Soccer coach scores post in Scotland
Independence Day is an official kickoff to summer, and for many, a taste of relaxation. But for the first American to coach soccer abroad on a club level, these days are busier than ever.
John Murphy is getting ready for his debut as the head coach of Scotland’s Livingston Football Club, which has made headlines in the United Kingdom more for its financial difficulties than its onfield play. On the brink of bankruptcy, Livingston had the electricity turned off at its Almondvale Stadium and owed the previous manager back wages.
“I knew it’d be a difficult situation but I felt comfortable as the coach if I’m allowed to focus on the soccer side of it,’’ said Murphy, a 42-year-old Quincy native who was hired in February as the goalkeepers coach.
Americans have been placed in charge of other countries national men’s soccer teams before, but never has a Yank landed a head coaching job of another country’s domestic, club-level team. Livingston plays in the Scottish First Division, one tier below the Scottish Premier League that includes the likes of famed Glasgow clubs Celtic and Rangers.
A 1985 graduate of North Quincy High School, Murphy will have to draw upon the knowledge accumulated from a career that has taken him from Massasoit Community College to the highest levels of Major League Soccer.
After being unable to resist other clubs’ offers for its top players, Livingstone will be forced more than ever to identify and develop young players - a talent that Murphy has honed in his earlier stops. While scouting for the New England Revolution, he helped discover Clint Dempsey, Taylor Twellman, Pat Noonan and Shalrie Joseph - all of whom became MLS all-stars. Later he was instrumental in starting the Revolution’s youth academy and did the same in four seasons with the Colorado Rapids.
“I still enjoy that part of it,’’ said Murphy, who spent 13 years in the college ranks recruiting, the last three as head coach at Assumption. “You start meeting the agents and the managers. It’s the same thing in the States: it’s about your contacts and your relationships. If they know you’re good at what you do, people are willing to send people over.’’
When its Scottish First Division season opens on Aug. 8 (Murphy formally makes his debut in two Cup competitions later this month), Livingston should be considered an underdog to finish atop the table and gain automatic promotion to the Scottish Premier League. Livi finished seventh in the 10-team division last season with a 20-goal scorer as well as its captain, both of whom were later sold to other clubs.
Being underestimated is not unfamiliar to Murphy. He heard the whispers about his own limitations - first as a coach without a playing pedigree (he was a backup keeper at North Quincy and Massasoit) and later pigeonholed as a goalkeeping specialist.
“I’ve always had a strong drive,’’ Murphy said. “I really react to people saying I can’t do something. I’ve always been that way, even when I was a little kid. Something inside me wants to make me do it even more.’’
Murphy made himself a commodity by excelling at courses for coaches through the US Soccer Federation and National Soccer Coaches Association of America. It was at an NSCAA clinic that he met Craig Brown, the Scotland national team coach. Upon learning that Murphy’s mother, Maureen, hailed from Glasgow, Brown encouraged Murphy to obtain his European badges.
“Yeah, it’s fair to say, without that, I might not have been known in Scotland,’’ said Murphy, who became the first American to earn the prestigious UEFA Professional Badge through the Scottish Football Association and UEFA’s top goalkeeping badge through the English FA.
After being an MLS assistant at New England, Columbus and Colorado the past nine years (in which two of his bosses earned MLS Coach of the Year honors), accepting his first professional head coaching job was not without some misgivings.
“You get one chance over here,’’ Murphy said. “If you get fired, there’s a stigma with that. In Europe, you have to make good on your first job.’’
“With what’s hanging over the club right now, if I can turn it into a better situation, that would reflect very well on me. And if for some reason things didn’t go as planned, maybe people wouldn’t be as harsh.’’
Being a bit of a curiosity as a foreigner might earn a little slack in the beginning but Murphy is wise enough to know that he needs results.
“I want people to judge me on who I am as a coach,’’ Murphy said. “The fact that I’m an American and the fact I have Scottish heritage, that’s part of who I am. But I want to be judged on how I develop teams and, ultimately at this level, about winning games and winning championships.’’ 