Fred Murray
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Frederick Anthony Murray | ||
| Date of birth | 22 May 1982 | ||
| Place of birth | Clonmel, Republic of Ireland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Belvedere FC | |||
| Blackburn Rovers | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2000–2002 | Blackburn Rovers | 0 | (0) |
| 2001–2002 | → Cambridge United (loan) | 13 | (0) |
| 2002–2004 | Cambridge United | 75 | (0) |
| 2004–2007 | Northampton Town | 38 | (0) |
| 2007–2008 | Stafford Rangers | 16 | (0) |
| 2008 | Stevenage Borough | 14 | (1) |
| 2008–2009 | Exeter City | 6 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | Grays Athletic | 0 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | → Luton Town (loan) | 17 | (0) |
| 2010–2012 | Luton Town | 51 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:06, 3 August 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Frederick Anthony "Fred" Murray (born 22 May 1982 in Clonmel, County Tipperary) is an Irish footballer currently without a club.
Career
Murray played his youth football at the renowned Belvedere FC before going abroad. Murray began his career as a trainee at Premier League side Blackburn Rovers, though he never made a first-team appearance. An initial loan period at Second Division club Cambridge United was turned permanent in March 2002, as the U's signed Murray on a free transfer from Blackburn.[1] Murray's three seasons at the club, in which he made over 100 appearances, saw Cambridge relegated to the Third Division.
He signed a three-year contract for League Two side Northampton Town for an undisclosed fee in July 2004,[2] but his tenure at the club was blighted by serious injuries, including an infected Achilles tendon.[3][4] In both the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons, Murray did not play a single minute of football. He was released in May 2007, but was invited to still train with the club.[4]
After an unsuccessful trial with Leyton Orient,[5] Murray joined Conference Premier side Stafford Rangers on 28 August 2007,[6] making his debut in a 2–1 defeat at Oxford United. He then joined Peter Taylor's Stevenage Borough team on a short-term contract in the January 2008 transfer window,[7] and narrowly missed out on a place in the Conference play-offs. After his release from Stevenage, he trained with League Two side Exeter City before signing for them, once more on a short-term deal.[8] He left Exeter on 8 May 2009, after just 6 appearances for the club.[9]
At the start of the 2009–10 season, Murray signed for Grays Athletic along with eight other players.[10] After a change in management at Grays, Murray left the club less than a week after joining them, signing for Luton Town on a six-month loan deal on 11 August 2009.[11] He made his debut for Luton on the same day, in a 4–1 home victory over Manfield Town. On 13 January 2010, with his loan deal expired, Murray signed an 18-month contract with Luton.[12]
Murray continued to be a regular fixture at left-back for Luton, though he missed parts of the 2010–11 season due to injury, including Luton's penalty shootout loss to AFC Wimbledon in the Conference Premier play-off final.
On 12 July 2011, he signed a new contract with the club.[13] On 10 November 2011, Murray was deregistered as a Luton player to allow him to focus on recovering from a serious knee injury which had seen him take no part in Luton's 2011–12 season. The club signed Darlington defender Greg Taylor as a replacement.[14] In July 2012, Luton manager Paul Buckle confirmed that Murray had left the club.[15]
References
- ↑ "Murray makes U's switch". BBC Sport. 7 March 2002. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
- ↑ "Murray joins Cobblers". BBC Sport. 19 July 2004. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
- ↑ "Murray blow for Calderwood". Sky Sports. 1 September 2005. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Murray to be handed pre-season chance". Northampton Town F.C. 10 May 2007. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
- ↑ "No O's deal for defender Murray". BBC Sport. 3 August 2007. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
- ↑ "Ex-Northampton man joins Stafford". BBC Sport. 28 August 2007. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
- ↑ "Stevenage sign Murray & Vincenti". BBC Sport. 4 January 2008. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
- ↑ "Murray offered Exeter deal". Sky Sports. 17 September 2008. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
- ↑ "Grecians release five". Sky Sports. 8 May 2009. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
- ↑ "Grays sign nine players in a day". BBC Sport. 5 August 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2009.
- ↑ "Hatters move for Murray". Luton Town F.C. 11 August 2009. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
- ↑ "Trio commit their futures". Luton Town F.C. 13 January 2010. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
- ↑ "Ed & Fred sign new contracts". Luton Town F.C. 12 July 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
- ↑ "Town land Taylor". Luton Town F.C. 10 November 2011. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- ↑ "Murray leaves as Rowe-Turner joins up with Buckle once more". Luton Today (Johnston Publishing Ltd). 7 July 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.