Ian Murray (footballer)

Ian William Murray (born 20 March 1981) is a Scottish football player and coach, who is the manager of Scottish Championship club Raith Rovers.

During his playing career, Murray represented Hibernian, Alloa Athletic (on loan), Rangers and Norwich City. He also played for Scotland in six full internationals between 2002 and 2006. His versatility meant that he was deployed in a variety of roles in his career, including centre back, full back and midfielder. Murray stated that he preferred to play at centre back or central midfield.

Murray started his career with Hibs, and captained the club during the 2004–05 season. He signed for Rangers under freedom of contract in 2005, but he was troubled with injuries during his time at Ibrox club and was eventually diagnosed with a form of arthritis. He was released by Rangers in August 2007 and signed for Norwich City, but fell out of favour there after a managerial change. He returned to Hibs in January 2008, and was made vice captain of the team in July 2009.

Murray left Hibs in May 2012 and was appointed player/manager of Dumbarton later that year. After two and a half years in charge of Dumbarton, he was appointed manager of St Mirren on 22 May 2015. He resigned from this position in December 2015. After a spell coaching in Norway, Murray was appointed Airdrieonians manager in October 2018. Murray held this position until May 2022, when he joined Raith Rovers.

Hibernian
Born in Edinburgh, Murray made his debut for Hibernian against Dundee Utd on 22 January 2000 and he scored his first goal for the club in his second appearance, a 4–1 win against Dunfermline. He missed most of the 2003–04 season due to a knee injury. After returning from injury, he was made captain of Hibs in the 2004–05 season and formed a defensive partnership with Gary Caldwell.

Rangers
Murray joined Rangers on a Bosman free transfer in the summer of 2005, but injuries troubled him during his time at the club. It was eventually diagnosed that he was suffering from reactive arthritis. His return to the team against Motherwell was manager Paul Le Guen's last match in charge.

Norwich City
Murray signed for Norwich City following his release by Rangers in August 2007. He made his Norwich debut against Hull City two days later, but he had a difficult start to his Norwich career due to illness. He was substituted at half-time in a League Cup tie at Rochdale after a dreadful performance, with Norwich manager Peter Grant admitting afterwards that he should not have played Murray as the player was unwell. His health problems continued as he was ruled out of subsequent matches.

Grant left the club in October 2007, and Murray failed to establish himself in the Norwich first team under new boss Glenn Roeder. In an interview given after his departure, Murray said of Roeder, "It was the first time in my life I felt like chucking it during a game, a lot of the players felt that way. He's an angry man, not nice to play for."

Return to Hibernian
After leaving Norwich, Murray moved back to his first club, Hibernian, on a contract until the end of the 2007–08 season; he subsequently signed a deal to keep him at the club until 2010. He was a candidate for the Hibs captaincy after Rob Jones left for Scunthorpe United in the summer of 2009. New manager John Hughes decided to give the armband to Chris Hogg, with Murray serving as vice captain.

Midway through the 2009–10 season, Hibs opened contract talks with Murray, whose contract was due to expire in the summer of 2010. At the same time, he started coaching East of Scotland Football League club Coldstream on a part-time basis. A two-year contract extension was agreed in February 2010.

Murray spent the majority of his second spell at Hibs as a left back, although manager Colin Calderwood used him as a defensive midfielder to good effect as Hibs won 3–0 against Rangers in November 2010. The Daily Record newspaper commented that Murray showed leadership qualities which had been previously lacking in a struggling Hibs side. He was appointed captain, on a temporary basis until the end of the season, when Chris Hogg was released by the club.

Murray was awarded a testimonial by Hibs in the 2011–12 season. He played regularly in the early part of the season, but appeared infrequently after suffering an injured hip. He left Hibs in May 2012, at the end of his contract. Over his two spells at the club he made 296 appearances in all competitions, scoring 17 goals.

After leaving Hibs, Murray had a trial spell with American club Tampa Bay Rowdies. He then returned to Scotland and played as a trialist for Dunfermline in a pre-season friendly match. He played for Brechin City in a Scottish Second Division match on 1 September 2012 as a trialist.

International career
Murray captained the Scotland Under-21 side. His debut for the full national team came as a substitute against Canada in October 2002, in a 3–1 win. He did not win another cap until two years later, when he came on at half time in a 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Moldova, which ended in a 1–1 draw. His only start for the national team was in a 1–0 home defeat against Belarus, during which Murray was substituted at half time. In total he has won six caps for Scotland. He admitted in October 2009 that his international career was over, after he was overlooked for selection by George Burley for a friendly match against Japan.

Dumbarton
At the age of 31, Murray moved into management when he was appointed Dumbarton manager in November 2012. His managerial debut was delayed due to bad weather postponing fixtures following his appointment. He finally made his bow on 17 December in a 3–1 defeat to Hamilton in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup. Dumbarton's league results dramatically improved after Murray was appointed and he was voted First Division manager of the month for January 2013. He eventually led the Sons to safety from relegation, which was secured with a 3–2 win at Cowdenbeath. In his first full season in charge, Dumbarton finished just below the promotion play-off positions and reached the quarter-final of the 2013–14 Scottish Cup. He signed a new two-year contract with Dumbarton in May 2014. He did not register himself as a player for the 2014/15 season.

He left the club to join St Mirren on 22 May 2015, having won 41 of his 108 games in charge.

St Mirren
Murray took over from Saints interim manager Gary Teale, and penned a two-year deal to manage the club. Despite Murray being appointed a day before the end of the 2014–15 season, Teale remained in charge for the final game. In November, St Mirren replaced Mark Alexander Spalding with Alex Miller as assistant manager, in an attempt to turn around a bad start to the season. Murray resigned on 12 December, after a 1–0 defeat against his former club Dumbarton.

Asker
On 21 December 2016 it was revealed that he was becoming assistant manager of Norwegian club Asker on 1 January 2017.

Airdrieonians
Murray returned to Scottish football in October 2018, when he was appointed manager of League One club Airdrieonians. He signed a new contract with Airdrie in September 2019. Murray would get Airdrie to 2nd in League One, and in the Championship play-off final in 2020–21 and 2021–22, but would fall at the last hurdle both times against Greenock Morton and Queen's Park respectively.

Raith Rovers
On 24 May 2022, Scottish Championship side Raith Rovers announced that they had signed Murray on a two-year contract following the expiry of his contract with Airdrieonians.

Managerial record

 * As of match played 16 July 2024