Alexander James Murphy OBE (born 22 April 1939) is an English former professional rugby league footballer, and coach of the mid to late 20th century.
[10] Born in St. Helens, Lancashire on 22 April 1939,[8] Murphy was brought up in Thatto Heath, and at ten years of age had played in both the junior and senior XIIIs at St Austin's School.
[16] On the 1962 Ashes tour he suffered a shoulder injury which caused him to miss three months of the domestic season[8] and there was some speculation he would never play again.
Alex Murphy played at centre and scored a conversion in St. Helens' 35–12 victory over Halifax in the Championship Final during the 1965–66 season at Station Road, Swinton on Saturday 28 May 1966, in front of a crowd of 30,165.
Alex Murphy played scrum-half, and scored a try in St. Helens' 12–6 victory over Wigan in the 1961 Challenge Cup Final during the 1960–61 season at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 13 May 1961, in front of a crowd of 94,672, and played at centre and scored a conversion in the 21–2 victory over Wigan in the 1966 Challenge Cup Final during the 1965–66 season at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 21 May 1966, in front of a crowd of 98,536.
Alex Murphy played scrum-half in St. Helens' 2–12 defeat by Oldham in the 1958 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1958–59 season at Station Road, Swinton on Saturday 25 October 1958, played scrum-half in the 4–5 defeat by Warrington in the 1959 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1959–60 season at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 31 October 1959, played scrum-half in the 15–9 victory over Swinton in the 1960 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1960–61 season at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 29 October 1960, played scrum-half, and scored a try in the 25–9 victory over Swinton in the 1961 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1961–62 season at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 11 November 1961, played scrum-half in the 15–4 victory over Leigh in the 1962 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1962–63 season at Station Road, Swinton on Saturday 26 October 1963, and played scrum-half in the 12–4 victory over Swinton in the 1964 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1964–65 season at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 24 October 1964.
At the end of September, Murphy submitted a written transfer request to the St. Helens board who accepted it, putting him on the list at £12,000.
Alex Murphy played scrum-half, and was the coach, and was man-of-the-match winning the Lance Todd Trophy in Leigh's 24–7 victory over Leeds in the 1971 Challenge Cup Final during the 1970–71 season at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 15 May 1971, in front of a crowd of 85,514.
[10] Alex Murphy played scrum-half, and scored a conversion in Leigh's 2–11 defeat by Swinton in the 1969 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1969–70 season at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 1 November 1969, and played scrum-half in the 7–4 victory over St. Helens in the 1970 Lancashire Cup Final replay during the 1970–71 season at Station Road, Swinton on Saturday 28 November 1970.
Alex Murphy played scrum-half, and was the coach in Leigh's 5–8 defeat by Castleford in the 1967 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1967–68 season at Headingley, Leeds on Saturday 16 January 1968, and played scrum-half, was the coach, and scored a conversion in the 11–6 victory over Wigan in the 1969 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1969–70 season at Central Park, Wigan on Tuesday 16 December 1969.
The highlight was when Murphy coached, captained and played stand-off in Warrington's 24–9 victory over Featherstone Rovers in the 1974 Challenge Cup Final during the 1973–74 season at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 11 May 1974, in front of a crowd of 77,400.
During his time as the Warrington coach, his old rivals, Widnes succeeded in reaching another Challenge Cup final in 1976, their opponents being St. Helens.
Alex Murphy was the coach in Warrington's 4–0 victory over Featherstone Rovers in the 1973–74 Captain Morgan Trophy Final during the 1973–74 season at The Willows, Salford on Saturday 26 January 1974, in front of a crowd of 5,259.
St Helens lost by one point to Halifax, and were humiliated by Wigan in an error-ridden performance two years later, losing 27–0, becoming the first side ever held scoreless in a Challenge Cup Final at Wembley.
Knowing that no side had ever been held scoreless in a Cup Final at Wembley and not wanting his St. Helens to be the first, Murphy frantically gestured from the sideline to team captain Paul Vautin to take the kick at goal despite the scoreline.
This led to tension between Murphy and Vautin for a number of years until they worked together for the Australian Nine Network during television coverage of The Ashes series during the 1994 Kangaroo tour.