With Motherwell having qualified for European competition, in July 2008 Murphy scored a hat-trick against Albanian side Flamurtari in the UEFA Europa League. ^[4] After remaining a regular in Motherwell's first team, Murphy agreed an extended contract in May 2010 tying him to the club until the summer of 2013. ^[5] After scoring in the first leg of Motherwell's 2010–11 Europa League third-round match against Aalesunds FK on 29 July 2010, he became Motherwell's leading goalscorer in European football, breaking the record previously held by Steve Kirk. ^[6]

In January 2012, Motherwell accepted an offer from Sheffield Wednesday to sign Murphy, but he rejected the proposed transfer. ^[7] In late December 2012, Sheffield United showed an interest in signing him, and Murphy was subsequently subject to a £100,000 bid from the Blades. ^{[8] [9]} However, by 27 December it was reported that the Blades bid had been rejected by Motherwell with Murphy dismissing transfer speculation. ^[10] Despite this, a few days later Motherwell boss Stuart McCall confirmed that Murphy has been talking to Sheffield United with a view to a transfer, ^[11] and that Motherwell had accepted a bid of £106,000 which could rise to £250,000 based upon promotion to the Championship and then to the Premier League. ^[12] Murphy played his last game for Motherwell on 2 January 2013, having been made captain for the occasion, in a 1–0 loss to Celtic at Celtic Park. ^[13] He departed from Fir Park having scored 50 goals in 215 appearances for Motherwell. Shortly after his departure Murphy was awarded the Clydesdale Bank Premier League Player of the Month award for December. ^[14]

Sheffield United

Murphy playing for Sheffield United.

Despite interest from Huddersfield Town and Rangers, Murphy's move to Sheffield United was finalised on 3 January 2013, when he signed a three-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee. ^[15] Murphy made his Blades debut two days later, in a 3–0 third round FA Cup victory against Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium, ^[16] Before making his league debut for United against Yeovil Town at Bramall Lane a week later, ^[17] and Murphy's first goal for the Blades came in a 2–0 away victory against Bury the following February. ^[18] Murphy's first few months with United were hampered by a hamstring injury, ^[19] and finished the season having played 21 games and scoring two goals. ^[20]

Despite making 21 appearances for the Blades between January and May 2013 Murphy hadn't yet reached the heights he was capable of. He pledged to fulfill his potential the following season. ^[21] Despite these claims, Murphy played regularly for David Weir but still didn't perform to his potential. He initially fared no better when Weir was quickly replaced by Nigel Clough, remaining a peripheral figure. It was not until January 2014 that Murphy's form improved and he began to consolidate a first team place, citing his improved fitness as the key to his change in fortunes. ^[22] On 31 January 2015, Murphy signed a new contract with United keeping him at Bramall Lane until summer 2017. ^[23] Later that day, Murphy came off the bench in the second half and scored a brace against promotion rivals Swindon Town to give United a 2–0 home victory. ^[24]

Brighton & Hove Albion

In August 2015, Murphy signed a four-year contract with Brighton & Hove Albion for an undisclosed fee reported to be £1.8m rising to £2m based upon Brighton's promotion to the Premier League, which they did in 2016-1017. ^[25] He made his Brighton debut on 18 August, in a 1–1 draw with Huddersfield Town. ^[26] Murphy scored his first goal for Brighton on 26 September, in a 2–2 draw with Bolton Wanderers that also saw him receive a red card in the second half of the game. ^[27] Murphy made 35 appearances for Brighton in the 2015–16 season, scoring six goals, as the Seagulls narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premier League by finishing in 3rd place on goal difference. ^[28]

On 9 August 2016, Murphy scored a brace in a 4–0 win against Colchester United in the first round of the EFL Cup. ^[29] Throughout the 2016–17 season, Murphy scored two goals in 37 league appearances as Brighton gained promotion to the Premier League. ^[28]

Murphy had limited playing time with Brighton in the Premier League, making four league appearances for the club in the first half of the 2017–18 season, all as a substitute. ^[30]

Rangers

On 6 January 2018, Brighton announced that Murphy had joined Scottish Premiership club Rangers on loan until the end of the 2017–18 season. The clubs also agreed a fee for Murphy to move permanently in the summer. ^[31] Murphy made his competitive debut for Rangers on 24 January 2018 in a 2–0 win against Aberdeen. ^[32] He was one of four players to make their first appearance for Rangers in that game. ^[32] Murphy scored his first goal for Rangers in a 6–1 win at Ayr United in the 2017–18 Scottish Cup.

