Safe hands.

My last player bio was about a player who I thought no longer thought wanted to be in the team or at the club in general. Today I’m writing about a completely different breed of player all together. There is nobody in the current squad who I’d rather see pull on the colours of Wolves than Matt Murray. It genuinely saddens me to see him struggle throughout his career with persistent, heavy and destructive injuries.

From the very first time I saw Matt Murray play (way back in the reserves, when we still played reserve games at home) I was excited by every (well nearly every) aspect of his game. If you disregard his weak distribution, Matt Murray is everything you want from a keeper. At the time, late 2002, we were struggling under Michael Oakes, who for too long had flapped and flailed at crosses and corners. Murray came in and with his gigantic, hulking 6’4 ½“ frame and picked up every single ball that had the audacity to have been put into his box. His reactions were razor sharp too, and I believe he was a massive part of us reaching the play-offs, he was the man who turned losses into draws, and draws into wins. He was an awesome, intimidating figure in the box.

It would be the play off final where, perhaps, he played his greatest game in a Wolves jersey. That day he was simply magnificent. When everybody in the stadium thought Paul Ince had deflected his defensive header into his own net Murray reached out one of his strong shovel like palms and pushed it to safety. Likewise, at the start of the second half, another key moment in the game came when United were gifted a penalty. Murray was presented with Michael Brown staring at him from the penalty spot. What happened next is a Wolves memory I’ll never forget. Having not been able to get tickets me and me da were watching the game round our neighbours’. I remember my dad saying, “why the hell is he standing so far over?” I remember replying “He knows what he’s doing”…secretly hoping he actually did.

As you can see from the video, he does indeed stand to his right of centre of his line. Stops. Raises his huge arms to their limit till they touch the crossbar and then jumps on the spot expectantly. He’s psyching Brown out. He’s telling him to try and shoot into the empty net. As Brown hits the ball, if you pause, Murray has already moved back into the centre of his goal, within a split second he’s dived across the open goal to claw out Brown’s shot, he gets up, and he smothers the follow up. The Millennium Stadium erupts; as does my next door neighbours house. It’s a memory that still gives me shivers.

At that point in time I truly believe along with a fair few people in the footballing world that Matt Murray was England’s finest. It’s a sad fact that I think if it weren’t for his injury problems, Matt would still be pushing for an England call up. However that’s where the problem lies for Matt, his injuries. Speaking from the experience of having torn my cruciate ligament and ripping my cartilage (at the same time) some years ago, coming back from injury is one of the worst experiences you’ll ever go through. I broke down twice in my fight to come back, re doing my cruciate a final time two years ago, that’s it for me. I had my surgery and I’ve given up. But for Matt to keep coming back, it shows immense mental strength, fortitude and pure guts. Because that’s what the hardest part is, the mental side. Until you have a major injury, you think you’re invincible; you’ll chuck yourself into anything. Once you’ve had an operation, been on crutches for a month, you play with fear. It’s hard to get back to what you were.

I can only hope that Murray can get back to the player I saw and idolised nearly five years ago, and that’s genuine. He’s got a chance at Hereford now to get some games under his belt, I’m sure I’m not alone in wishing him the best of luck. The only thing he’s ever lacked from his game is luck, there aren’t many players you could say the same for.

Category: History

Tags: bio, History, Legends

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