Michael Murphy (Gaelic footballer)

Michael Murphy
Michael Murphy scores a penalty against Derry in the 2008 Ulster Senior Football Championship
Personal information
Irish name Mícheál Ó Murchú[1]
Sport Gaelic football
Position Full forward
Born (1989-08-04) 4 August 1989 (age 35)
Letterkenny, County Donegal
Height 6 ft 2[2] in (1.88 m)
Club(s)
Years Club
2006–
 Glenswilly
Club titles
Donegal titles 3
Colleges(s)
Years College
200?–201?
 DCU
College titles
Sigerson titles 1
Inter-county(ies)*
Years County Apps (scores)
2007–2022
 Donegal 64 (4-223)
Inter-county titles
Ulster titles 5
All-Irelands 1
NFL 0
All Stars 5
*Inter County team apps and scores correct as of 12 June 2022.

Michael Murphy (born 4 August 1989) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays as a full forward[2] for Glenswilly and for the Donegal county team, which he captained from December 2010 until his initial retirement from inter-county football in November 2022. His predecessors as Donegal players, such as Manus Boyle, Brendan Devenney and Anthony Molloy, regard Murphy as the county's greatest ever footballer.[3][4][5][6] Outside his county he is often regarded as one of the sport's all-time best players.[7] With more than 500 points, Murphy is Donegal's all-time record scorer and he is also the county's top goalscorer, with a points-per-game average that is higher even than Martin McHugh.[8]

Born and raised in north-west Ireland, Murphy's hip was out of place from birth and required surgery at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital. After a fast progression through Glenswilly's youth academy, Murphy made his full competitive debut in 2005, having just turned 16, and helped his club reach the Ulster Intermediate Club Football Championship final that year. He was a member of the team that won his club's first Donegal Senior Football Championship title in 2011, and followed this up with two others in 2013 and 2016. Glenswilly also reached the final of the Ulster Senior Club Football Championship in 2013.

A Donegal man, Murphy is his county's all-time leading scorer.[9] At youth level he won an Ulster Minor Football Championship title, an Ulster Under-21 Football Championship title and contested an All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship final. Murphy made his competitive debut for his county aged 17 in July 2007 and won the All Stars Young Footballer of the Year in 2009. At 21 years old, Murphy received the Donegal captaincy from newly appointed manager Jim McGuinness, who had worked with Murphy the previous season at under-21 level. In doing so he became one of the youngest captains in the team's history. Four successful seasons followed, with Murphy winning two All Stars, three Ulster Senior Football Championship titles (including two consecutively) and the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship title, only the second player in the county's history to raise the Sam Maguire Cup as team captain. He received the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final man of the match award and his catch from a Karl Lacey pass, turn leaving his marker Kevin Keane clutching at air and rocket strike past David Clarke into the roof of the Mayo net in the opening minutes of that game to set the score at 1–0 to 0–0 earned him the Championship Matters Goal of the Championship. A team decline under the management of McGuinness's deputy and successor Rory Gallagher was followed by two further Ulster SFC titles under Declan Bonner, all of which Murphy had achieved by the age of 30. This brought Donegal's total provincial championships to ten, with the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th of these all coming under Murphy's captaincy.

Though targeted by Australian rules football clubs since 2007, Murphy declined all offers to move abroad, preferring instead to pursue further honours in Gaelic football. He has, however, played for the Ireland international rules football team and captained the 2013 and 2014 teams.

  1. ^ "Two changes for clash with Roscommon". Donegal News. 10 February 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference up_close_and_personal was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ McNulty, Chris (21 December 2017). "Manus Boyle has no doubt about who is Donegal's greatest ever player". Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference rte_21052020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ McLaughlin, Gerry (26 October 2016). "Anthony Molloy hails Michael Murphy as greatest Donegal player of all time". The Irish News. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference ii_16062017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ See for example: Paul Flynn of Dublin: "He's the best player in the country at the moment", February 2013. Sinéad Kissane of TV3, originally a Kerry woman at the opposite end of the country from Donegal, writing in the Irish Independent which is published in Dublin. Eoin Liston of Kerry: "You knew right away you were in the company of greatness". Kevin McStay of Mayo: "described recently by Roscommon manager Kevin McStay as a 'once-in-a-generation player'". Seán Moran of The Irish Times: "They also had to get by without injured captain Michael Murphy, one of football's most conspicuous talents", May 2012. Pat Spillane of Kerry: "Spillane said of Murphy 'He is the most complete Gaelic footballer in the country right now'", October 2015.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference dsh_14082018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference DD20072019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).