Robert White Murdoch (17 August 1944 – 15 May 2001) was a Scottish professional footballer, who played as a midfielder for Celtic, Middlesbrough and Scotland.

Brought up in Rutherglen, he lived there for most of his life and attended local St. Columbkillle's Primary school (a classmate was Tommy McAvoy who went on to become the long-serving MP for the area),[4] before moving to Our Lady's High Secondary in Motherwell.

[5] He played for junior club Cambuslang Rangers for two years to gain experience before joining Celtic as a full-time professional.

[6] He still continued to score a handful of goals a season, knocking in shots from cutbacks by Bertie Auld or Jimmy Johnstone.

[5] His job at Middlesbrough had been made difficult by the fact that the club had sold star players such as Craig Johnston, David Armstrong and Mark Proctor[9] Murdoch won a total of 12 caps for Scotland, having to compete for selection with Jim Baxter and then Billy Bremner among others.

He scored six international goals in total, including the equaliser in a 1–1 draw against West Germany in 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification.

[10][8] A physically strong player who originally started out as an inside right, Murdoch flourished as a playmaker in the midfield under the leadership of Celtic manager Jock Stein, with teammate Bertie Auld as his partner.

[6] In 2016 his contribution was recognised with the unveiling of a plaque listing his achievements at the town hall in his hometown of Rutherglen; the ceremony was attended by family members, local dignitaries and former teammates.

James aka Jimmy was also on Celtic's books as a youth before signing provisionally with Cardiff City, and played at Junior level for Cumbernauld United.