Bryan Murphy: Beaufort to Croker
Bryan, a Beaufort native, joined Athletic in 1991 as a teenager after being encouraged to do so by his good friend Brian ‘James’ O’Shea who also played in the team led by Toirdealbhach Ó Lionáird and managed by Vince Casey.
Bryan recalls his first success with the club was when they won the under-15 cup in the 1991/92 season. Bryan attributes the development of his game to a number of people involved in Killarney Athletic at underage level at the time. “Mikey O'Sullivan, Vince Casey, Donie Murphy, Denny Hayes, Bill Davidson and Brian 'Mac' McCarthy contributed a huge amount to my development as a young goalkeeper and playing in the 7-a-side in the ‘Áras’ was always a pleasure”.
Kennedy Cup & International Trials
Impressing with Killarney Athletic between the posts brought him selection on the Kerry Kennedy Cup team in the 1991 season that also included Toirdealbhach. Both were also part of a historical Kerry win over a Welsh under 15 national team in the 1992/93 season and together they attended Irish trials that same year.
Bryan remembers the disappointment of losing the youths All Ireland final in the 1993/94 season when a late equaliser by the Leinster senior league brought the game to extra time and a penalty shoot-out that they lost.
His performances attracted the attention of Mick McCarthy’s Millwall and he went on trial to them in 1993, but an injury he picked up worked against him.
1st Athletic Player to Play League of Ireland
Bryan played in goal for the winning Kerry minor team in 1994 under the stewardship of Charlie Nelligan who himself had been sought after by League of Ireland clubs. With the ambition of getting a US scholarship through soccer Bryan attended Colaiste Ide Senior College in Dublin for a one year course. The decision proved successful in every way as he won 3 Leinster Cups and 1 under-18 All Ireland title in the 1994/95 season. This drummed up interest from a number of League of Ireland clubs at the time but he decided to play for 1st division side Kilkenny City who were essentially made up of a ‘team of amateur teenagers’.
As a 17 year old goalkeeper Bryan described his experience with Kilkenny City as being the “busiest goalkeeper in Europe”.
Scholarship to Boston University
Bryan accepted a full four year soccer scholarship to Boston University in 1995 and made his collegiate debut in Las Vegas Nevada. Boston was the number one ranked college team in the US during that time and this was a very difficult ranking to achieve. Bryan won 3 championships with the college in 1995/96/97 and the side qualified for the prestigious NCAA tournament in each year.
International Call-Up
Bryan’s success attracted him to be selected for the Irish team that competed in the 1997 World Student Games hosted in Sicily. Bryan remembers that a good victory against Holland secured a top 8 finish while he was also pleased with his own performance in the tournament. “The support I got from Killarney Athletic and some business people in Killarney at the time was very much appreciated”.
When Bryan returned to Dublin in 1999 he again played with a number of Dublin first division sides before another brief spell with Kilkenny City. He soon returned to his Gaelic football roots and was on the Dublin senior football panel that won the 2002 & 2005 Leinster titles. He is presently involved in a coaching capacity with the Dublin Football management under Dessie Farrell.
Bryan has also played Leinster Senior League with Belgrove FC and more recently with his ‘now’ local team Templeogue Utd. and won the Polikoff Cup with them in 2008/09 season. As well as running close to 3 hour marathons Bryan has recently qualified as an official FAI referee and is looking forward to this new challenge. Bryan’s younger brother Sean was also a talented soccer player and also played with Killarney Athletic in the ‘90s.
Finally, it would be fair to that Bryan has been a great sporting ambassador for Beaufort, Kerry and Killarney Athletic A.F.C.
The support I got from Killarney Athletic and some business people in Killarney at the time was very much appreciated.
Bryan Murphy