Jimmy Murphy

Jimmy Murphy is often referred to as the man who saved Manchester United after the Munich Air Disaster. As the board members advocated shutting down the club for a period, Murphy, Matt Busby’s assistant manager at Old Trafford, who had missed the fateful trip to Germany because he was managing the Welsh team, made it business as usual. Within a few months they were at Wembley playing in the 1958 FA Cup final.

As a player, he won Welsh Schoolboy caps before heading to the Midlands to join West Brom. He played more than 200 times for the Baggies between 1928–1939 and played in the 1935 FA Cup final defeat to Sheffield Wednesday. He won 15 caps for Wales and managed his country between 1956-64, taking them to the World Cup finals in Sweden in 1958.

He enjoyed remarkable success alongside Matt Busy at Manchester United, where he was assistant manager 1955–1971. Prior to that he had been chief coach (1946–1955), reserve team manager (1946–1964). He continued his link with the club as a scout all the way up to 1989. During his time at Old Trafford the club won the following titles:

First Division: 1951–52, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1964–65, 1966–67
FA Cup: 1947–48, 1962–63
FA Charity Shield: 1952, 1956, 1957, 1965 (shared), 1967 (shared)
European Cup: 1967–68
The Central League: 1946–47, 1955–56, 1959–60
FA Youth Cup: 1952–53, 1953–54, 1954–55, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1963–64

Manchester United set-up the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year award in his honour. Among the winners are Danny Welbeck and Marcus Rashford.

James Patrick Murphy (Footballer and Football Manager) Born in Pentre on 8 August, 1910; Died in Manchester on 14 November, 1989