Alex Murphy (rugby league)
Encyclopedia
Alex J. Murphy OBE
(born St. Helens, Lancashire
, 22 April 1939) is an English former professional rugby league
footballer and coach of the mid to late 20th century. Known as 'Murphy the Mouth' (or "Yapper" by some referees) and regarded as one of the greatest half backs in the history of the British game, he represented Great Britain in 27 Tests and his club career was played at three clubs, St. Helens, Leigh
and Warrington
. Murphy assumed a player-coach
role of the last two clubs and expanded his coaching role toward the end of his playing career to include clubs such as Wigan
, Salford
and Huddersfield
. He later returned to both Warrington and Leigh respectively as a football manager. He was the first player to captain three different clubs to victory in the Challenge Cup
final.
, at ten years old Murphy played in both the junior and senior XIIIs at St Austin's School, and he had town and county schoolboy honours by the time he signed with his native St. Helens for £80 on his 16th birthday in 1955. The signing itself was almost akin to a military operation. St. Helens representatives smuggled Murphy 'under cover' to a nearby house until the clock struck midnight to signal Murphy's 16th birthday, and his eligibility to sign professional terms. He was coached from an early age by Jim Sullivan.
During his national service
Murphy played rugby union
for the Royal Air Force
, frequently playing for an Air Force team the same week as playing rugby league for St. Helens.
at Knowsley Road
.
Murphy's career at St. Helens went on to be long and successful. While still a teenager, he was selected to tour Australasia
with the Great Britain side
in 1958], becoming the youngest touring player at the time, and helping Great Britain to victory in the famous second Test in which they were down to ten men. He scored 21 tries in 20 appearances on that tour.
He won the Championship with St. Helens in 1958-59 season. The following year he played in Great Britain's World Cup
-winning side. With his club he claimed the Challenge Cup
in 1961.
On the 1962 Ashes tour he suffered a shoulder injury which caused him to miss three months of the domestic season and there was some speculation he would never play again. On this tour he scored 9 tries in 11 appearances.
Murphy became the first British rugby league footballer to have two testimonial match
es. They were at St. Helens in 1965, and at Warrington
in 1976.
. As the 1966-67 season began, Murphy declined to play for St. Helens. The Australian club, North Sydney
indicated their interest in signing him. At the end of September, Murphy submitted a written transfer request to the St. Helens board who accepted it, putting him on the list at £12,000.
North Sydney tabled a bid of £8,000 for Murphy which was accepted. However, at the last minute, Murphy agreed to a 5 year deal with Leigh to become the highest paid coach in the Rugby Football League
.
Murphy's first game in charge of his new team was against his former club in a league match at Hilton Park
. Murphy’s Leigh overcame a depleted St. Helens side by 29-5. Murphy later recounted in an issue of the Rugby Leaguer
some 20 years later that:
"It never entered my mind to leave Saints in the first place. But events took over and there was a lot of pride involved on both sides and the situation reached the stage where a parting of the ways became inevitable."
In 1971, Leigh reached the Rugby League Challenge Cup
Final at Wembley Stadium and Murphy won the Lance Todd Trophy
for being voted the man-of-the-match
as Leigh defeated Leeds, 24-7. This was a match where Murphy's ability to attract controversy was once again exemplified. He was involved in an altercation with Leeds' Syd Hynes
which resulted in Hynes being sent off for headbutting Murphy. Murphy was carried off the pitch on a stretcher, but later returned to the bench and was able to lift the trophy at the end of the game. The story has over the years developed somewhat into an urban myth with tales of Murphy winking to his team mates as he was carried from the field, and of returning to the field of play moments later having made a miraculous recovery.
. In 1973 a 20-match unbeaten run in the league helped Warrington win the League Leader's Trophy. The 1973–74 season was the most successful at Warrington, with the club winning the Challenge Cup
, Captain Morgan trophy, John Player trophy and Club Merit trophy. The highlight was when Murphy captained them to a 24-9 win in the Challenge Cup Final against Featherstone Rovers
at Wembley. Warrington returned to Wembley in 1975 but Murphy missed the match through injury and Widnes won the Challenge Cup. Murphy retired as a player shortly after but remained on as coach of the club until 1978.
with Bill Oxley during the 1975 World Series
.
