Scott George Murray (born 26 May 1974) is a Scottish former professional footballer. A goalscoring winger, he is best known for playing in over 400 competitive first team games for Bristol City. At Bristol City he made the end of season Football League Second Division Team of the Year in 3 consecutive seasons. In the last of they 3 seasons he won the 2003 Football League Trophy final. He is a Bristol City Hall of Fame inductee. He also played for Fraserburgh, Aston Villa, Reading, Cheltenham Town, Yeovil Town and Bath City. He is now Bristol City kitman.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Scott George Murray | ||
| Date of birth | 26 May 1974 | ||
| Place of birth | Fraserburgh, Scotland | ||
| Position(s) | Winger | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1990–1994 | Fraserburgh | 45 | (33) |
| 1994–1997 | Aston Villa | 4 | (0) |
| 1997–2003 | Bristol City | 230 | (46) |
| 2003–2004 | Reading | 34 | (5) |
| 2004–2009 | Bristol City | 124 | (28) |
| 2008 | → Cheltenham Town (loan) | 13 | (2) |
| 2009–2010 | Yeovil Town | 20 | (2) |
| 2010–2012 | Bath City | 68 | (14) |
| Total | 493 | (97) | |
| International career | |||
| 2004 | Scotland B | 1 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Club career
Born in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Murray made his debut at his local Highland League club Fraserburgh aged 16. He played there for the first-team for four years while working full-time in a local fish processing factory.
After scoring in a trial game for Liverpool's reserves, Graeme Souness was shortly sacked as first-team manager. Aston Villa stepped in. Murray scored the quickest ever hat-trick in the Premiership reserve league, with his three strikes coming inside the first 12 minutes. Villa paid Fraserburgh £35,000 (at the time, the biggest fee received by a Highland League club for a transfer) for his services. During his three years at Villa Park, Murray made only four first team league appearances.
He was signed by Bristol City from Aston Villa in December 1997. He was City's top scorer in the 2002–03 season. That season he was part of the side that won the 2003 Football League Trophy final.[1]
He next joined Reading for £650,000 in June 2003. There he was a first team regular for Alan Pardew.
In March 2004, he rejoined Bristol City. Murray's return boosted City's form but they lost in that season's playoff final to Brighton & Hove Albion. He was made club captain during Brian Tinnion's spell as manager. In the 2006–07 season, City were drawn against Premier League side Middlesbrough in the FA Cup. Murray scored a chip against Australian number one Mark Schwarzer to earn the Robins a 2–2 draw at Ashton Gate, however they eventually lost the tie on penalties in the replay. A key player in City's promotion push despite a stress fracture to his fourth metatarsal bone restricting him to 37 appearances, he signed a new one-year extension to his contract.
On 15 September, Murray became new Cheltenham Town manager Martin Allen's first signing on an emergency one-month loan, returning to Bristol City on 15 December. Murray was released by Bristol City in May 2009.
On 1 July, it was confirmed that he had signed a one-year contract with Yeovil Town becoming manager Terry Skiverton's third summer signing. He scored a brace in the 2–2 home draw with Brighton to rescue a point, with goals either side of half time bringing up his 100th and 101st career goals. He was released by Yeovil along with three other players on 13 May 2010.[2]
Murray signed for part-time Football Conference side Bath City on a 12-month deal so that he could focus on his coaching role at Bristol City.
International
Murray was capped by the Scotland B team, coming on as a substitute against Germany.
Honours
Bristol City
Individual
References
● Playfair football annuals
External links
- Scott Murray profile at bcfc.co.uk
- Scott Murray profile at readingfc.co.uk
- Scott Murray at Soccerbase
- Virtual replay of Murray's goal against Middlesbrough
[[Category:Bristol City F.C. non-playing staff