Celtic had him before Ipswich unlocked 27 goals - now his career has gone full circle | OneFootball

Daryl Murphy peaked in his early 30s at Ipswich Town - now he's back at Waterford coaching the strikers in the academy

Daryl Murphy was one of the more obscure top scorers in Championship history when he took home the Golden Boot aged 32 back in the 2014/15 season for Ipswich Town.

The Irishman always had the potential to explode with a 20+ campaign, having netted in the double digits in a promotion campaign at Sunderland and being on the fringes of their side in the Premier League, but many felt his time had gone by in the mid 2010s.

Indeed, after his time at the Stadium of Light, he earned a move to Scottish giants Celtic, but struggled to get regular game time in a squad which had a strike partnership of Gary Hooper and Anthony Stokes in their early 20s.

But it was his return to Portman Road that allowed him to rediscover his form for promotion-pushing Championship sides in his 30s, before he then moved on to helping nurture the next generation of Daryl Murphy's back at his boyhood club.

How Daryl Murphy burst onto the Championship scene pre-Celtic

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Despite playing in the academies at Southend United and Luton Town, Waterford-born Murphy cut his teeth with his boyhood club. He helped them win promotion to the LOI Premier Division in 2003, and his 14 goals in the 2004 campaign won him the Young Player of the Year award in the top flight.

That piqued the interest of the then-Premier League outfit Sunderland in 2005, which brought him back to England. Unfortunately, the step up from the Irish top flight to the English one was a step too far. He played fewer than 600 minutes as the Black Cats were relegated.

In their sole Championship campaign the following year, Murphy began to find his feet under the tutelage of Roy Keane in his first managerial role. The Irishman scored twice in his first three league games, and ended the season on a run of three goals and three assists in the final three outings to secure the second tier title.

Again, his time in the Premier League would be limited, but he was still kept around the club for a few years before finally being sent out on loan to the Roy Keane-led Ipswich in the latter half of the 2009/10 term. Murphy was 27 at the time and scored six in 18 league games.

Daryl Murphy went to spend his prime years at Celtic after first Ipswich Town spell before making a return a year later

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After showing he could still be a decent Championship marksman, Murphy signed for Scottish giants Celtic for £1 million.

Heading into his traditional 'prime years,' many expected him to take the SPL by storm, but he was benched by the emerging Hooper and Stokes. He started just nine league games in his one season at Celtic Park, scoring just three goals.

Just one year on from his move, he found himself back at Ipswich for a second loan spell, this time for the entire 2011/12 campaign. There, under Paul Jewell, he registered 12 goal contributions in 33 league games, and it was enough for the former Wigan Athletic boss to bring him in permanently.

In the summer of 2012, Murphy was 29 years old, and Ipswich had finished between 13th and 15th for three consecutive years in the second tier. Putting it plainly, not many were expecting him to be the catalyst for a play-off surge during his permanent spell at Portman Road.

Daryl Murphy's best years at Ipswich Town earned him a late move to Newcastle United

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That's exactly what happened, though. After another disappointing campaign in the 2012/13 term, in which Mick McCarthy came in midway through, the Tractor Boys underwent a run under the Irish boss which stood as the club's most successful time in a decade until the Kieran McKenna era began nearly a decade after that.

Murphy netted a career-best 13 goals in one league campaign in 2013/14, as Ipswich finished ninth. Then, the following year, he scored 27 times as the Tractor Boys made the play-offs, losing in the semi-finals to bitter rivals Norwich City.

The frontman won the Golden Boot aged 32, the oldest man to win it in the Championship, and it prompted clubs to come in with decent seven-figure fees for him.

Middlesbrough, who finished fourth that year, tabled a £4 million bid for him, but Murphy stayed at Ipswich and scored another 10 goals in the 2015/16 term. Despite the downturn in goalscoring, Rafa Benitez decided he was what Newcastle United needed in reserve at St James' Park ahead of their return to the division, spending up to £4 million on his services.

After seeing his time at Celtic go by without pulling up many trees, nobody would have expected Murphy to be playing for Newcastle at 33, but he'd more than earned the move.

Daryl Murphy is now using his career to help coach the next generation of Waterford strikers

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Murphy chipped in with five goals in 15 games for Newcastle to help them secure an immediate promotion back to the Premier League.

Evidently, he wasn't going to continue at St James' Park in the top flight, but had a good couple of years back in the Championship with Nottingham Forest and then in League One with Bolton Wanderers.

In September 2020, aged 37, Murphy returned to his boyhood club, Waterford, not only to see out his professional career, but to begin his journey into coaching, which he still does to this day.

The 43-year-old is a specialist forwards coach in the Waterford academy, working across all age groups to develop them into first-team-ready players. After being the club to help kickstart his career, he's keen to continue giving back to them.

And perhaps one of the young stars he's coaching now could end up being the Championship Golden Boot winner in the future.