After Warrington, Murphy was appointed to high profile roles at Salford
(May 1978 to November 1980), Wigan, Leigh and St. Helens (November 1985 to January 1990).
In 1988 Murphy was an inaugural inductee into the Rugby League Hall of Fame
.
In 1991, he joined Huddersfield: within a year, promotion to the Second Division had been achieved.
After a six-year absence from rugby league, Murphy returned to the game in 2003 as football director of Leigh after the National League One club sacked coach Paul Terzis
.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born St. Helens, Lancashire
St Helens, Merseyside
St Helens is a large town in Merseyside, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens with a population of just over 100,000, part of an urban area with a total population of 176,843 at the time of the 2001 Census...
, 22 April 1939) is an English former professional rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
footballer and coach of the mid to late 20th century. Known as 'Murphy the Mouth' (or "Yapper" by some referees) and regarded as one of the greatest half backs in the history of the British game, he represented Great Britain in 27 Tests and his club career was played at three clubs, St. Helens, Leigh
Leigh Centurions
Leigh Centurions is an English professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester who play in the Co-operative Championship.The club was founded in 1878 as Leigh Rugby Football Club and is one of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in...
and Warrington
Warrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league football club based in Warrington, England that competes in Super League. They play at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2003....
. Murphy assumed a player-coach
Player-coach
A player-coach, in sports, is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. The term can be used to refer to both players who serve as head coaches, or as assistant coaches....
role of the last two clubs and expanded his coaching role toward the end of his playing career to include clubs such as Wigan
Wigan Warriors
Wigan Warriors is an English rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club's first team squad competes in the engage Super League and the team are the current Challenge Cup holders as of the 27th August 2011....
, Salford
Salford City Reds
Salford City Reds are an English rugby league club based in Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1873, they currently play in the Super League. They have won six Rugby Football League Championships and one Challenge Cup...
and Huddersfield
Huddersfield Giants
Huddersfield Giants are a professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire who play in the European Super League competition. They play their home games at the Galpharm Stadium which is shared with Huddersfield Town F.C....
. He later returned to both Warrington and Leigh respectively as a football manager. He was the first player to captain three different clubs to victory in the Challenge Cup
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
final.
Playing career
Brought up in Thatto HeathThatto Heath
Thatto Heath is an area of St Helens, in Merseyside, England. Historically a part of Lancashire, it lies approximately north-northwest of Widnes and about east of Liverpool city centre...
, at ten years old Murphy played in both the junior and senior XIIIs at St Austin's School, and he had town and county schoolboy honours by the time he signed with his native St. Helens for £80 on his 16th birthday in 1955. The signing itself was almost akin to a military operation. St. Helens representatives smuggled Murphy 'under cover' to a nearby house until the clock struck midnight to signal Murphy's 16th birthday, and his eligibility to sign professional terms. He was coached from an early age by Jim Sullivan.
During his national service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
Murphy played rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
for the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
, frequently playing for an Air Force team the same week as playing rugby league for St. Helens.
St. Helens
Murphy began his career at St. Helens playing reserve team rugby (known then as the ‘A’ team). After several "A" team games, Murphy demanded a place in the first team. This demand was refused and so he promptly demanded a transfer. The dispute was settled and Murphy’s first team début was against WhitehavenWhitehaven RLFC
Whitehaven RLFC is a rugby league club playing in Whitehaven in West Cumbria. They play in Co-operative Championship. Their stadium is called the Recreation Ground...
at Knowsley Road
Knowsley Road
Knowsley Road was a stadium located in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. It was the home of St Helens RLFC from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For a period, the venue also hosted Liverpool FC Reserves...
.
Murphy's career at St. Helens went on to be long and successful. While still a teenager, he was selected to tour Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
with the Great Britain side
Great Britain national rugby league team
The Great Britain national rugby league team represents the United Kingdom in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League , the team is nicknamed "The Lions" or "Great Britain Lions"....
in 1958], becoming the youngest touring player at the time, and helping Great Britain to victory in the famous second Test in which they were down to ten men. He scored 21 tries in 20 appearances on that tour.
