A resounding victory, rapturous applause and standing ovation at a packed Eamonn Deacy Park. Alex Murphy could not have wished for a more fitting send-off in his penultimate match for Galway United ahead of his move to Newcastle United.
This 18-year-old defender’s career so far has been fascinating. On one hand, he is a secondary school student who recently finished his fifth year in Claregalway; on the other he has represented Ireland at underage level, is a first team player with Galway and is about to move to the Premier League.
“It all happened very quickly,” explains the teenager. “I haven’t taken a step back and even looked at it, I was just going with it. I was in training at the end of 2020 with the first team, I played well in the training match and then for the start of the following season John [Caulfield] wanted me in for pre-season
“I was lucky because the starting left back got suspended and the other one was injured, so the coach took a chance on me when he could have played another first-team player out of position, which I am incredibly grateful for. I did well enough in my debut which saw me retain my place in the team
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“The Ireland stuff is unreal as well, because there is nothing better than representing your country. So yeah, it was an unreal year last year and this year has been a very good year as well.”
The newly signed Newcastle player credits his father as an early influence on the game, while also citing Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil van Dijk as other influential figures.
“My dad was a coach at my local club like, I used to just go down to the pitch at my local club Corrib Celtic and train from around four or five till I was about 13 or 14, until I left for Galway United. I love Van Dijk, I always try to model myself off him when I’m playing at centre back because he’s so calm, he is such a leader. In my younger years I used to look up to Ronaldo because I used to be a winger.
“The move to Newcastle started this year, and like before the season started, John and Jonathan Corbett [director] just rang my dad and told us they wanted to have a meeting with us. They just said Newcastle were going to put in a big offer, and they were likely to accept it because it was a good offer. They saw something in me and then they put in a bid and the rest is history.
“It’s a really good feeling, like one of the biggest clubs in England are after you. We were invited to watch one of the matches in February [v Everton] and went for a stadium tour. The stadium, everything about the place is incredible, everyone in the town supports the club and they are extremely passionate about the team and football in general.”
Murphy played in last week’s 3-0 win over Cobh Ramblers and received a rapturous applause from the home crowd.
“Before the match It was weird because everybody kept asking how I felt. I didn’t feel the pressure until during the match when I was a bit nervous as everyone was watching me, I got used to it after a while.
“When I got subbed off and everyone gave me a standing ovation. I didn’t cry but I got emotional. Seeing my coach give a speech and applause from the players in the dressingroom also made me emotional.”
