 Murray training in 2009 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ian William Murray[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1981-03-20)20 March 1981 (age 44) | ||
| Place of birth | Edinburgh, Scotland | ||
| Position | Utility player | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Hutchison Vale[2][3] | |||
| 1998–1999 | Dundee United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1999–2005 | Hibernian | 141 | (13) |
| 2000–2001 | →Alloa Athletic (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 2005–2007 | Rangers | 43 | (0) |
| 2007–2008 | Norwich City | 9 | (0) |
| 2008–2012 | Hibernian | 112 | (0) |
| 2012 | Brechin City (trialist) | 1 | (0) |
| Total | 308 | (13) | |
| International career | |||
| 2002–2006 | Scotland | 6 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2012–2015 | Dumbarton | ||
| 2015 | St Mirren | ||
| 2018–2022 | Airdrieonians | ||
| 2022–2024 | Raith Rovers | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Ian William Murray (born 20 March 1981) is a Scottishfootball player and coach, who was most recently the manager ofScottish Championship clubRaith Rovers.
During his playing career, Murray representedHibernian,Alloa Athletic (on loan),Rangers andNorwich City. He also played forScotland in six full internationals between 2002 and 2006. His versatility meant that he was deployed in a variety of roles in his career, includingcentre back,full back andmidfielder. Murray stated that he preferred to play at centre back or central midfield.[4]
Murray started his career with Hibs, andcaptained the club during the 2004–05 season. He signed forRangers under freedom of contract in 2005, but he was troubled with injuries during his time atIbrox club and was eventually diagnosed with a form ofarthritis.[5] He was released byRangers in August 2007 and signed forNorwich City, but fell out of favour there after a managerial change. He returned to Hibs in January 2008, and was made vice captain of the team in July 2009.[6]
Murray left Hibs in May 2012 and was appointed player/manager ofDumbarton later that year. After two and a half years in charge of Dumbarton, he was appointed manager ofSt Mirren on 22 May 2015.[7] He resigned from this position in December 2015.[8] After a spell coaching in Norway, Murray was appointedAirdrieonians manager in October 2018, where he would stay for four seasons. In May 2022, he was appointed manager ofRaith Rovers. After 7th and 2nd place finishes in the Scottish Championship, he was sacked by Raith in August 2024.
Born inEdinburgh, Murray made his debut forHibernian againstDundee Utd on 22 January 2000 and he scored his first goal for the club in his second appearance, a 4–1 win againstDunfermline. He missed most of the 2003–04 season due to a knee injury.[9] After returning from injury, he was made captain ofHibs in the2004–05 season and formed a defensive partnership withGary Caldwell.[10]
Murray joinedRangers on aBosmanfree transfer in the summer of 2005, but injuries troubled him during his time at the club.[5] It was eventually diagnosed that he was suffering fromreactive arthritis.[5] His return to the team againstMotherwell was managerPaul Le Guen's last match in charge.
Murray signed forNorwich City following hisrelease by Rangers in August 2007.[4] He made his Norwich debut againstHull City two days later, but he had a difficult start to his Norwich career due to illness. He was substituted at half-time in a League Cup tie at Rochdale after a dreadful performance, with Norwich manager Peter Grant admitting afterwards that he should not have played Murray as the player was unwell. His health problems continued as he was ruled out of subsequent matches.[11]
Grant left the club in October 2007, and Murray failed to establish himself in the Norwich first team under new bossGlenn Roeder.[12] In an interview given after his departure, Murray said of Roeder, "It was the first time in my life I felt like chucking it during a game, a lot of the players felt that way. He's an angry man, not nice to play for."[13]
After leavingNorwich, Murray moved back to his first club,Hibernian, on a contract until the end of the2007–08 season;[14] he subsequently signed a deal to keep him at the club until 2010.[15] He was a candidate for the Hibs captaincy afterRob Jones left forScunthorpe United in the summer of 2009.[16] New managerJohn Hughes decided to give the armband toChris Hogg, with Murray serving as vice captain.[6]
Midway through the 2009–10 season, Hibs opened contract talks with Murray, whose contract was due to expire in the summer of 2010.[17] At the same time, he started coachingEast of Scotland Football League clubColdstream on a part-time basis.[18] A two-year contract extension was agreed in February 2010.[19]
Murray spent the majority of his second spell at Hibs as aleft back, although managerColin Calderwood used him as adefensive midfielder to good effect as Hibs won 3–0 against Rangers in November 2010.[20] TheDaily Record newspaper commented that Murray showed leadership qualities which had been previously lacking in a struggling Hibs side.[20] He was appointed captain, on a temporary basis until the end of the season, whenChris Hogg was released by the club.[21]
Murray was awarded atestimonial by Hibs in the 2011–12 season.[22] He played regularly in the early part of the season, but appeared infrequently after suffering an injured hip.[23][24] He left Hibs in May 2012, at the end of his contract.[24][25] Over his two spells at the club he made 296 appearances in all competitions, scoring 17 goals.[26]
