Gerry Murphy (football manager)

Gerry Murphy

Personal information
Full name	Gerry Murphy
Date of birth	(1943-07-22) 22 July 1943
Place of birth	Dublin, Ireland
Teams managed
Years	Team
?-?	Bradley Rangers
?-?	Rawthorpe WMC
2007	Huddersfield Town (Caretaker)
2008	Huddersfield Town (Caretaker)
2008	Huddersfield Town (Caretaker)

Gerry Murphy (born 22 July 1943 in Dublin, Ireland) was the Director of Football Development at Huddersfield Town between 1988 and 2009. He was the Academy Director between 1988 and 17 April 2007, and was caretaker manager of Huddersfield Town in three different spells.

Career

Murphy never played football above amateur level, but has the full complement of coaching qualifications to international level.

Huddersfield Town

Murphy worked at Huddersfield Town since 1988, where he joined as scout. He also filled the Academy chief role, was three times Caretaker Manager, and his final position was as Director of Football Development.

Award

Murphy won the Football League's Contribution to Football award on 5 March 2006 selected by listeners of BBC Radio Five Live's Sport on Five.^[1]

Huddersfield Town Academy

As a measure of his success, in February 2007, Huddersfield's 23-man first-team squad included 15 academy graduates.^[2] Murphy said "Every academy has its own way, we like to keep quantity low and quality high."^[2] The most notable graduate was Jon Stead who was sold to Premier League side Blackburn Rovers for £1.25m in February 2004.^[3]

Management positions

Following Peter Jackson's contract termination on 6 March 2007, Murphy was put in temporary charge of Huddersfield Town's first team affairs,^[4] a role that lasted for six games until 11 April 2007.

Then on 17 April 2007, Murphy was appointed Director of Football Development. In addition to his position as Academy Director he has been handed control of the Club's scouting activities.^[5]

Following Andy Ritchie's contract termination on 1 April 2008, Murphy was put in temporary charge of Huddersfield Town's first team affairs for the second time. His second tenure ended on 3 May, when Stan Ternent took over for the new season.

Following Ternent's sacking, Murphy was put in charge for a third time. After losing 4-3 to Port Vale in the FA Cup, Town beat Leeds United at Elland Road for the first time in nearly 25 years. This was followed by a win at Brighton & Hove Albion, their first ever at the Withdean Stadium, a defeat against Leyton Orient and victories over Walsall and Southend United. Murphy was replaced by new manager Lee Clark on 15 December.

In Murphy's three terms in charge, he has led the team to victories over Town's West Yorkshire rivals, Bradford City (2-0 on 10 March 2007) and Leeds United (1-0 on 15 April 2008 and 2-1 on 15 November 2008).

Products of the academy include Andy Holdsworth, Michael Collins, Nathan and Tom Clarke, David Mirfin, Jon Worthington, Jon Stead and Andy Booth.

Retirement

On 6 February 2009, after over 20 years at the club, Murphy decided to leave the club and retire. Gerry still lives in Huddersfield with his wife Irene. He has two children : Tracey and Simon, and now has three Grandchildren : Ryan, Reece and Jack.

Managerial statistics

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	L	D	Win %
Huddersfield Town		6 March 2007	11 April 2007	6	1	1	4	16.67
Huddersfield Town		1 April 2008	3 May 2008	6	4	0	2	66.67
Huddersfield Town		4 November 2008	15 December 2008	6	4	2	0	66.67

References