He won the Championship with St. Helens in 1958-59 season. The following year he played in Great Britain's World Cup
Rugby League World Cup
The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league competition contested by members of the Rugby League International Federation . It has been held nearly once every 4 years on average since its inaugural tournament in France in 1954...
-winning side. With his club he claimed the Challenge Cup
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
in 1961.
On the 1962 Ashes tour he suffered a shoulder injury which caused him to miss three months of the domestic season and there was some speculation he would never play again. On this tour he scored 9 tries in 11 appearances.
Murphy became the first British rugby league footballer to have two testimonial match
Testimonial match
A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, notably football and especially in the United Kingdom, where a club puts on a match in honour of a player for service to the club....
es. They were at St. Helens in 1965, and at Warrington
Warrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league football club based in Warrington, England that competes in Super League. They play at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2003....
in 1976.
Leigh
Murphy left St. Helens to become player-coach at Leigh, when he became unhappy at being moved to the centres to accommodate the signing of Tommy BishopTommy Bishop
Tommy Bishop is an English former rugby league footballer and coach of the 1960s and 70s. He played for St. Helens in the English Rugby Football League Championship and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the New South Wales Rugby League competition in Australia...
. As the 1966-67 season began, Murphy declined to play for St. Helens. The Australian club, North Sydney
North Sydney Bears
The North Sydney Bears are an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. They currently compete in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 92 years of top-grade competition. The Bears are based on...
indicated their interest in signing him. At the end of September, Murphy submitted a written transfer request to the St. Helens board who accepted it, putting him on the list at £12,000.
North Sydney tabled a bid of £8,000 for Murphy which was accepted. However, at the last minute, Murphy agreed to a 5 year deal with Leigh to become the highest paid coach in the Rugby Football League
Rugby Football League
The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league football in England. Based at Red Hall in Leeds, it administers the England national rugby league team, the Challenge Cup, Super League and the Rugby League Championships...
.
Murphy's first game in charge of his new team was against his former club in a league match at Hilton Park
Hilton Park (stadium)
Hilton Park was a multi-purpose stadium in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. It was the home of Leigh Centurions rugby league club and Leigh Genesis F.C. association football club...
. Murphy’s Leigh overcame a depleted St. Helens side by 29-5. Murphy later recounted in an issue of the Rugby Leaguer
Rugby Leaguer & League Express
Rugby Leaguer & League Express is a weekly newspaper published every Monday in the United Kingdom. Other rugby league titles published by League Publications Ltd include the monthly magazine 'Rugby League World' and the annual 'Gillette Rugby League Yearbook'.It features match reports and pictures...
some 20 years later that:
"It never entered my mind to leave Saints in the first place. But events took over and there was a lot of pride involved on both sides and the situation reached the stage where a parting of the ways became inevitable."
In 1971, Leigh reached the Rugby League Challenge Cup
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
Final at Wembley Stadium and Murphy won the Lance Todd Trophy
Lance Todd Trophy
The Lance Todd Trophy is awarded to the Man-of-the-Match in rugby league football's Challenge Cup Final.The trophy was introduced in 1946, in memory of Lance Todd, the New Zealand-born player and administrator, who was killed in a road accident during the Second World War...
for being voted the man-of-the-match
Man of the match
In sport, a Man of the Match or Player of the Game or Man of the Series award is given to the outstanding player, almost always the one who makes the most impact, in a particular match or series. The term was originally used more often in cricket before being adopted by other sports. This can be a...
as Leigh defeated Leeds, 24-7. This was a match where Murphy's ability to attract controversy was once again exemplified. He was involved in an altercation with Leeds' Syd Hynes
Syd Hynes
Sydney "Syd" Hynes is an English former professional rugby league footballer of the 1960s and '70s, and coach of the 1970s and '80s who at representative level has played for Great Britain, and England, and at club level for Leeds, playing at , i.e...
which resulted in Hynes being sent off for headbutting Murphy. Murphy was carried off the pitch on a stretcher, but later returned to the bench and was able to lift the trophy at the end of the game. The story has over the years developed somewhat into an urban myth with tales of Murphy winking to his team mates as he was carried from the field, and of returning to the field of play moments later having made a miraculous recovery.
