Peter Murphy (footballer born 1922)
Encyclopedia
Peter Murphy often referred to as "Spud" Murphy, was an English footballer who played as an inside left. He played professionally for three clubs, Coventry City
, Tottenham Hotspur
and Birmingham City
. He is possibly best remembered for the incident in the 1956 FA Cup Final
when Manchester City
's goalkeeper Bert Trautmann
broke a bone in his neck when diving at Murphy's feet.
, County Durham
, but when he was four years old moved to Coventry
with his family. He was with both Coventry City and Birmingham
as an amateur footballer before his career was interrupted by the Second World War. He turned professional with Coventry City
in May 1946 at the age of 24, making over 100 appearances and scoring at a rate of a goal every three games.
Manager Arthur Rowe
took him to Tottenham Hotspur
in June 1950 for a fee of £18,500. He played as an inside-forward, deputising for the injured Les Bennett, in the "push and run
" side that won the League championship
in 1950–51. On Bennett's return to fitness, Murphy found himself being played out of position on the left wing, so when Birmingham City
bid £20,000 for him in January 1952 he was willing enough to drop down a division to return to the Midlands
.
When Tommy Briggs
left Birmingham later that year, Murphy took up a more attacking role in the team. He was an energetic player with a powerful left-foot shot who was willing to shoot from any distance, and was Birmingham's leading scorer three times, in the 1952–53, 1954–55 and 1957–58 seasons. He retired from playing in 1959 to coach Birmingham's youth team, but was called out of retirement for the last seven games of the season and scored four goals which contributed to the club avoiding relegation to the Second Division
.
Murphy scored five goals in Birmingham's run to the 1956 FA Cup Final
, in which they lost 3–1 to the Don Revie
-inspired Manchester City
. This match is possibly best remembered for the incident where Manchester City goalkeeper Bert Trautmann
was injured when he dived at Murphy's feet to collect the ball, but played on in considerable pain for the last 15 minutes of the match without realising he had broken one of the vertebrae in his neck. The following season Murphy scored another four goals in Birmingham's FA Cup run, which ended this time in semifinal defeat to Manchester United
's Busby Babes
.
He was also a pioneer of European competition. He played in Birmingham's first match in the 1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, when they became the first English club side to participate in Europe,
and finished that campaign as the competition's joint leading scorer.
He also played in the second leg of the final of the 1958–60 Fairs Cup, which was the first appearance by an English club side in a European final. Birmingham lost 4–1 to Barcelona
.
Over his professional career he scored 158 goals in nearly 400 League appearances. For Birmingham his record was 127 goals in 278 games in all competitions, which ranks him third, behind Joe Bradford
and Trevor Francis
, in their all-time scoring charts.
Murphy died in 1975 at the age of 53.
Coventry City F.C.
Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...
, Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
and Birmingham City
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
. He is possibly best remembered for the incident in the 1956 FA Cup Final
1956 FA Cup Final
The 1956 FA Cup Final was the final match of the 1955–56 staging of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, better known as the FA Cup. The showpiece event was contested between Manchester City and Birmingham City at Wembley Stadium in London on Saturday...
when Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
's goalkeeper Bert Trautmann
Bert Trautmann
Bernhard Carl "Bert" Trautmann, OBE is a German former professional footballer who played for Manchester City from 1949 to 1964. Brought up during times of inter-war strife in Germany, Trautmann joined the Luftwaffe early in the Second World War, serving as a paratrooper...
broke a bone in his neck when diving at Murphy's feet.
Biography
Murphy was born in West HartlepoolWest Hartlepool
This article refers to the place; for the Rugby Football Club see West Hartlepool R.F.C.West Hartlepool refers to the western part of the what has since the 1960s been known as the borough of Hartlepool in North East England...
, County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
, but when he was four years old moved to Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
with his family. He was with both Coventry City and Birmingham
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
as an amateur footballer before his career was interrupted by the Second World War. He turned professional with Coventry City
Coventry City F.C.
Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...
in May 1946 at the age of 24, making over 100 appearances and scoring at a rate of a goal every three games.
Manager Arthur Rowe
Arthur Rowe
Arthur Sydney Rowe was the first manager to lead Tottenham Hotspur football club to the First Division Championship title in 1951...
took him to Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
in June 1950 for a fee of £18,500. He played as an inside-forward, deputising for the injured Les Bennett, in the "push and run
Push and run
Push-and-run, also known as a one-two, a wall pass or a give-and-go, is a tactic often used in association football. It was devised and developed by Arthur Rowe, who was the manager of English football club Tottenham Hotspur from 1949....
