Murdoch, Bobby

Bobby was born on August 17, 1944 in the Scottish town of Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire . There he attended elementary school of St. Columba ( born St. Columbkillle's Primary school ). After her graduation, Murdoch moved to Motherwell , where he began to study at the Virgin School ( Eng. Our Lady's High Secondary ). During his stay in this educational institution, Bobby played alongside his future partner in the Glasgow Celtic Billy McNill in the school football team ^[1] .

Club career

Celtic

In August 1959, Murdoch joined the Scottish football grand - the Celtic Glasgow club. The agreement meant only Bobby’s part-time football - under which he received three pounds a week. Murdoch compensated for the lack of money by working at a local metal-rolling plant ^[7] . In the same year, the Celts sent Bobby, under a lease agreement, to the Kambasleng Rangers youth club to receive game practice. Murdoch spoke for this team for two years, after which he returned to Celtic Park on an ongoing basis ^[7] .

The debut of a young football player in the Glasgow team took place on August 11, 1962, when the Celts met with the Hart of Midlotian as part of the Scottish League Cup ^[8] . The first “pancake” did not come out lumpy - Murdoch, hitting the Harts, helped his team win with a score of 3: 1 ^[9] .

Nevertheless, the first years in the ranks of the “Celts” at Bobby were uneven - the mentor of “Celtic” Jimmy McGrory did not really like the youth, preferring more experienced players to it ^[1] . The manager put Murdoch in the position of the right insider , although the young football player was not very impressed with his actions in this role on the game ^[10] . Everything changed with the advent of the “coaching bridge” of the Glock team Jock Stein in 1965. The specialist transferred Murdoch to the right midfield ^[7] , and this decision became correct: Bobby began to demonstrate a very high-quality and effective game ^{[1] [10]} . Together with Bertie Old and Jimmy Johnston, the player formed one of the sharpest trios of attacking midfielders in European football of the 60s ^{[1] [10]} . It is noteworthy that Bobby's contemporaries noted his non-football build, always present overweight, which, however, did not in any way affect Murdoch’s excellent playing qualities ^[1] . Also among the fans of Celtic there is still a legend that Jock Stein tried to fight the fullness of his ward, even once sending him to the clinic, where the player was put on a special diet. He returned to the Bobby team even more “heavyweight”, after which the manager abandoned attempts to influence the player’s weight ^[1] .

In total, during the time spent in the “Celtic”, Murdoch won eight Scottish champion titles and won the national Cup and League Cup five times ^[10] . Also in 1967, Bobby submitted to the European Cup. ^[2] In the final of this tournament, the Glazgovites outplayed the Italian Internationale 2-1 ^{[3] [10]} . Murdoch played an important role in the Celtic's winning goal - his shot on goal of the Nerazzurri was corrected by the forward of St Petersburg Chalmers , after which the ball flew into the net ^{[7] [10]} . Three years later, Bobby with the “Celts” again reached the final of the European Cup, but this time they were beaten in extra time by the Dutch Feyenoord ^[11] . According to the results of the 1968/69 season, Murdoch was recognized as " Player of the Year according to Scottish journalists. " ^[7] For 14 years, as a part of Celtic, the football player has played over 500 matches of various tournaments, scored 110 goals ^{[7] [8]} Jock Stein always emphasized his importance for the Celts: for example, at a press conference on a journalist’s question about ability Glazgovites repeat success in the European arena of 1967, the coach replied: “Yes, but on the condition that Bobby Murdoch will be in shape” ^[12] . The manager also once said that Bobby was “the best player I have ever coached” ^[7] .

Recent years in the Glasgow team for Bobby have been overshadowed by a series of injuries, respectively, prolonged inaction, after which he could hardly gain the best athletic form due to problems with overweight ^[10] . In 1973, Celtic mentor Jock Stein allowed Murdoch to leave the White-Green as a free agent ^[7] .

Middlesbrough

After leaving Glasgow, Murdoch joined the English Middlesbrough , becoming the first signing of Jack Charlton as Borough head coach. It is noteworthy that during the period of speaking for the “rivermen” Bobby took under his guardianship another future Scottish famous player and coach, Graham Sunness ^[7] . According to the results of Murdoch’s first season in England, his club, having won the Second Division , won the right to play in the country's top league ^[13] . For three years, Bobby played 125 matches for Middlesbrough and in 1976 announced the end of his career as a football player ^[7] .