Warrington
Murphy left Leigh shortly afterwards to become player-coach at WarringtonWarrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league football club based in Warrington, England that competes in Super League. They play at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2003....
. In 1973 a 20-match unbeaten run in the league helped Warrington win the League Leader's Trophy. The 1973–74 season was the most successful at Warrington, with the club winning the Challenge Cup
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
, Captain Morgan trophy, John Player trophy and Club Merit trophy. The highlight was when Murphy captained them to a 24-9 win in the Challenge Cup Final against Featherstone Rovers
Featherstone Rovers
Featherstone Rovers are a semi-professional rugby league club, based in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. They currently play in the Championship. The Rovers are one of the last vestiges of "small town teams" that were once common in rugby league during the early twentieth century...
at Wembley. Warrington returned to Wembley in 1975 but Murphy missed the match through injury and Widnes won the Challenge Cup. Murphy retired as a player shortly after but remained on as coach of the club until 1978.
Coaching career
Upon retirement, Murphy built upon the experience he had acquired as a player-coach by taking up the reins as a full time coach. He was co-coach of EnglandEngland national rugby league team
The England national rugby league team represent England in international rugby league football tournaments. The team has now seen a revival, having largely formed from the Great Britain team, who also represented Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The team is run under the auspices of the Rugby Football...
with Bill Oxley during the 1975 World Series
1975 Rugby League World Cup
The 1975 Rugby League World Cup was the seventh staging of rugby league football's World Cup tournament...
.
After Warrington, Murphy was appointed to high profile roles at Salford
Salford City Reds
Salford City Reds are an English rugby league club based in Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1873, they currently play in the Super League. They have won six Rugby Football League Championships and one Challenge Cup...
(May 1978 to November 1980), Wigan, Leigh and St. Helens (November 1985 to January 1990).
In 1988 Murphy was an inaugural inductee into the Rugby League Hall of Fame
Rugby League Hall of Fame
The Rugby League Hall of Fame is an International Hall of Fame that was combined and continually has additions from the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame, British Rugby League Hall of Fame, Fédération Française de Rugby à XIII and the...
.
In 1991, he joined Huddersfield: within a year, promotion to the Second Division had been achieved.
After a six-year absence from rugby league, Murphy returned to the game in 2003 as football director of Leigh after the National League One club sacked coach Paul Terzis
Paul Terzis
Australian Paul Terzis was coach of Leigh Centurions from 1999-2003. His reign was notable for a number of 'near misses' as Leigh attempted to win promotion to Super League. He was succeeded by Darren Abram. He currently writes for Rugby League World magazine as the 'Supercoach'.-References:...
.
Post-retirement
- In 1998 Murphy was awarded the OBE for services to the game of rugby league
- In 2000 his autobiography, Saint and Sinner was published.
- Murphy was also employed as a commentator by BBC television for a spell, and was employed to write opinion columns for newspapers such as the Daily Mirror and the Manchester Evening NewsManchester Evening NewsThe Manchester Evening News is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in the United Kingdom. It is published every day except Sunday and is owned by Trinity Mirror plc following its sale by Guardian Media Group in early 2010. It has an average daily circulation of 90,973 copies...
. One was known as ‘Murphy’s Mouth.’
- In 2006 he became Chairman of Oxford CavaliersOxford Cavaliers (Rugby)The Oxford Cavaliers are a rugby league team based in Oxford. They play in the RLC West of England.In their brief history Oxford Cavaliers have managed to supply players to professional clubs, such as Mike Castle and Corey Simms to the London Skolars, Darrell Griffin to Wakefield Trinity Wildcats,...
Rugby League Club.
External links
- Alex Murphy at rugbyleaguehistory.com
- Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org
- International Statistics at englandrl.co.uk
- Alex Murphy at eraofthebiff.com
- http://www.rlhalloffame.org.uk/murphy.htm
- http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9910-1134312_2,00.html
- http://www.saintsrlfc.com/
- http://www.oxfordcavaliersrlfc.com