Joe Murphy: Coventry City

Born in Dublin, Murphy began his career at Tranmere, where he played in the 2000 Football League Cup Final, before joining West Brom in July 2002. Murphy spent the majority of the 2004–05 season on loan at Walsall. In August 2005, he moved from West Brom to Sunderland, but was again loaned to Walsall during 2005–06. In May 2006 Murphy signed for Scunthorpe after being released by Sunderland.

Murphy had an excellent 2006–07 season, and was an integral part of the team that led Scunthorpe to the League One trophy. He was in the League One team of the season, and also won the golden glove (award for most clean sheets). He was also named League One player of the month for February 2007. On top of this, he hit the crossbar during Soccer AM’s crossbar challenge. His clean sheet in Scunthorpe’s 2–0 home victory over Burnley on 30 September 2007 earned him a place in the Championship Team of the Week. He made the Team of the Week once more following his side’s 1–0 victory over Charlton Athletic in February. Murphy is a former member of the Republic of Ireland national under-21 football team.

Murphy enjoyed a good set of performances during the 2008/2009 season. He put in a number of stunning performances but never caught the eye ofRepublicofIrelandmanager Giovanni Trappatonni due to playing in the third tier. Murphy’s performance in the Coca-Cola League 1 Play-Off Semi-Final helped the team proceed to the final due to him keeping a clean sheet in 120 minutes and saving three penalties in the following shootout. Despite this performance Murphy did not perform his best during the final, with Millwall’s second goal a header from Gary Alexander that he should have comfortably saved: although he could do nothing about Millwall’s absolutely stunning strike for their first. Also, Millwall keeper David Forde suffered a similar fate to Murphy’s in the second half – leaving some observers to blame the pitch. Murphy’s contract was to end at the end of the 2008/2009 season and there was much speculation as to where his future lay; many reports suggested that he would be moving to a much bigger club to gain international football forIreland. This speculation was ended when he signed a one year contract extension with the Iron and this will extend to 2011 if the Iron can remain in the Coca-Cola Championship. He told local newspapers that he signed the new deal because “He owed the club for all it has done for him.”

He was selected as a member of the League One team of the year for the 2008/2009 football team

Murphy was one of seven players to be released by Scunthorpe United in May 2011. Albeit, alongside David Mirfin – he was not offered a contract owing to cost-cutting measures following the Iron’s relegation, and once bigger clubs’ interest had become obvious. On 30 June 2011, Murphy joined Championship club Coventry City on a three-year deal