Colin Murphy (footballer born 1950)

Colin Murphy (born 1944) is a former football player and manager who has taken charge of numerous clubs during a long management career, including Derby County, Lincoln City, , Al Ittihad, Southend United, Shelbourne, Notts County, Cork City, the Vietnam national side and Burmese national side.

Murphy had a brief career in semi-professional football for several non-league clubs in the early 1970s. These included Gravesend & Northfleet, Folkestone Town and Hastings United. However he failed to break through into professional football. Turning to coaching, Murphy began coaching at Nottingham Forest and Notts County. He was then quickly catapulted into the spotlight when Derby County surprisingly appointed him as their manager in November 1976, having been reserve team coach under Championship winning Dave MacKay. However, he lasted only ten months in the role before being sacked in September 1977 having led the Rams to just seven wins in 35 games. He was replaced by Tommy Docherty.

After a brief break from football, Murphy took charge of a struggling Lincoln City side that was beset by financial problems and had just completed a lacklustre campaign in Division Four. In arguably his most successful period in management, Murphy secured Lincoln’s promotion to Division Three in the 1980–81 season with a second-place finish behind Southend United, thanks in large measure to Gordon Hobson's 21 goals. The following season was almost as successful, with the Imps knocking out First Division side Leicester City in the League Cup, eventually losing to Spurs, and leading the Division Three table for four months. A loss of form, possibly in part caused by a fierce boardroom row over transfer budgets, resulted in Lincoln throwing away their advantage and finishing in a disappointing sixth place.

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