After leaving Hibs, Murray had a trial spell with American clubTampa Bay Rowdies.[27] He then returned to Scotland and played as a trialist forDunfermline in a pre-season friendly match.[27] He played forBrechin City in aScottish Second Division match on 1 September 2012 as a trialist.[28]
Murray captained theScotland Under-21 side. His debut for thefull national team came as a substitute againstCanada in October 2002, in a 3–1 win. He did not win another cap until two years later, when he came on at half time in a2006 FIFA World Cup qualification match againstMoldova, which ended in a 1–1 draw. His only start for the national team was in a 1–0 home defeat againstBelarus, during which Murray was substituted at half time. In total he has won six caps for Scotland.[29] He admitted in October 2009 that his international career was over, after he was overlooked for selection byGeorge Burley for afriendly match againstJapan.[29]
At the age of 31, Murray moved into management when he was appointedDumbarton manager in November 2012.[30][31] His managerial debut was delayed due to bad weather postponing fixtures following his appointment.[32] He finally made his bow on 17 December in a 3–1 defeat toHamilton in the fourth round of theScottish Cup. Dumbarton's league results dramatically improved after Murray was appointed and he was voted First Division manager of the month for January 2013.[33] He eventually led the Sons to safety from relegation, which was secured with a 3–2 win atCowdenbeath.[34] In his first full season in charge, Dumbarton finished just below the promotion play-off positions and reached the quarter-final of the2013–14 Scottish Cup. He signed a new two-year contract with Dumbarton in May 2014.[35] He did not register himself as a player for the 2014/15 season.[36]
He left the club to joinSt Mirren on 22 May 2015, having won 41 of his 108 games in charge.[7]
Murray took over from Saints interim managerGary Teale, and penned a two-year deal to manage the club.[37] Despite Murray being appointed a day before the end of the2014–15 season, Teale remained in charge for the final game.[37] In November, St Mirren replaced Mark Alexander Spalding withAlex Miller as assistant manager, in an attempt to turn around a bad start to the season.[8] Murray resigned on 12 December, after a 1–0 defeat against his former club Dumbarton.[8]
On 21 December 2016 it was revealed that he was becoming assistant manager of Norwegian clubAsker on 1 January 2017.[38]
Murray returned to Scottish football in October 2018, when he was appointed manager ofLeague One clubAirdrieonians.[39] He signed a new contract with Airdrie in September 2019.[40] Murray would get Airdrie to 2nd in League One, and in the Championship play-off final in2020–21 and2021–22, but would fall at the last hurdle both times againstGreenock Morton andQueen's Park respectively.[41][42]
On 24 May 2022,Scottish Championship sideRaith Rovers announced that they had signed Murray on a two-year contract following the expiry of his contract with Airdrieonians.[43][44]
However on the 4 August 2024, Murray was sacked just two months after almost winning promotion to thePremiership.
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Europe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | ||
| Hibernian[26] | 1999–00 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
| 2000–01 | 21 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 1 | |
| 2001–02 | 32 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 40 | 2 | |
| 2002–03 | 36 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 10 | |
| 2003–04 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 2 | |
| 2004–05 | 29 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 1 | |
| Total | 141 | 13 | 15 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 166 | 17 | |
| Alloa (loan) | 2000–01 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Rangers[46] | 2005–06 | 30 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 42 | 0 |
| 2006–07 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 0 | |
| Total | 43 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 60 | 0 | |
| Norwich | 2007–08 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| Hibernian | 2007–08 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 |
| 2008–09 | 28 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 0 | |
| 2009–10 | 34 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 0 | |
| 2010–11 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 0 | |
| 2011–12 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | |
| Total | 112 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 130 | 0 | |
| Brechin City | 2012–13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Career total | 308 | 13 | 27 | 2 | 17 | 2 | 18 | 0 | 370 | 17 | |
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland[47][48] | 2002 | 1 | 0 |
| 2003 | — | ||
| 2004 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2005 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2006 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 6 | 0 | |
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Dumbarton | 22 November 2012 | 22 May 2015 | 108 | 41 | 15 | 52 | 037.96 |
| St Mirren | 22 May 2015 | 12 December 2015 | 21 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 023.81 |
| Airdrieonians | 19 October 2018 | 24 May 2022 | 143 | 67 | 28 | 48 | 046.85 |
| Raith Rovers | 24 May 2022 | 4 August 2024 | 105 | 47 | 26 | 32 | 044.76 |
| Total | 376 | 160 | 75 | 141 | 042.55 | ||
|title=Ian Murray managerial positions