Former Ireland 'keeper Joe Murphy still going strong at 42

Murphy, now 42, will be in goal for Tranmere against Leicester on Tuesday, having been designated the League Two side’s cup goalkeeper

STILL GOING STRONG: Joe Murphy in action for Tranmere Rovers in 2021. Pic: Charlotte Tattersall/Getty Images

The 2000 League Cup final between Tranmere and Leicester was the 16th game of Joe Murphy’s first-team career. The goalkeeper was 18 and standing nervously inside the old Wembley tunnel when he was approached by his opposite number, Tim Flowers. “He said I must have balls the size of an elephant,” Murphy remembers.

Cup final memories have been flooding back to Murphy since Martin O’Neill, Leicester’s manager for their 2-1 win against John Aldridge’s Tranmere, drew the two clubs together in the second round of the Carabao Cup.