Biography
Irish international outside right Terry Murray joined the Tigers in September 1951, a few days after Raich Carter stepped down as City manager and four months after he made his Ireland international debut. Making the step up from the Irish League to the English Second Division took some time and he didn’t make his senior debut until the end of 1951/52 season, when the fear of relegation had been averted. Terry put in an impressive debut performance in a 1-0 victory over Everton and started the last two games of the season, both of which were also won.
At the start of the 1952/53 season new manager Bob Jackson turned to Murray at inside right and he started the first five games without scoring. A reshuffled forward line meant Terry lost his place and he didn’t reappear until November, when he started two games on the right wing, and December when he was handed the inside left shirt. Murray scored his first City goal in early December 1952, during a 6-0 defeat of Notts County, then scored again a fortnight later when he netted the only goal of the game against Everton. Despite these goals Murray was again sidelined and had to wait until the end of January to return to the first XI, settling into the inside left berth for the rest of the season and adding further goals in wins against Rotherham, Plymouth and Birmingham. Murray was largely overlooked by the Tigers for the 1953/54 season, making four starts in late September and scoring in a win over Brentford. He then made a fifth and final appearance at Lincoln in late December before leaving the Tigers in March 1954 having failed to fulfil the promise he showed when signed.
Terence Murray was born in Dublin and came through the junior football system in the Irish capital immediately after World War 2, winning junior trophies with his side St Pauls and earning a call-up to the Ireland junior international side, for whom he scored twice in April 1948 against their Scottish counterparts. In September 1948 he signed for Irish League side Dundalk and quickly became a first team regular. In the 1949/50 season Murray scored 16 goals playing on the right wing, form that led to a full international call-up in May 1950. He served Dundalk for another year and a half, when he left the club for Hull City in September 1951 he had scored 22 goals in 101 appearances.
Murray joined Division Three South side Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic in March 1954 for a £3,000 fee, good business for a player who had struggled for first team action during nearly three years at Boothferry Park. He started the last seven games of the season for Bournemouth, opening his goals account with an April 1954 equaliser against Shrewsbury, but missed most of the 1954/55 season due to injury, only returning to action in late March 1955 when he made a further six starts.
Terry was released by Bournemouth in the 1955 close season and in July 1955 he joined Southern League side King’s Lynn. After scoring 12 times in 30 starts for the Norfolk side he transferred to Bedford Town in July 1956, during five seasons at Bedford Terry scored 37 times in 230 starts and helped The Eagles win the Southern League title in the 1958/59 season – in his later years he moved from the forward line to a half back role. In the 1961 close season he was appointed player-manager at United Counties League side Rushden Town, a role he fulfilled for three years. When he hung up his boots in 1964 Terry reverted to a coaching role for Rushden, which he maintained until 1970 while pursuing a second career in insurance sales. Murray settled in Bedford and lived in a fine suburban home for the rest of his days, dying in October 2017.
Murray was a Ireland junior international while playing for St Pauls and was a regular choice while at Dundalk for the Irish League XI that played representative sides from other British and European leagues. In May 1950 he was awarded his only full international cap for a friendly match against Belgium in Brussels, Ireland’s first international match played under floodlights.
Details
Nationality: Ireland
Date/Place of Birth: 22 May 1928, Dublin
Hull City First Game: 14 April 1952, Everton H (Division Two), 23 years, 328 days old
Hull City Final Game: 28 December 1953, Lincoln City A (Division Two), 25 years, 220 days old
Clubs
St Pauls (1946-1948), Dundalk (1948-1951), Hull City (1951-1954), Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic (1954-1955), King’s Lynn (1955-1956), Bedford Town (1956-1961), Rushden Town (1961-1964)
Hull City Record
Career: 33 apps, 6 goals
Terry Murray| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951/52 | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1952/53 | 24 | 5 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1953/54 | 5 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |