Donegal icon Michael Murphy to retire – The Irish News

Donegal legend Michael Murphy is to retire from playing inter-county football again in 2025.

The Glenswilly giant, who captained the Tir Chonaill men to All-Ireland SFC glory in 2012, has been persuaded to return by manager Jim McGuinness.

Murphy stepped away from the inter-county scene in November 2022, but now, aged 35, he will once again play for the reigning Ulster champions, despite being almost seven months older than Dublin great James McCarthy, who announced his retirement from the inter-county scene earlier this week.

Murphy played for Donegal from 2007 to 2022, captaining them from 2010 until his retirement, and is regarded as the county’s greatest ever player.

Growing up, Murphy’s hero was Donegal striker Brendan Devenney. When Murphy revealed that on ‘The Sunday Game’, Devenney was delighted: “The fact that he’s called me his hero is probably the most humbling thing anyone’s ever said to me”.

The St Eunan’s man later commented: Devenney later said: “Has anyone’s hero turned around and then been their hero? Because Michael wanted to be mine. So it’s come full circle”.

Donegal football’s leading goalscorer and points scorer, Murphy won five Ulster titles and five All-Stars, and was named Young Footballer of the Year in 2009.

Having been a prominent member of the Football Review Committee, Murphy will now play under the new rules of football and can be expected to flourish.

His most famous goal, which opened the scoring in the 2012 All-Ireland Final against Mayo, was the result of a long ball kicked into him by Karl Lacey, and his aerial ability and finishing power could pose serious problems for defenses that cannot pack more.

Since his retirement, Murphy has been a television pundit for RTE, BBC NI and GAAGO.

He also runs a sports shop in Letterkenny, which sponsors the Donegal Football Championship, and continues to manage ATU Donegal (formerly Letterkenny IT) in the Sigerson Cup, which he has done since 2018.

In an interview with Cahair O’Kane of the Irish News in April this year, Murphy had insisted he would not come out of retirement, despite McGuinness’s best efforts, since returning to take up the managerial job again.

“I talk to him all the time and had him semi-tortured there for a while,” the Donegal manager said last December, finally conceding defeat.

So how did tortured become ‘semi-tortured’, Murphy was asked.

“Oh, we had many good conversations.”

Have you ever been close?

“Ahhh… no.”

Even halfway?

“There were odd days where I would position myself in a way where I could say ‘right, you’re back’, but suddenly, in the afternoon, when I knew what was required and what the new setup was going to provide , couldn’t energize. I could probably be there and check the box, but you have to color the box.”

Seeing him back in the green and gold will understandably please Donegal supporters.