" side that won the League championship
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
in 1950–51. On Bennett's return to fitness, Murphy found himself being played out of position on the left wing, so when Birmingham City
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
bid £20,000 for him in January 1952 he was willing enough to drop down a division to return to the Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
.
When Tommy Briggs
Tommy Briggs
Tommy Briggs was a professional footballer who played as a striker. He was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire and died in Grimsby, Lincolnshire....
left Birmingham later that year, Murphy took up a more attacking role in the team. He was an energetic player with a powerful left-foot shot who was willing to shoot from any distance, and was Birmingham's leading scorer three times, in the 1952–53, 1954–55 and 1957–58 seasons. He retired from playing in 1959 to coach Birmingham's youth team, but was called out of retirement for the last seven games of the season and scored four goals which contributed to the club avoiding relegation to the Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
.
Murphy scored five goals in Birmingham's run to the 1956 FA Cup Final
1956 FA Cup Final
The 1956 FA Cup Final was the final match of the 1955–56 staging of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, better known as the FA Cup. The showpiece event was contested between Manchester City and Birmingham City at Wembley Stadium in London on Saturday...
, in which they lost 3–1 to the Don Revie
Don Revie
Donald George 'Don' Revie, OBE, , was an English footballer who played for Leicester City, Hull City, Sunderland, Manchester City and Leeds United as a deep-lying centre forward. After managing Leeds United he managed England from 1974 until 1977...
-inspired Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
. This match is possibly best remembered for the incident where Manchester City goalkeeper Bert Trautmann
Bert Trautmann
Bernhard Carl "Bert" Trautmann, OBE is a German former professional footballer who played for Manchester City from 1949 to 1964. Brought up during times of inter-war strife in Germany, Trautmann joined the Luftwaffe early in the Second World War, serving as a paratrooper...
was injured when he dived at Murphy's feet to collect the ball, but played on in considerable pain for the last 15 minutes of the match without realising he had broken one of the vertebrae in his neck. The following season Murphy scored another four goals in Birmingham's FA Cup run, which ended this time in semifinal defeat to Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
's Busby Babes
Busby Babes
The Busby Babes were a group of Manchester United players, recruited and trained by the club's chief scout Joe Armstrong and assistant manager Jimmy Murphy, who progressed from the club's youth team into the first team under the management of the eponymous Matt Busby.The Busby Babes were notable...
.
He was also a pioneer of European competition. He played in Birmingham's first match in the 1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, when they became the first English club side to participate in Europe,
and finished that campaign as the competition's joint leading scorer.
He also played in the second leg of the final of the 1958–60 Fairs Cup, which was the first appearance by an English club side in a European final. Birmingham lost 4–1 to Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
.
Over his professional career he scored 158 goals in nearly 400 League appearances. For Birmingham his record was 127 goals in 278 games in all competitions, which ranks him third, behind Joe Bradford
Joe Bradford
Joseph "Joe" Bradford was an English professional footballer who played as a centre forward. Born in Peggs Green, near Coalville, Leicestershire, Bradford made nearly 450 appearances for Birmingham in all competitions, scoring 267 goals...
and Trevor Francis
Trevor Francis
Trevor John Francis , is a former footballer who won the European Cup with Nottingham Forest and played for England 52 times. He was England's first £1 million player...
, in their all-time scoring charts.
Murphy died in 1975 at the age of 53.
Honours
- with Tottenham Hotspur
- Football League First DivisionFootball League First DivisionThe First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
champions 1951.
- Football League First Division
- with Birmingham City
- Football League Second DivisionFootball League Second DivisionFrom 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
champions 1955. - FA CupFA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
finalist 19561956 FA Cup FinalThe 1956 FA Cup Final was the final match of the 1955–56 staging of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, better known as the FA Cup. The showpiece event was contested between Manchester City and Birmingham City at Wembley Stadium in London on Saturday... - Inter-Cities Fairs CupInter-Cities Fairs CupThe Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The competition was the idea of Swiss pools supremo Ernst Thommen, Ottorino Barassi from Italy, and the English Football Association general secretary Stanley Rous, all of whom later became senior officials...
finalist 1960
- Football League Second Division