[2] Murphy started his professional career at Premier League side Middlesbrough in 2001, and remained at the club for three years, making sixteen appearances.

He left Middlesbrough for Scottish Premier League side Hibernian in the summer of 2004, and made 134 appearances for the club, before signing for Birmingham City in January 2008.

He played 132 matches for the club in all competitions, and was an unused substitute as they won the 2011 League Cup Final, but his six-year stay was blighted by injuries, and he retired from football on medical advice in March 2014.

Murphy signed his first professional contract with Premier League side Middlesbrough in August 2001, having previously been part of the club's youth academy.

[3][6] Three days later, he made his Premier League debut in a 2–1 victory over Fulham,[3] coming off the substitute's bench around the hour mark to replace Robbie Mustoe.

[10][11] A broken foot that failed to heal kept Murphy out of Middlesbrough's squad in 2003–04, so in order to regain fitness he joined Division Two side Barnsley on loan, initially for a month, in March 2004.

[12] He made his Barnsley debut in a 2–1 defeat against Sheffield Wednesday on 13 March; his mistake allowed striker Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu to score his second goal of the match.

On 6 October 2007, Murphy scored the winning goal in a 1–0 victory against Rangers at Ibrox Stadium to send Hibernian top of the league for the first time in seven years.

[24] Murphy made his first appearance of the 2011–12 season in the Europa League play-off round first leg against Portuguese club Nacional, the first time that Birmingham had participated in major European competition for nearly 50 years.

[28] After ten months out, he returned to first-team action in the starting eleven for the 4–1 win at home to Sheffield Wednesday in September 2013,[29] and scored twice as Birmingham beat Millwall 4–0 a few days later.