In May 2018, Murphy was signed permanently by Rangers, agreeing a three-year deal. ^[33] He suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in August 2018 whilst playing an away fixture on the artificial turf at Kilmarnock, which ruled him for most of the 2018–19 season. ^[34]

Murphy agreed a six-month loan deal with League One club Burton Albion on 20 January 2020. ^[35]

Hibernian

On 29 August 2020, Murphy signed for fellow Scottish side Hibernian on an initial one-year loan, with an obligation of a further year on a permanent basis. ^{[36] [37]}

On 29 July 2021, Murphy scored his first goal for Hibernian in Europe against FC Santa Coloma in a 2–1 away win in the UEFA Conference League qualifiers. ^[38]

On 31 January 2022, Murphy joined Mansfield Town, on loan for the remainder of the season. ^[39] Murphy was released by Hibs in June 2022, at the end of his contract. ^[40]

St Johnstone

Murphy signed a one-year contract with St Johnstone in July 2022. ^[41]

Ayr United

In June 2023, Murphy signed a two-year deal with Championship club Ayr United. ^[42]

International career

Murphy was a regular for both the Scotland under-19 team and the Scotland under-21 team. He scored four goals for the under-21 side as the team reached the play-offs of the European under-21 Championships. ^{[43] [44]}

Murphy received his first call-up to the Scotland squad on 10 March 2016, for their friendlies against Czech Republic and Denmark on 24 and 29 March. He was left unused. ^[45] Murphy made his full international debut in a 1–0 home friendly defeat to Costa Rica on 23 March 2018, coming on as an 87th-minute substitute for Matt Ritchie. ^[46] Murphy's second Scottish cap came in a friendly where Scotland lost 2–0 away to Peru where Murphy started the game. However, he was subbed off in the 63rd minute, replaced by Oli McBurnie. ^[47]

Career statistics

Club

As of 5 July 2022 ^{[28] [48]}

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	Division	League		National cup		League cup		Other		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Motherwell	2006–07	Scottish Premier League	2	0	0	0	0	0	—		2	0
	2007–08	Scottish Premier League	16	1	1	0	0	0	—		17	1
	2008–09	Scottish Premier League	30	2	1	0	1	1	2 [a]	0	34	3
	2009–10	Scottish Premier League	35	6	1	0	2	0	6 [b]	4	44	10
	2010–11	Scottish Premier League	35	6	6	3	2	0	6 [b]	3	49	12
	2011–12	Scottish Premier League	36	9	3	4	1	0	—		40	13
	2012–13	Scottish Premier League	22	10	2	1	1	0	4 [c]	0	29	11
	Total		176	34	14	8	7	1	18	7	215	50
Sheffield United	2012–13	EFL League One	17	2	2	0	0	0	2 [d]	0	21	2
	2013–14	EFL League One	34	4	7	3	0	0	1 [e]	0	42	7
	2014–15	EFL League One	43	11	6	1	6	0	3 [f]	0	58	12
	2015–16	EFL League One	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Total		95	17	15	4	6	0	6	0	122	21
Brighton & Hove Albion	2015–16	EFL Championship	37	6	0	0	1	0	—		38	6
	2016–17	EFL Championship	35	2	2	0	3	2	—		40	4
	2017–18	Premier League	4	0	0	0	1	0	—		5	0
	Total		76	8	2	0	5	2	0	0	83	10
Brighton & Hove Albion U21s	2017–18	—			—		—		1 [e]	1	1	1
Rangers (loan)	2017–18	Scottish Premiership	16	4	3	1	0	0	0	0	19	5
Rangers	2018–19	Scottish Premiership	2	0	0	0	1	0	5 [b]	1	8	1
	2019–20	Scottish Premiership	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	2020–21	Scottish Premiership	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		20	4	3	1	1	0	5	1	29	6
Burton Albion (loan)	2019–20	League One	10	7	—		—		—		10	7
Hibernian (loan)	2020–21	Scottish Premiership	19	1	3 [g]	0	4	1	—		26	2
Hibernian	2021–22	Scottish Premiership	18	2	1	0	2	0	3 [h]	1	24	3
Mansfield Town (loan)	2021–22	EFL League Two	14	1	—		—		2 [i]	0	16	1
Career total			428	74	38	13	25	4	35	10	526	101

1. Appearance(s) in UEFA Cup
2. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
3. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League; two appearances in UEFA Europa League
4. Appearance(s) in League One play-offs
5. Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
6. Two appearances in League One play-offs; one appearance in Football League Trophy
7. One appearance in the previous season's Scottish Cup which was rescheduled to October due to COVID-19
8. Appearance(s) in UEFA Conference League
9. Appearance(s) in League Two play-offs

International

As of 29 May 2018 ^[49]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Scotland	2018	2	0
Total		2	0

Honours

Motherwell

• Scottish Cup runner-up: 2010–11 ^[50]

Brighton & Hove Albion

• EFL Championship runner-up: 2016–17 ^[51]

