A decade on, Matt Murray recalls day he knew Wolves game was up

Sounds like the start to any great story.

If ever there was a contest befitting of the Steel City it was Mick McCarthy’s highflying Wolves tackling Neil Warnock’s streetwise Sheffield United in front of almost 30,000 at Bramall Lane back in 2008...writes Paul Berry

Wolves won the game 3-1 thanks to some fantastic finishing from Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Chris Iwelumo, but ended up with more injuries than goals as Dave Edwards, Carl Ikeme and David Jones had all been substituted before the start of the second half and Michael Kightly suffered a broken nose in the closing stages.

And yet, it was an injury approximately 230 miles away that hung painfully in the South Yorkshire air on that brutal night and made for a far more subdued dressing room than would be expected given the posting of such a crucial win, Wolves’ seventh in succession as they surged clear at the top of the Championship table.

Goalkeeper Matt Murray was on his way back from another in a string of serious injuries and was three games into a loan spell working with former Wolves manager Graham Turner at Hereford United.

In the first of those matches – at home to Cheltenham – by his own admission, Murray had produced ‘one of the best games of my life’. Hereford won 3-0.

At MK Dons however, sadly, it was a very different story.

The game was goalless on 54 minutes, when, Murray collapsed in a heap after launching a clearance and was stretchered off in agony.

News of that devastating disappointment had found its way back to Bramall Lane via messages to Wolves goalkeeping coach Pat Mountain and head of medical Steve Kemp.

For Murray, it was the beginning of the end when it came to a career which promised so much and delivered plenty, but could still, with a bit more good fortune, have reached the sort of heights which both his talent and determination deserved.

It is now ten years since he officially announced his retirement at the age of 29.

And that night in Milton Keynes, just under two years previously, was the first time thoughts entered Murray’s head that perhaps, unfortunately, the writing was on the wall.

The loan spell had been designed to ease Murray back into competitive action with a view to joining a youthful and talented Wolves goalkeeping department then featuring Ikeme and Wayne Hennessey.

Murray would train with Hereford one day a week alongside continuing to work at Compton Park and Wolves were covering all his wages, amplifying Mick McCarthy’s desire to get his initial first choice glovesman back into the fray.

McCarthy knew the ability that he would have at his disposal if Murray were fit and firing on all cylinders.

A giant strapping goalkeeper with incredible instincts who loved coming for crosses, who defied his nerves to burst onto the scene in spectacular fashion during the 2002/03 season, and saved a penalty in the play-off final against Sheffield United as Wolves ended a 19-year absence from England’s top division on an unforgettable afternoon at the Milliennium Stadium.

The same keeper who was then the last line of defence for much of McCarthy’s first Wolves season, helping a hastily-assembled team of untried rookies with a sprinkling of experience somehow reach the play-offs, including one performance in a nine-man victory against Norwich at Carrow Road which, even now, defies all goalkeeping logic.

That was what McCarthy knew he could have available – but sadly it just wasn’t to be.

“I’d got myself back fit again for that loan spell and I’m not just saying this, that first game for Hereford against Cheltenham was one of the best I have played in my life,” Murray recalls.

“Forget the play-off final, forget when we beat Albion, that game at Norwich, I just felt so good.

“When it came to Hereford, I had come through injuries like a cruciate, broken shoulder, broken foot, and was at the stage where I was going to make sure that I properly enjoyed every single game that I played. Then, I just hit a ball, and my knee completely snapped.

“The patella tendon had ruptured and the pain? Well I can’t even describe it.

“It was completely different to a cruciate – my kneecap was halfway up my thigh – and all of a sudden I am there, laid out, lying on a stretcher.

“You have to get a lift at MK Dons to get back out of the stadium and there were three big roars while I was in there as Hereford conceded goals.

“It is difficult to completely describe how I felt, because there was a lot going on in my life at that time, the sort of stuff that I know lots of people have to go through – the human side – which affects footballers just like it does anyone else.

“My wife at the time was pregnant with our second child, my landlord who I had lived with when I was in the academy had just suffered a massive stroke, and my nan, who would pass away shortly afterwards, was really ill in hospital.

“My stepdad was at the game and went to fetch my stuff, and so were my good mates Dave and Rob, and when I got into the ambulance, I phoned Keaney (Robbie Keane).

“I’ll never be ashamed to say I properly burst into tears at that moment, everything just came flooding out.”

As ever though, Murray was ready to fight and do everything in his power to try and get back from yet another severe setback.

Gradually he worked his way back, featuring in an Under-23 fixture against Birmingham in which he actually provided an assist with a long clearance before being forced off having found it impossible to lever himself off the ground to claim a cross.

Murray was then among Wolves’ travelling party for the pre-season tour of Ireland in 2010, which included a lively open training session in front of a sizeable number of fans.

“I knew my knee wasn’t knitted together properly, and that was after I had got it as strong as I could,” Murray explains.

“I could shift some serious weights – I was almost like an Olympic lifter – but it was all straight line stuff.

“I was loving that open training session in Ireland, throwing myself around and making saves.

“But it just came to the time when due to the insurance and, talking to specialists, I just had to call it a day, knowing that there would be no regrets because I had well and truly given my all.”

And so, on that August 26 a decade ago, Murray’s career officially came to a close.

“The messages I had, the amount of letters and emails, the anecdotes, they were all incredible,” Murray recalls.

“They made my old man cry as he went through all of them.”

Wolves, too, were equally supportive.

“Jez (Moxey), Richard Skirrow, Mick, TC (Terry Connor), everyone was just brilliant with me,” Murray says.

“When it became clear I was struggling, and the specialist was advising retirement, legally Wolves only needed to pay me for six months, but they committed to near enough a full year. They gave me an ambassador role with what is now the Wolves Foundation, and a routine, which helped provide time and space as I tried to come to terms with it all and decide what I was going to do next.

“They treated me so well, and I will never ever forget it.”

Murray himself had already started preparing for life after playing, heading off on a coaching journey which would culminate in completing his ‘A’ licence in both outfield and goalkeeping, as well as doing some co-commentaries for Wolves TV’s radio service as he tested the water in media circles.

“I had already started doing my badges by the time I retired, as well as bits of media,” he says.

“I would drive anywhere to do a game for Sky at whatever notice, I would coach the Soccer Schools at Wolves with Rob Edwards, working for nothing, because that is how I could get experience, and that is how TC started.

“I was just doing everything I could.”

Murray has progressed to the role of a highly respected pundit with Sky Sports.

From a lively start – his first assignment was the Wolves/Liverpool game after which Richard Keys and Andy Gray lost their jobs and the second Wigan/Wolves when Karl Henry saw red after ten minutes – he is now regularly seen sparring with the likes of Graeme Souness in the Sky Sports studio or being the butt of light-hearted humour when going ‘viral’ after being caught on camera checking out his appearance!

“My partner Natalie will tell you I watch a hell of a lot of football, driving up and down the country, taking a lot of calls, but I find it really rewarding,” he says.

“If I can play a part in some younger players starting to live their dreams, like TC and Bobby did for me, then I don’t really see it as working.

“When it comes to Sky, I always want to be true to myself and offer an opinion, and it’s never personal with anyone.”

It is no surprise that he remains slightly wistful about what might have been, because anyone who saw him play will tell you – he was that good.

“I wanted to be the first black manager of England, but circumstances have changed and I am very happy with what I am doing now,” he explains.

“I’ve got a fantastic partner, three beautiful daughters, a lovely step-daughter and a healthy son who is wicked.

“So ten years since I retired? Wow. It’s just flown by…”