*Indicates unconfirmed information. Figures in brackets after English team names indicate all appearances made and goals scored in competitive matches for Football League clubs from 1888 onwards. For Scottish League clubs the figures show details of all competitive appearances and goals scored from 1946/47 onwards.
Danny Murphy
Appearances: 17 Goals: 0
Date / Year of birth: 4th December 1982
Position: Left-back
Season of first appearance: 2003/04
Season of last appearance: 2003/04
Also played for: Fisher Athletic (London), West Ham United (0), Queens Park Rangers (14+10,0), Hampton & Richmond Borough, Wycombe Wanderers (0), Swindon Town (0), Harrow Borough, Cork City (Ireland), Motherwell (Scotland) (15+3,1), Dunfermline (Scotland) (12,0) and Shamrock Rovers (Ireland)
5' 6" tall defender born in Bermondsey, London who played for the schoolboy sides of Fisher Athletic and then West Ham before joining Queens Park Rangers as a 14 year-old in 1997.
After progressing through QPR's junior sides and playing for various Ireland teams up to Under-18 level Danny signed a professional contract in August 2000 and in September 2001 he was loaned to Hampton & Richmond.
Danny made six appearances for the Isthmian Premier League club before returning to Loftus Road.
On 15.12.01 he made his first team debut in a 3-2 win at Chesterfield and on 22.12.01 Danny had his second senior outing in a game at Bournemouth. He was sent off after 70 minutes but the R's still won 2-1. Danny ended up making a total of 12 senior appearances before the end of the 2001/02 campaign and he was chosen as QPR's 'Young Player of the Year' for the season.
During the 2002/03 campaign Danny again made 12 appearances for the R's first team, the last of them as a substitute in a 2-2 draw with Mansfield at Loftus Road on 22.2.03. After that he had trial spells at Wycombe and Swindon, playing in reserve team games at both clubs, as the 2002/03 season drew to a close.
Danny was released by QPR in the summer of 2003 and joined Swindon on a month-to-month deal in July 2003. Manager Andy King talked about the possibility of a long-term contract and said "if Danny does exceptionally well then there is an opportunity".
After only a month at Swindon he was released and Danny joined Harrow before the end of August 2003. He made 12 appearances (one as sub) without scoring for the Isthmian Premier League club before moving to Margate in November 2003.
Danny initially joined the club on loan and made his debut at left wing-back in a 2-1 defeat at Hereford in the Conference on 15.11.03. He scored an own goal to secure the points for Hereford but the Thanet Times said Danny had a "promising debut". He then started Margate's next four games and the Thanet Times said he "had a particularly good game at left wing-back" in a 3-0 defeat at Chester on 29.11.03 but after a 2-0 defeat against Shrewsbury at Dover on 14.12.03 Danny missed four matches due to injury.
In January 2004 his move became permanent and Danny returned to the side in a 2-2 draw at Dorchester in an FA Trophy on 10.1.04. It was the start of a good run in the team and the Thanet Times said Danny "had one of his better games" in a 2-0 win over Halifax at Dover on 8.2.04. He'd played in 11 consecutive matches before missing a 3-3 draw with Dagenham & Redbridge at Dover on 6.3.04 due to suspension. Danny was back in the starting line-up for a game at Woking on 13.3.04 and the Thanet Times said he was "undoubtedly Gate's best performer" and "enjoyed easily his best game in Margate colours, putting in plenty of work up and down the wing and making a string of key tackles" The match finished 0-0 and it turned out to be Danny's last outing for Margate as a few days later he signed a one-year contract with League of Ireland club Cork City. He'd made 17 appearances without scoring. Margate manager Chris Kinnear commented "He's a great lad, everyone liked him - good luck to him" and the Isle of Thanet Gazette said Danny "perhaps lacked physical strength" but was "an undoubted talent".
His move to Ireland was partly motivated by a need to be nearer to his sick grandfather who lived in Cork and Danny was recommended to Cork City manager Pat Dolan by his brother Eamon who was manager of Conference club Exeter at the time. Danny had played for Margate at Exeter in January 2004.
After his first game for Cork Danny said "I am very pleased to be in Cork. I believe I can learn a lot from working with Pat Dolan. I certainly enjoyed my debut and it was great to be involved in the opening goal." He soon became known as 'The Cockney Rebel' due to one of Cork's nicknames being the Rebel Army and him hailing from London. Danny made 37 appearances (two as sub) and scored once for Cork during the 2004 season which ran from March to November 2004. The club finished second in the League of Ireland Premier Division and Danny played in all six of Cork's Inter-Toto Cup ties.
He was a fixture in the side again during the 2005 campaign and made 44 appearances (one as sub) without scoring as Cork won the Premier Division and enjoyed a good UEFA Cup run. Danny played in each of their six European games.
He was named in the League of Ireland's 'Team of the Year' for the 2006 season after making 40 appearances (two as sub) without scoring and Danny got a taste of Champions League action when he played in Cork's two matches in the competition.
In August 2006 Cork rejected a £10,000 offer for Danny from Scottish Premier League club Motherwell but with his Cork deal expiring he was able to sign a pre-contract agreement and agreed to join Motherwell on a free transfer in January 2007.
Danny went on to make 16 appearances for Motherwell before the end of the 2006/07 season and scored once - in a 1-1 draw at Dundee United on 10.3.07. At the start of the 2007/08 campaign he struggled to gain a place in the Motherwell side under new manager Mark McGhee and Danny only played twice before joining 1st Division club Dunfermline on loan in November 2007.
He made 12 appearances during his spell with the Pars that lasted until the start of February 2008.
On 25.2.08 Danny rejoined Cork and he went on to make 60 League of Ireland appearances during the 2008 and 2009 seasons before being released at the start of 2010 due to the club's financial difficulties.
In February 2010 Danny signed for Shamrock Rovers and they won the 2010 Premier League title. He made 26 league appearances without scoring and also played as Rovers lost 1-0 to Juventus in a Champions League tie in Turin on 5.8.10.
In December 2010 Danny went back to Cork for a third spell and scored once in 33 league outings during the 2011 campaign. By the end of the season he'd played over 200 games for the club.
|
SEASON (CLUB) |
FULL (MAX) |
SUB |
GLS |
FAC |
FAT |
|
KSC |
| |
|
2003/04 (MFC) |
17 (51) |
0 |
0 |
CONFERENCE (16TH OF 22) |
4QR |
5R |
W |
||
Margate demoted to new
Conference South due to ground
issues. | |||||||||