The 2000 League Cup last between Tranmere and Leicester was the sixteenth recreation of Joe Murphy’s first-team profession. The goalkeeper was 18 and standing nervously contained in the outdated Wembley tunnel when he was approached by his reverse quantity, Tim Flowers. “He stated I will need to have balls the scale of an elephant,” Murphy remembers.
Cup last reminiscences have been flooding again to Murphy since Martin O’Neill, Leicester’s supervisor for his or her 2-1 win in opposition to John Aldridge’s Tranmere, drew the 2 golf equipment collectively within the second spherical of the Carabao Cup.
Greater than 23 years and 650 membership appearances later Murphy, now 42, will once more be in purpose for Tranmere within the reunion on Tuesday, having been designated the League Two facet’s cup goalkeeper by the supervisor, Ian Dawes. The previous Republic of Eire worldwide’s final outing got here within the first‑spherical penalty shootout victory at Barnsley, who have been additionally Tranmere’s fourth-round opponents en path to Wembley in 1999-2000.
“It’s all a bit surreal,” says Murphy, who’s each participant and goalkeeping coach at Prenton Park today. “I’ve been full circle club-wise with coming again three years in the past to the place it began for me, and now this. It does make you’re feeling outdated.
“After I bought again into the group final season, eight of the beginning XI weren’t even born after I made my debut. It’s loopy, however good. That is the beginning of my fourth season again at Tranmere and it’s nice to be again on the membership that did a lot for me after I was younger.”
Murphy had not lengthy changed John Achterberg, now Liverpool’s goalkeeping coach, as Aldridge’s first alternative when Tranmere, on the time in what’s now the Championship, booked one other Wembley date. They have been overwhelmed by two Matt Elliott objectives, having had Clint Hill despatched off within the 63rd minute, because the then Premiership group nearly averted an upset.
“I perhaps didn’t take all of it in as a result of I used to be so younger, I most likely thought that is the best way it’s all the time going to be,” Murphy admits. “I keep in mind Tim Flowers saying a couple of good phrases to me within the tunnel earlier than we went out. He stated I will need to have balls the scale of an elephant. I’ll always remember that. He additionally stated: ‘Honest play, you’ve carried out so nicely.’ That was actually good of him. He didn’t need to say that. He may have gotten after me. I’d solely simply bought again within the group after being out for six weeks after breaking my collarbone within the quarter-finals in opposition to Middlesbrough.
“There was a minute’s silence for an outdated England legend, which was actually eerie and added to the nerves. It was very blustery and I keep in mind a load of balloons and confetti blowing into my purpose within the first half. My dad, my brother and a few buddies came to visit and we had a little bit of a shindig in Kensington afterwards with the membership. It was a such a giant achievement however only a pity that we couldn’t recover from that final hurdle. However we did nice.”
Murphy had made barely half a dozen appearances for Tranmere when the membership began to obtain critical affords for his signature, together with from Liverpool, the group he supported as a boy in Dublin. He remembers: “I bought a name from the Irish Examiner or the Irish Unbiased to say I’d gained an award and would I come again to the Burlington lodge in Dublin to gather it? So I flew residence, bought my tuxedo on and went to the lodge with my mam and pa.
“As I bought out of my brother’s outdated Honda Civic there have been about 40 to 50 paparazzi across the automobile. I walked over to the lodge and this huge burly man pulled me to 1 facet and stated: ‘Gérard Houllier needs to speak to you.’
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“I had no concept he was going to be there. He launched himself and stated: ‘We’d like to signal you. We now have Sander Westerveld for the time being however I need you to return in and push him.’ It was a one‑minute dialog with all these photographers proper in our face.
“It turned out Gérard was the visitor speaker and after I went up for my award the man presenting it introduced Liverpool have been inquisitive about me. I flew again the following morning and John Aldridge was not joyful. He’d discovered and it was like I’d organised it, however I had no clue. Liverpool put a proposal in, we rejected it, and nothing actually occurred after that. I feel we wished one thing like £4m, which was some huge cash again then for a lad who had solely performed 10 video games. I’m an enormous Liverpool fan so it was a giant shock, however it wasn’t meant to be. I’ve an image of me and Gérard having that dialog up in my lad’s room.”
Murphy’s profession path took him to West Brom, Walsall, Scunthorpe, Coventry, Huddersfield and Bury as a substitute, earlier than he rejoined Tranmere in 2020. Now he, like Flowers at Wembley, is the veteran meting out recommendation.
“I’d spoken to lots of people over time about whether or not twin roles work,” Murphy says. “Final yr I bought introduced again into the group by a scarcity of kind from our goalkeeper [Mateusz Hewelt] and that was troublesome as a result of I’m his coach and needed to clarify to him that I’m coming into the group. I discovered that troublesome however then it’s important to get your recreation head on and do what’s finest for the group. So long as I really feel match and powerful sufficient, and the membership really feel I can nonetheless contribute, I’ll do it. You’re a very long time retired.”
