Adam Murray

Derby County

Born in Birmingham, West Midlands, Murray began his career as a trainee with Derby County at the age of 11. He turned professional in August 1998. He made his Premier League debut on 17 April 1999, coming on as a second-half substitute for Mikkel Beck in Derby's 5–1 defeat away to West Ham United. He made a further three substitute appearances in what remained of the 1998–99 season. Manager Jim Smith would hand him his first start on 6 May 2000, in a 0–0 draw with Newcastle United at Pride Park. This was his only start from eight appearances in the 1999–2000 campaign. He featured 18 times throughout the 2000–01 season. Derby were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2001–02 season, and Murray featured irregularly under both Smith and Colin Todd. On 25 February 2002, Murray joined Third Division club Mansfield Town on loan. He scored his first goal in professional football in his second appearance for the "Stags", a 2–1 win over Scunthorpe United at Field Mill on 2 March. He went on to score seven goals in 13 games for Mansfield, leading manager Stuart Watkiss to say that "his goals have been invaluable to us" as Mansfield secured promotion with a third-place finish. Back with Derby in the First Division for the 2002–03 season, Murray gradually established himself in John Gregory's first-team. He received the first sending off of his career on 12 October, getting shown the red card for a reckless challenge late into a 0–0 draw at Bradford…

Described in the Worcester News as a creative midfielder with energy and tenacity in September 2003, Murray earned an England U20 cap the previous year. His vision and range of passing was acknowledged to be largely unparalleled in non-League football.

Mansfield Town

Murray became caretaker manager of Mansfield Town after Paul Cox left the club 19th in the League Two table on 21 November 2014. He rejected advice to take an older mentor as his assistant and instead retained existing coaches Richard Cooper and Micky Moore, who he said were "as hungry as I am for coaching". Murray's first game as manager, a day later at Field Mill, was a 1–0 victory over Plymouth Argyle. After a spell as caretaker manager, Murray was given the job on a permanent basis on 5 December, becoming the youngest manager in the top four divisions of English football. He made four free transfer signings in the January transfer window: defenders Junior Brown, Michael Raynes and Matty Blair, and midfielder Ricky Ravenhill. He sold Rob Taylor to Tranmere Rovers after the versatile player sought a move closer to his home. He also made use of the loan market, bringing in Billy Kee, Callum Elder, Lenny Pidgeley, Jeffrey Monakana, Adam Smith and Terry Hawkridge. Murray signed a new two-year contract in May. Mansfield ended the 2014–15 season in 21st place, seven points above relegated Cheltenham Town, and Murray released seven players in the summer, saying that "I feel the whole club needs a fresh start". Ollie Palmer was also sold to Leyton Orient. The club underwent a rebuild of the squad for the 2015–16 season, with 15 new players arriving at the club. These free transfer signings included: goalkeepers Brian Jensen and Scott Shearer; defenders Mal…

Murray describes himself as a manager with an eye for detail to get the most from the resources available by working on 'marginal gains' to get the extra one per cent advantage to improve his player's and teams' performances. At Mansfield, Murray developed a passing game adopted from the Dutch total football model but tailored to lower league players. Murray is known to be an advocate of sports science, sports analysis, strength and conditioning, and sports psychology within football to achieve maximum gains on the field. Murray has often spoken about the importance of building the right infrastructure for his teams including the importance of a strong academy system for young players to develop into the first-team environment. His success with developing young talent includes such players as Ryan Tafazolli, who cites Murray as the biggest influence on his career as a young player and credits him with "developing him from a boy to a man".