David Murphy

Early career

Murphy signed his first professional contract with Premier League side Middlesbrough in August 2001, having previously been part of the club's youth academy. He made his professional debut in a 3–1 victory over Northampton Town in the League Cup on 11 September 2001, a game where he also scored his first ever senior goal. He appeared in Middlesbrough's next League Cup match, a 2–1 defeat to Blackburn Rovers, before making his FA Cup debut on 16 February 2002, in a 1–0 victory over Blackburn. Three days later, he made his Premier League debut in a 2–1 victory over Fulham, coming off the substitute's bench around the hour mark to replace Robbie Mustoe. He went on to make a total of eight appearances during the 2001–02 season, scoring one goal. He started the opening game of the 2002–03 Premier League season, a 0–0 draw against Southampton on 17 August 2002, but was replaced by Colin Cooper after 15 minutes of the match. He did not play again until 11 January 2003, where he played the last 20 minutes of a 2–2 draw, also against Southampton. He made six further appearances during the season, with his last appearance coming in a 1–1 draw with Charlton Athletic on 22 March 2003, a game he started, but was replaced by Franck Queudrue at half-time. A broken foot that failed to heal kept Murphy out of Middlesbrough's squad in 2003–04, so in order to regain fitness he joined Division Two side Barnsley on loan, initially for a month, in March 2004. He made his…

While a youngster with Middlesbrough, Murphy made several appearances for the England under-16 team. He was part of the squad that reached the semifinals of the 2001 European under-16 championships. Alex McLeish, who signed Murphy for Birmingham, said that while he was Scotland manager he had investigated whether Murphy was eligible to play for Scotland. It transpired that Murphy had no Scottish ancestors and was therefore ineligible. Murphy himself looked into whether he could play for the Republic of Ireland, but it transpired that he was also ineligible for that country. Murphy's closest Irish relation, a great-grandparent, was one generation too far back to confer qualification.

Following his premature retirement from football, Murphy opened bars in Marbella and Essex. In an interview with The Northern Echo in April 2022, Murphy revealed he now co-owned a refurbishment business in Teesside which had been in operation since 2019.

Hibernian

Scottish League Cup: 2006–07 Birmingham City

Football League Cup: 2010–11