References

1. "Professional retain list & free transfers 2012/13" (PDF). The Football League. 18 May 2013. p. 44. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
2. "Jamie Murphy". Youth Football Scotland. Archived from the original on 18 March 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
3. "Hibernian 0–2 Motherwell". BBC Sport. 22 May 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2008.
4. "Motherwell 8–1 Flamurtari (8–2)". BBC Sport. 23 July 2009. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
5. "Striker Jamie Murphy agrees new Motherwell deal". BBC Sport. 19 May 2010. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
6. "Aalesunds 1–1 Motherwell". BBC Sport. 29 July 2010.
7. "Motherwell's Jamie Murphy turns down Blackpool move". BBC Sport. 31 January 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
8. "Blades offer £100k deal for Jamie Murphy". Sheffield Star. 26 December 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
9. "Motherwell star Jamie Murphy a January target for Sheffield United". Daily Record. 17 December 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
10. "Motherwell forward Jamie Murphy unmoved by talk of transfer". BBC Sport. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
11. "Motherwell's Jamie Murphy holds Sheffield United talks". BBC Sport. 31 December 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
12. "Jamie Murphy set for Motherwell exit as club accept bid from Sheffield United". Daily Record. 31 December 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
13. "Sheffield United-bound Jamie Murphy says Motherwell goodbyes". BBC Sport. 2 January 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
14. "Ex-Motherwell forward Jamie Murphy wins SPL monthly award". BBC Sport. 10 January 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
15. "New boy gets dressing room treatment at Lane". Sheffield Star. 5 January 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
16. "Oxford Utd V Sheff Utd". BBC Sport. 5 January 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
17. "Sheff Utd V Yeovil". BBC Sport. 12 January 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
18. "Bury V Blades". BBC Sport. 12 February 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
19. "SUFC Wilson – No chances taken with Murphy injury". Vital Football. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
20. "Games played by Jamie Murphy in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
21. "Star's new-season pledge". Sheffield Star. 9 July 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
22. "Murphy reveals his fitness secret". Th Sheffield Star. 10 December 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
23. "Sheffield Utd: Jamie Murphy and Terry Kennedy sign new deals". BBC Sport. 31 January 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
24. "Sheffield United 2 Swindon 0: Murphy at the double for Blades". Yorkshire Post. 31 January 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
25. "Jamie Murphy: Brighton sign Sheffield United forward". bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 14 August 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
26. "Huddersfield Town 1–1 Brighton & Hove Albion". BBC Sport. 18 August 2015.
27. "Bolton Wanderers 2–2 Brighton". BBC Sport. 26 September 2015.
28. "Jamie Murphy". Soccerbase. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
29. "Brighton & Hove Albion 4–0 Colchester United". BBC Sport. 9 August 2016.
30. "Murphy joins Rangers". Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club. 6 January 2018.
31. Naylor, Andy (7 January 2018). "Albion expected to up interest in striker Ekambi". The Argus.
32. "Rangers 2–0 Aberdeen: Alfredo Morelos worth a 'barrowload of cash' – Murty". BBC Sport. 24 January 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
33. "Jamie Murphy: Rangers sign winger from Brighton". BBC Sport. 18 May 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
34. "Jamie Murphy: Rangers forward ruled out for rest of season". BBC Sport. 22 August 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
35. "Brewers sign Rangers winger Jamie Murphy on loan". Burton Albion. 20 January 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
36. Jamie Murphy Is A Hibee Archived 30 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine , Hibernian FC, 29 August 2020
37. "Jamie Murphy: Hibernian sign winger from Rangers". BBC Sport. BBC. 29 August 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
38. Reed, Matthew (29 July 2021). "FC Santa Coloma 1–2 Hibernian". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
39. "Jamie Murphy joins Mansfield Town on loan". hibernianfc.co.uk. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
40. "Hibernian: Scott Allan, Alex Gogic, Drey Wright and Jamie Murphy among six exits". BBC Sport. 2 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
41. "Jamie Murphy: Ex-Rangers, Motherwell & Hibernian winger signs one-year deal with St Johnstone". BBC Sport. 5 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
42. "Ex-Saint Murphy joins Ayr". BBC Sport. 20 June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
43. "Jamie Murphy – U19 Squad". Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
44. "Jamie Murphy – U21 Squad". Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
45. "Scotland squads for March double-header confirmed". scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. 10 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
46. "Scotland 0–1 Costa Rica – BBC Sport". BBC Sport. 23 March 2018.
47. "Peru 2–0 Scotland – BBC Sport". BBC Sport. 29 May 2018.
48. J. Murphy, Soccerway
49. "Scottish Football Association". www.scottishfa.co.uk.
50. "BBC Sport - Football - Motherwell 0-3 Celtic". BBC Sport. 21 May 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
51. Anderson, John, ed. (2017). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2017–2018. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 82–83. ISBN   978-1-4722-3397-4.

External links

• Jamie Murphy at Soccerbase
• Official profile at Sheffield United at the Wayback Machine (archived 4 February 2013)
• Jamie Murphy at the Scottish Football Association