Club statistics

Scotland Team

From 1965 to 1969, Murdoch defended the colors of the national team of Scotland . Bobby's debut as part of the “tartan army” took place on November 9, 1965, when the Highlanders outplayed opponents from Italy with a minimum score of 1: 0 as part of the 1966 World Cup qualifying tournament at their Hampden Park arena ^[14] . Already in his second game, which was the meeting of the UK Home Championship against Wales , Murdoch scored his first goals for the national team, scoring a “double” at the Welsh gate ^[15] . In total for the "tartan army" Bobby spent 12 matches ^[7] , scored six goals ^[4] . Such a small number of games for the national team is due to the fact that the mentors of the national team preferred Murdoch to other players, in particular, Billy Bremner and Jim Baxter ^[10] .

Scotland Matches and Goals

Total: 12 matches / 6 goals; 5 wins, 2 draws, 5 losses.

Summary statistics of games / goals for the national team

Scotland Football League Team

Also from 1965 to 1969, Murdoch was invited and played as part of the Scottish Football League team , which hosted friendly matches with similar teams from England , Ireland and Northern Ireland . In total for the club "highlanders" Bobby held five meetings ^[16] .

Scotland Football League Matches

Total: 5 matches / 0 goals; 2 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses.

Achievements

Team Achievements

  Celtic

• European Cup Winner: 1966/67
• Champion of Scotland (8) : 1965/66, 1966/67, 1967/68, 1968/69, 1969/70, 1970/71, 1971/72, 1972/73
• Scottish Cup Winner (5) : 1964/65, 1966/67, 1968/69, 1970/71, 1971/72
• Scottish League Cup Winner (5) : 1965/66, 1966/67, 1967/68, 1968/69, 1969/70
• Finalist of the European Cup : 1969/70
• Finalist of the Scottish Cup (4) : 1962/63, 1965/66, 1969/70, 1972/73
• Finalist of the Scottish League Cup (4) : 1964/65, 1970/71, 1971/72, 1972/73

  Middlesbrough

• Football League Second Division Winner : 1973/74

Personal Achievements

• Scottish Football Journalist Association Player of the Year : 1969
• Scottish Football Hall of Fame : Included in 2004

After graduating from his career as a football player in 1976, Murdoch remained at Middlesbrough, becoming the coach of the youth squads of rivermen ^[7] . In 1981, the Scot was appointed head coach of Boro. This experience was unsuccessful - in 54 games under the leadership of Bobby Middlesbrough was able to win only in nine ^{[5] [7]} . Murdoch resigned his post in September 1982 after the rivermen, following the 1981/82 season, flew out of the top English division ^{[7] [17]} .

Coaching Statistics

And - games, B - wins, N - draws, P - losses,% wins - percentage of victories

After retiring, Murdoch tried unsuccessfully as a football journalist. ^[7] In 1995, Bobby won a lawsuit against the Scottish Medical Appeals Committee because he suffered an ankle injury while playing for the Celtic, and he was compensated by the state ^[18] . In his last years, Bobby often appeared at Celtic Park as the official representative of the Glasgow club ^[7] . Murdoch died at 5 a.m. on May 15, 2001 from the effects of a stroke in the Victoria Hospital in Glasgow ^[1] . Bobby had Caitlin's wife, with whom he had been officially married since 1964, two sons and a daughter ^[19] . Murdoch was the first deceased footballer from the Lisbon Lions to win the 1967 European Cup ^[10] . After his death, Bobby was inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame , this happened in 2004 ^[6] .

Elenio Herrera , head coach of the Italian International (after the final duel of the European Cup 1967):

Jock Stein , head coach of Celtic 1965-1978:

Jim Craig , Celtic player 1965-1972:

Graham Sunness , Murdoch's Middlesbrough teammate:

Jimmy McGrory , head coach of Celtic 1945-1965:

Jack Charlton , Middlesbrough Head Coach 1973-1977:

Billy McNill , player and captain of the Celtic 1957-1975:

• Worldfootball.net profile
• Bobby Murdoch's profile on Neal Brown's football statistics website
• Statistics of Bobby Murdoch's performances for Celtic on fitbastats.com football statistics website
• Bobby Murdoch on the Scottish Football Association website
• Coach profile on soccerbase.com
• National Football Teams profile