Bill Murphy

Bill was born in Billingham, County Durham in 1925. Bill had a passion for middle-distance and joined Gosforth Harriers. He was a man seemingly without any ego or sense of entitlement. His delight in running seemed much more to do with participation than winning, and he meted out his encouragement and praise to all his runners, winners and losers, in equal measure.

In 1955 he moved to Sale and joined Sale Harriers where he also began coaching.

By the early 1960s, Bill was working as an electrical engineer, when the decision was taken to build Longford Park, Bill tried to persuade the Sale club to move to the new stadium with its improved facilities, but the majority within the club preferred to stay at Crossford Bridge and preserve their history. For Bill (then and since) it has always been “now” that matters, and so it was that he transferred (together with fellow Sale coach Ken Owen) to the new Stretford club.

To many who knew him in the Club's early days, Bill Murphy was “Mr Stretford”. He volunteered for major tasks from the Club's earliest days and remained a key figure for some 50 years.

Ricky Gwilt recalls;

“  I recall on my first day at the Club in 1967, it was Bill who took me under his wing and led a group of young distance runners out for an easy Sunday morning run over Turn Moss and the banks of the Mersey.

At the time I rather took it for granted that the Club was such a friendly place, with a sense of all being part of one happy family. It helped, of course, that the Club was so small initially, but in retrospect I would argue that Bill needs to take a lot of the credit for ensuring that Stretford became a Club so different from other clubs. My sense was always that Bill consciously strove to develop a club culture based on fun, friendship and collaboration. “

In those early days of the 1960s, Bill was responsible for fixtures as well as coaching and still running. It was he who approached Jim Harris at Cheadle & Gatley Harriers to join with Stretford and, suddenly, the club was a major force.

In the late 60s/early 70s Bill organised a local schools cross-country race series, which still continues to this day.

Bill was a key figure in many of the clubs landmark occasions including the club being one of the first in the country to have an all-weather track (1974), the two famous meetings; one against Twin city Leningrad that attracted Russian Olympic Champions (1978); and the second, invitation meeting that featured Steve Cram and a crowd of 3000 (1983). It was Bill who led the discussions with the council which involved taking over the management of the stadium in 1992 and the name change to Trafford.

Bill was particularly involved with the men`s section, covering team management in the Late 70s/early 80s and it was at this time he started coaching javelin as his speciality.

He won the England Athletics Services to Athletics Award in 2013 and was coaching and officiating until he was in his early 90s.

He was approachable, a good listener, quietly spoken, a gentle man and was happy to stay in the background.

He passed away in his hundredth year at the end of July 2024.