Danny Murphy (footballer)

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This article refers to the current Tottenham Hotspur player, for the Motherwell player see Danny Murphy (born 1982)

Personal information
Danny Murphy
Image:Danny Murphy football.jpg
Full name	Daniel Benjamin Murphy
Date of birth	March 18, 1977 (age 30)
Place of birth	Chester, Cheshire, England
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.77 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Tottenham Hotspur
Number	13
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1993-1997 1997-2004 1998-1999 2004-2006 2006-	Crewe Alexandra Liverpool → Crewe Alexandra (loan) Charlton Athletic Tottenham Hotspur	134 (27) 168 (18) 016 0(1) 056 0(7) 022 0(2)
National team²
2001-2003	England	009 0(1)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:16, 2 January 2007 (UTC). ² National team caps and goals correct as of May 10, 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Daniel Benjamin Murphy (born 18 March 1977 in Chester) is an English football player. He is a midfielder and currently plays for Tottenham Hotspur, having been transferred to Charlton Athletic from Liverpool F.C. for £2.5 million on 10 August 2004, and to Tottenham Hotspur on 31 January 2006 for £2 million.

He was previously a trainee at Crewe Alexandra where he was developed by Dario Gradi into a player of real Premiership quality. After signing for Liverpool, he did not break into the first team squad immediately and returned to Crewe for a successful period on loan. After the loan period ended, he became a first team regular at Anfield.

He has been capped for England nine times and has scored one goal. He was set to play at the 2002 World Cup, but had to withdraw from the squad after he suffered the dreaded metatarsal injury that had also affected England team mates David Beckham and Gary Neville in the run-up to the tournament. This injury has become somewhat infamous within English football. It was also the same injury that nearly prevented Wayne Rooney from playing in the 2006 World Cup in Germany four years later.

During Murphy's career at Liverpool, he developed an uncanny habit of scoring the winning goal against Manchester United at Old Trafford, a feat he achieved three times.

In his first season at Charlton Athletic, Murphy struggled to recapture the form that he had shown at Liverpool. However, in the first three months of the 2005/06 season he emerged as a viable option for England once more, and also won the September player of the month award, scoring several goals along the way.

On 31 January 2006, Murphy was transferred to Tottenham Hotspur for £2 million. He appeared only fleetingly in the remaining games of the season. Murphy scored his first Tottenham goal in the 2-1 defeat of Portsmouth on 1 October 2006 after only 39 seconds.

He scored his second goal for Tottenham in quite comical circumtances. Jermain Defoe was injured in a prematch warmup at St James Park so coach Martin Jol brought Murphy on for a 5-4-1. Murphy later scored a scissors kick when it smacked Taylor in the face, leaving keeper Shay Given helpless and just to watch on as the ball went into the net. Spurs lost the match 3-1

After the departure of Michael Carrick to Manchester United, Murphy is increasingly settled and becoming an important player in the new Spurs midfield, which is less dependent on any single player and more focused on the collective.

Murphy is married to actress Joanna Taylor and they celebrated the birth of their first child, Mya Eve Murphy, on August 15, 2006.

Murphys favourite squad number is 13, he wore this number at Liverpool, Charlton and now Tottenham.

[edit] Honours

Football League Cup: 2001, 2003
FA Cup: 2001
UEFA Cup: 2001
Charity Shield: 2001
European Super Cup: 2001

[edit] External links

Tottenham Hotspur F.C. - Current Squad
1 Robinson \| 2 Chimbonda \| 3 Lee Y.P. \| 4 Zokora \| 6 Tainio \| 7 Stalteri \| 8 Jenas \| 9 Berbatov \| 10 Keane \| 11 Mido \| 12 Černý \| 13 Murphy \| 14 Ghaly \| 15 Malbranque \| 17 Alnwick \| 18 Defoe \| 19 Taarabt \| 20 Dawson \| 22 Huddlestone \| 24 O'Hara \| 25 Lennon \| 26 King \| 28 Barnard \| 29 Ifil \| 30 Gardner \| 32 Assou-Ekotto \| 33 Rocha \| 35 Dervite \| 38 C. Lee \| 39 Barcham \| Manager: Jol