Matt Murray

Born in Solihull, Murray progressed through Wolves academy system to sign professional forms in 1998. The five-year contract he was given, aged 17, is the longest in the club's history for an academy graduate. However, his career failed to find its stride immediately as he was largely out of contention through injury. He suffered a cruciate knee injury just twenty minutes into a loan spell at non-league Kingstonian in October 2000 where he made his first professional appearance. He was promoted into Wolves' first team on 31 August 2002 against Wimbledon, deputising for the injured Michael Oakes and then kept his place through that season. The season ended with him producing a man-of-the-match performance in the Play-off final against Sheffield United on 26 May 2003. He produced a number of vital saves to help the club win 3–0 and gain promotion to the Premier League, the pick being a second-half penalty save from Michael Brown. On 16 August 2003, Murray made his only Premier League appearance as Wolves began the campaign with a 5–1 loss at Blackburn Rovers. He suffered an injury in that match, and Oakes then took his place in the team. He followed this up by debuting for England Under-21s, against Slovakia U21, the first of five under-21 caps. However, a back problem then a foot fracture wrecked this season. In the three years that followed the success of 2002–03, he only played five games for Wolves due to a variety of injuries. The goalkeeper next played in January 2005…

Murray was born in England to a Nigerian father and English mother, and was adopted from birth by a white couple.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Football League First Division play-offs: 2003 Individual

Football League Championship Golden Glove: 2006–07 PFA Championship Fans' Player of the Year: 2006–07 PFA Championship Player of the Month: December 2006 PFA Championship Team of the Year: 2006–07 Wolverhampton Wanderers Player of the Year: 2006–07 Wolverhampton Wanderers Young Player of the Year: 2002–03