Nature, nurture and the space in between: How to make a Champions League player

Galway's Alex Murphy made his European Cup debut this week - how did he get there?

Qarabag's Joni Montiel and Newcastle United's Alex Murphy battle for the ball. Pic: Martin Rickett/PA Wire.

You never know. Not really. John Caulfield understands what the people want to hear. 

The fairytale of a 16-year-old sensation who was always destined for the Champions League. Fairytales haven’t much currency in professional football.

What the Cork native and current Galway United manager did know back in 2021 was that a then 16-year-old Alex Murphy had a bit of cut about him.

“If you are asking me, ‘did I think four years ago he’d be playing in the Champions League?’ Of course I didn’t. People who say, “Ya, I knew he’d make it!” You don’t know this. You give a guy an opportunity. All you do know is that when he came into the first team at 16, he made an impression and certainly you could see he had talent.” 

Galway’s Murphy earned his first Newcastle start since arriving in 2022 this week. The 21-year-old defender lined out in a knockout win over Qarabag. 

They took a 6-1 lead into the fixture at St James' Park and triumphed 3-2 to advance to the last 16.

The state of the tie meant Eddie Howe could afford to blood Murphy, but the scale of his feat is no less remarkable. 

Not since Eamonn Deacy was running around with the likes of Marco Tardelli and Michel Platini has a Galway native featured in the knockout stages of the competition. 

Newcastle United ahead of their UEFA Champion's League knockout round play-off, 2nd leg tie against Qarabag. Pic: Paul ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images

He has gone from a Premier League debut in 2023 to a Republic of Ireland U21 debut in 2024 to walking out to the soaring sound of the Tony Britten anthem midweek.

Which leaves the question: how? How does a youngster from Annaghdown who came perilously close to opting for Gaelic football end up on the European stage at the summit of the game? How does Irish football get more of that?

First things first. Galway United were in the First Division at the time and down a left-back due to injuries and suspension. Caulfield did not know if Murphy would cope right away, but he was confident it wouldn’t break him if it didn’t.

“I felt that if he didn’t play well, it would affect him. He would come back. That is the difference. With younger players, you have to be careful. You throw a guy in and he has a nightmare or he gets slaughtered in the press or social media, it could ruin the lad. But he was tough, he was mentally strong.” 

Some players are made to be thrown in. Chiedozie Ogbene was an unheard-of prospect when he first rocked up to first-team training in Cork. Eight weeks later, he came on in the 2016 Cup final. Caulfield saw a fierce attitude, a determination to make it at some level.

A trait Murphy shares.

“He is as cool as they get. It is what we always say, he just takes it in his stride really,” says UCD midfielder Mikey McCullagh. “He has been the same fella since the start.” 

How close are they? He first faced Murphy’s Corrib Celtic with his native Cregmore when they were nine. They played alongside each other for Galway Town when they were ten. They went to school together. 

During Covid’s lockdown, they organised training sessions together. They are so close that before he takes the call to chart Murphy’s outstanding rise, McCullagh checks with him to make sure it is okay.

Alex Murphy of Newcastle United: 'Ultimately, the player has to be a dog.'

His former manager and his best friend will attest that Murphy has enormous talent. So do countless others. That is not what sets him apart. What has carried him to this stage is the same resilience that ensured he stayed there. McCullagh calls it “massive drive”. 

The other put it more plainly: a dog.

He was dropped for a few spells in his breakthrough season. With game-time limited, last year he pushed for a loan move to Bolton Wanderers. This week Murphy referenced the fact it has not been “an easy year” due to the lack of football. He was never likely to yield to that.

“There is an abundance of talent there but he was always doing extras,” explains McCullagh. “His father Brian was a massive Corrib Celtic fella who bred football into him. His auld lad is exactly the same. The most calm, collected man.” 

During Covid, the pair took it upon themselves to run defending and attacking sessions. Murphy’s rage was evident every time he lost a rep in those drills. 

On the public running track in Westside, they would race 400m over and over where he shifted through his gears. As a teenager, hip injuries threatened to stall his momentum. 

Murphy grew obsessed with the gym and would relentlessly text his friend to come with him. That issue was eventually solved.

He keeps pushing. There will be no grand celebration. The joke in their WhatsApp group was that Murphy switched off for a few hours on Tuesday night and messaged again that night, like nothing had happened.

There is something worthy in a lad like that. There is benefit in generating more players like that. How?

“We need a lot more extra training,” stresses Caulfield with battle-hardened conviction. “They nearly need to be full-time training-wise while working around school. You hear a lot of talk around it because of money put into academies. That investment has to be serious and the club has to invest it aggressively. They have to work training sessions around the school. Really academy players have to double on the training. They have to do nearly twice the training they're doing at the moment.

“Plus the fact, as well as that, it has to be explained to them. Out of 10 kids, 9 aren't going to make it. That is the real story. There is a fairytale of the lad coming from the academy to play for Man United. 99% don’t play for Galway United.” 

He has had these conversations with parents in the past. Mikey McCullagh has been on the receiving end of them. Their tight-knit group of six are a mix of GAA and football heads with the driving motivation being Murphy.

The takeaway lesson is his mentality: “It is a homegrown lad with hard graft and talent. It is such a big problem for young lads coming through, they get given so much early and get ahead of themselves.” 

He might not feature in the Champions League again this season. He may not become a regular at Newcastle. But Caulfield knows he has a long future in professional football because of that proven capacity to dig in.

“ You have to understand how difficult it is. Everyone wants to blame the manager, the coach, the club. That was the reason it didn’t work. Ultimately, the player has to be a dog.”