David Murphy

Personal information
Full name	David Paul Murphy
Date of birth	1 March 1984 (1984-03-01) (age 25)
Place of birth	Hartlepool, England
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position	Left back
Club information
Current club	Birmingham City
Number	3
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2001–2004	Middlesbrough	13	(0)
2004	→ Barnsley (loan)	10	(2)
2004–2008	Hibernian	107	(4)
2008–	Birmingham City	44	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:30, 3 May 2009 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals).

David Paul Murphy (born 1 March 1984) is an English professional footballer who plays for Birmingham City. Murphy, born in Hartlepool, County Durham, is a defender who plays at left back.

[edit] Early career

Murphy started his career with Middlesbrough, and had a spell on loan at Barnsley. He was released by Middlesbrough and signed for Hibernian in the summer of 2004 after making a trial appearance against Cardiff City in a pre-season friendly. Murphy was a player that manager Tony Mowbray became aware of through contacts at Middlesbrough.

Murphy went on to become an important part of a relatively successful Hibernian side, which won the CIS Cup in 2007. On 6 October 2007, Murphy scored the winning goal in a 1–0 victory against Rangers at Ibrox Stadium to send Hibernian top of the league for the first time in seven years.^[1]

[edit] Birmingham City

On 17 January 2008, Murphy signed for Birmingham City for a fee of £1.5 million.^[2] He made his first-team debut on 2 February 2008 in the Premier League against Derby County,^[3] and scored his first goal for Birmingham on the final day of the season, but this was not enough to save Birmingham from relegation to the Championship.^[4] Murphy began the season as first-choice left back, but a series of injuries have meant that he has had to compete with Franck Queudrue for the position, and such was Queudrue's form that he was voted Player of the Year.

[edit] International career

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish said that while he was Scotland's manager, he had investigated whether Murphy was eligible to play for Scotland. It turned out that Murphy had no Scottish ancestors and was therefore ineligible.^[5]

Murphy himself looked into whether he could play for the Republic of Ireland, but it transpired that he was also ineligible for them because his closest relation, a great-grandparent, was one generation too far back to confer qualification.^[6]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• David Murphy career stats at Soccerbase

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