Aviva stadium director Martin Murphy ready for busy final few weeks

Murphy is retiring at the end of September, after 16 years at the helm of Ireland’s national football and rugby stadium.

NEW ERA: Martin Murphy set to retire from role as Aviva Stadium director. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Another day dawns at the Aviva Stadium and Martin Murphy and his team gear up for another major event as Ireland prepare to go toe to toe with old rivals England.

Andy Farrell’s men bid farewell to the Aviva this evening when they play their final home game before departing for France and the Rugby World Cup and outgoing Stadium Director Murphy will not be too far behind them.

He is retiring at the end of September, after 16 years at the helm of Ireland’s national football and rugby stadium, during which time the former IRFU director of operations and corporate affairs oversaw the construction of the new arena on the site of the old Lansdowne Road and then built the business that has seen it thrive since it opened in 2010.

Murphy has seen it all in his time, and he told the Irish Examiner he is in for a busy final few weeks before leaving the crowds and noise behind and decamping to Mayo’s Mullet Peninsula for a much anticipated change of pace.

“I’ve been involved in sport for 28 years and in the stadium for 16 so time for a change and retirement sounds good to me,” the stadium director said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

There is still unfinished business to attend to, starting with today’s Bank of Ireland Summer Nations Series Test match with the English. Murphy is also looking forward to next Saturday’s Aer Lingus College Football Classic between Navy and Notre Dame before making his exit with a couple of UEFA internationals, Ireland’s men against the Netherlands in a European Championship qualifier on September 10 and then a piece of history as the Republic of Ireland women take the Aviva Stadium stage for the first time when Northern Ireland visit for a Women’s Nations League tie on September 23.

“This year has probably been the busiest year we’ve had since the stadium opened so it’s a nice way to go out. It’s been really, really busy with concerts, and I’m going to finish up with the Netherlands match and the first international women’s match we’ve had here.

“But the American football is a really big one. It’s going to be phenomenal I think with 40,000 Americans coming in. It’s the second time we’ve had both Navy and Notre Dame and they bring their own razzamatazz, it’s a very different event to international rugby or football.

“I think everybody will know the match is taking place because the town will be pretty full with American visitors, which will be good. And of course we’ve got Ireland-England this weekend in the warm-up match before the World Cup and that’s almost a full house at the moment.

“So I’m leaving at the end of a very busy year and I think the place is in good shape. There’s a lot of stuff lined up for next year as well with the usual programme of matches, then there's the Europa League final in May and we’ve got Taylor Swift in June so next year is going to be busy as well, which is good.

“We’ve found that after Covid things have bounced back both on and off the pitch so the outlook is very positive. Conference and events are quite busy here now. We would do 20 major pitch events during the year and 300 and 400 non-matchday conferences and events so the place is going all the time and it needs to because it’s a big building and an expensive beast to run. It takes a lot of time and effort to keep the place ticking over.”

The Covid pandemic of 2020-21 represents both one of Murphy’s biggest setbacks in the role and greatest sources of pride, as he explained.

“It was probably one of the big disappointments we had, that the Euros didn’t take place in 2020. It was very understandable but the planning for the Euros took three years and everything was in place for that competition and it didn’t happen.

“But it does mean that we’re well positioned for the Euros in 2028 which hopefully will come to pass. A lot of work has already taken place on that and a lot more will start to take shape in the next year or so.

“Covid was very traumatic for everybody, obviously, and very challenging on many fronts for us but very early on the board of the stadium here decided that we would make the stadium available for whatever purpose the Government needed.

“Initially we were a testing centre operated by the defence forces for nine months and then we became a vaccination centre and more than 300,000 people were vaccinated here. Something like 70,000 were tested here but the vaccination programme was an amazing operation and it was fantastic to see the people coming in through the stadium, waiting patiently and getting their vaccinations.

“That was all done at no cost, it was done pro bono, as a way in which we could make our contribution to the whole fight against Covid. We were glad to be involved in that.”

Murphy will leave more fantastic memories than disappointing ones and the sporting ones he brought to mind will be in line with many fellow fans of all codes in this country.

“I’ve been there at every match, every concert and most of the time they’re good. There have been a few boring ones but most of the time it’s good and it helps if you’re interested in sport.

“Some of the concerts have been brilliant. AC/DC (in 2015) were just phenomenal and Harry Styles last year was very impressive and again it’s a very different profile of crowd and different buzz. There was a fantastic buzz around the stadium when AC/DC were here and the energy you have at those concerts is just fantastic.

“From a soccer point of view, the Ireland-Germany match (In October 2015), when Shane Long scored the roof nearly lifted in the stadium. And then on the rugby front, Ireland beating New Zealand and the recent Grand Slam, they were just really special events as well.

“I played rugby in my youth so I’m more of a rugby person I suppose but the New Zealand match really stands out and in fact the close calls that we had against New Zealand before we finally beat them here, they were brilliant in their own right.

“And the American football, they’re super events, they’re something totally different. You’ve got to deal with massive teams . Navy and Notre Dame will bring about 140 players each and they tog out probably 70 of them, which has its own logistical challenges.

"And they bring their razzmatazz and their bands and the Navy will have midshipmen here so plenty of colour, plenty of noise, plenty of activity, I’m really looking forward to that one.”

To mangle a rugby analogy, Murphy feels he is leaving the stadium to an as yet unnamed successor in a better place.

“I’m leaving it in a good place I think. It’s in a healthy position at the moment. It does need ongoing investment and we’ve invested heavily over the years but that investment is likely to have to increase because the stadium is 13 years old now and you’ve got to keep refreshing, you’ve got to keep the standards high so things need to be replaced and I foresee that there’ll be a requirement for ongoing investment which may increase over the next number of years.

“That’s going to be one of the challenges for the board and whoever takes from me, getting that balance right.”

An announcement on the new Stadium Director is expected in the near future but Murphy will be happy to be out of the loop. The Mayo coast awaits.

“I’m locating down to Binghamstown on the Mullet Peninsula so will operate between Binghamstown and visits to Dublin. That’s the plan anyway, it’s nice and quiet down there compared to here.”