Sean Michael Murray (born 11 October 1993) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Men's Premier Division (), also known as the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Republic of Ireland and the highest level of the Republic of I ...

club

Cork City Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

, on loan from

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...

club

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club based in East Belfast, Northern Ireland, that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882 and has since won more than 130 major honours. They are one of three Northern Iris ...

. He progressed through the academy at

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

from the age of nine, and broke into the first-team in April 2011. He went on to make 85 first-team appearances for the club before being loaned to

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

early in the 2015–16 season. He left Watford at the end of the season to join

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

and then joined

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

in January 2017. He left Colchester in summer 2018 and joined

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

side

Vejle Boldklub Vejle Boldklub is a Danish professional football club based in Vejle in Jutland. Formed in 1891, the club is one of the most successful clubs in Danish football history, having won the Danish championship five times and the Danish cup title six ...

. In February 2019 he left Vejle Boldklub to sign for Irish side

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

. Murray has represented the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

at under-17, under-19 and under-21 levels.

Club career

Watford

Born in

Abbots Langley Abbots Langley () is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Hertfordshire. It is an old settlement and is mentioned (under the name of Langelai) in the Domesday Book. Economically the village is closely linked to Watford and w ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, Murray joined

's youth system in 2002, aged nine. Beginning in 2007, he studied at Harefield Academy as part of the initial intake where Watford's youth players are developed. Despite interest from

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

, Murray signed his first professional contract with Watford in July 2010, although due to

Football Association A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...

regulations, it did not take effect until his 17th-birthday. He made his debut for the Hornets as a substitute in a

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

game against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

Vicarage Road Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of EFL Championship, Championship club Watford F.C., Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200. History It has been the home of Watford since 1922, w ...

on 30 April 2011, a 2–0 defeat for Watford. Murraystart

On the fringes of the first-team under new

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Sean Dyche Sean Mark Dyche (; born 28 June 1971) is an English professional football manager and former footballer who was most recently the manager of Premier League club Everton. During his playing career, Dyche played as a centre-back, making his pro ...

, Murray had made just one late substitute appearance in the first half of the 2011–12 season before he was a surprise inclusion in the starting line-up for Watford's

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

third round tie with

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

on 27 January 2012. He came close to scoring in the game, hitting the post in the second-half before being substituted as his side fell to a 1–0 defeat. Murray retained his place in the team, and scored his first professional goal three weeks later, with a deflected

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...

in a 3–2 victory for Watford against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. Murray continued to play regularly for the rest of the season; his good form, scoring four goals in seven games, led to him winning the

Football League Young Player of the Month The EFL Young Player of the Month is an award for young players in all three divisions of the English Football League. To be eligible players must be under-21 or turn 21 during the current season. It was first awarded in December 2009. Victor Mos ...

award for March. He won Watford's Young Player of the Season award at the End of Season Awards Dinner for his great form since his introduction to the first team, after scoring seven goals in 19 appearances. In August 2012, Murray signed a five-year deal with Watford, but following the Pozzo family takeover of Watford and an influx of new players, Murray was restricted to playing 16 games and scoring one goal during the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season. He marked his return to the first-team on 6 August 2013 with two goals in Watford's 3–1 League Cup victory against

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

, and he went on to make 39 appearances and score a total of six goals across the campaign. Murray was restricted to making just nine first-team appearances during the 2014–15 season, making what was to be his last appearance for the club against Chelsea in a 3–0 FA Cup third round defeat on 4 January 2015.

Wigan Athletic loan

On 5 August 2015, Murray moved to

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

side

in an initial one-month loan deal, later extended until January 2016. He made his debut as a substitute during Wigan's 2–0 defeat at

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

on 8 August. Murray scored his first and only goal for Wigan against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

in a 4–0 victory in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

on 10 November, before his loan was terminated on 16 December. He had made eight appearances for Wigan.

Swindon Town

League One club

signed Murray on a free transfer on 31 August 2016 on a one-year deal, with the option of a further year. He made his club debut on 3 September as a substitute in Swindon's 2–2 League One draw at

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

. Murray scored his first and Swindon's only goal in their 3–1 home defeat by

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

on 27 September. After 23 games for Town, Murray had his contract terminated by the club on 31 January 2017, having fallen out of favour under new

director of football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an senior management, executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many typ ...

Tim Sherwood Timothy Alan Sherwood (born 6 February 1969) is an English former football player and manager. As a player, he was a midfielder from 1987 until 2005, notably as captain of Blackburn Rovers' Premier League title-winning side in 1995. He also pl ...

Colchester United

Immediately following his release from

, Murray signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with League Two club

on 31 January 2017. Murray made his debut as a replacement for

Craig Slater Craig Slater (born 26 April 1994) is a Scottish professional football player and coach. He plays as a midfielder for Forfar Athletic, and is also first team coach at Scottish Women's Premier League team Motherwell. Slater began his career at ...

in the 65th minute of Colchester's 1–1 draw at Blackpool on 4 February. He was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

for the first time in his career for a bad challenge on Blackpool's Jim McAlister in the fifth minute of injury time. He ended the season with 16 League Two appearances to his name. Murray scored his first Colchester goal on 30 September 2017 in their 1–0 win at

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil, a town in Somerset, England, with a council named Yeovil Town * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town W.F.C., an English women's football team affiliated with Yeovil T ...

. He required an operation on his knee in October 2017 which would rule him out of action for up to six weeks. He completed the season with 40 appearances and three goals. On 29 June 2018, Colchester manager

John McGreal John Leslie McGreal (born 2 June 1972) is an English football manager and former professional footballer who is currently an U21s coach at Ipswich Town. He began his career at Tranmere Rovers, making his debut in the 1991–92 season. He beca ...

announced that Murray had left the club after failing to agree a new deal.

Vejle Boldklub

On 26 July 2018,

side

announced the signing of Murray on a three-year contract. On 5 February 2019 Vejle announced, that they had mutually terminated the contract of the player.

Dundalk

On the same day as Murray left

, he signed a long-term contract with

. In his first season at the club, he scored three goals in 25 league appearances to help win the Premier Division title and League Cup. In the 2020 Europa league third Qualifying round, He scored Dundalk's equalizing goal against

Sheriff Tiraspol Fotbal Club Sheriff Tiraspol (), commonly known as Sheriff Tiraspol or simply Sheriff, is a professional football club based in Tiraspol, a city located in the unrecognised breakaway state of Transnistria, that plays in the Liga, the top tier o ...

and eventually won the penalty shootout. He scored the opening goal against KÍ in the 2020 Europa league play-offs helping Dundalk qualify for the

2020–21 UEFA Europa League group stage The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

and scored again in the opening game against

Molde FK Molde Fotballklubb () is a association football, football club based in Molde Municipality, Molde, Norway, that competes in Eliteserien, the top flight of Norwegian football league system, Norwegian football. Founded on 19 June 1911, the club w ...

Glentoran

Murray made the switch to

side

as a free agent when the transfer window opened in January 2022.

Cork City

On 9 January 2024, Murray signed for

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division, also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. The division w ...

side

on loan until the end of July. On 27 July 2024, the move was made permanent, with Murray signing a multi-year contract with the club.

International career

Although born in England, Murray qualifies to play for the

through his Irish grandparents. Murray twice represented the Republic of Ireland at under-17 level in

UEFA competitions UEFA competitions (), referred improperly by the mass media as European football, are the set of tournaments organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), generally in professional and amateur association football and futsal. Th ...

, making his debut against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

on 21 March 2010 in a 1–0 win. Murray made his debut at under-19 level on 24 May 2011 in the Ireland's 1–0 win against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. He scored his first goal for the side in a 3–0 win against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

on 29 May 2011, and went on to make twelve appearances for the side in UEFA competitions. Murray scored on his under-21 debut on 10 September 2012 in a 4–2 away win against

. In total, he earned nine caps for the under-21 side.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;Dundalk *

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

League of Ireland Cup The League of Ireland Cup, also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', was an annual knockout competition in men's football in Ireland. It was contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited clubs from the lower levels of the Irish footb ...

President of Ireland's Cup The President of Ireland's Cup, also known simply as the President's Cup, is an association football super cup featuring clubs from the Republic of Ireland football league system. It is a one-off match between the winners of the previous season's ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

* Champions Cup:

;Cork City *

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Sean 1993 births Living people People from Abbots Langley English men's footballers Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders Watford F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Vejle Boldklub players Dundalk F.C. players Glentoran F.C. players Cork City F.C. players Danish Superliga players English Football League players Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Irish expatriate sportspeople in Denmark English expatriate sportspeople in Denmark English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Footballers from Hertfordshire English people of Irish descent 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Irish sportsmen NIFL Premiership players