Adam Murray

He got the job permanently the following month, aged just 33, and went on to keep the club in League Two with a 21st-place finish.

Adam David Murray (born 30 September 1981) is an English football manager and former professional footballer who is the manager at club Eastbourne Borough.

A creative midfielder, he made over 500 appearances in a 17-year playing career in the Premier League, Football League and Football Conference.

He turned professional in August 1998.

He made a further three substitute appearances in what remained of the 1998–99 season.

An England under-20 international, Murray turned professional at Derby County, making his Premier League debut in April 1999.

He played 62 games in six seasons at Derby, including 32 Premier League matches, but struggled with alcoholism and spent four weeks in recovery at the Priory Hospital.

He made his Premier League debut on 17 April 1999, coming on as a second-half substitute for Mikkel Beck in Derby's 5–1 defeat away to West Ham United.

This was his only start from eight appearances in the 1999–2000 campaign.

Manager Jim Smith would hand him his first start on 6 May 2000, in a 0–0 draw with Newcastle United at Pride Park.

He featured 18 times throughout the 2000–01 season.

He spent time on loan at Mansfield Town (winning promotion out of the Third Division in 2001–02) and Kidderminster Harriers, before leaving Derby in November 2003.

Derby were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2001–02 season and Murray featured irregularly under both Smith and Colin Todd.

On 25 February 2002, Murray joined Third Division club Mansfield Town on loan.

He scored his first goal in professional football in his second appearance for the "Stags", a 2–1 win over Scunthorpe United at Field Mill on 2 March.

He went on to score seven goals in 13 games for Mansfield, leading manager Stuart Watkiss to say that "his goals have been invaluable to us" as Mansfield secured promotion with a third-place finish.

Back with Derby in the First Division for the 2002–03 season, Murray gradually established himself in John Gregory's first-team.

He received the first sending off of his career on 12 October, getting shown the red card for a reckless challenge late into a 0–0 draw at Bradford City.

He featured a total of 24 times that season, bringing his final tally at Derby to 62 appearances.

He had brief non-contract spells at Notts County and Burton Albion, before seeing out the 2003–04 season with Kidderminster Harriers.

He signed with Mansfield Town in June 2004, moving on to Carlisle United in March 2005.

He helped Carlisle to win promotion back into the Football League through the Conference National play-offs in 2005 and then to win the League Two title in 2005–06, whilst also reaching the 2006 Football League Trophy final.

He joined Torquay United for a £10,000 fee in August 2006 and was sold on to Macclesfield Town for £17,500 in January 2007.

He returned to the Conference Premier upon joining Oxford United in January 2008.

He spent two-and-a-half seasons at Oxford, and was club captain for many of his 97 appearances, though missed the second half of the 2009–10 campaign and the subsequent 2010 play-off final victory due to injury.

He remained in the Conference Premier, signing with Luton Town in July 2010.

Three months later he was loaned out to Mansfield Town in a deal which was made permanent in January 2011.

He would spend four-and-a-half seasons with Mansfield, taking his final tally with the club over his four different spells to 211 games and 24 goals.

He featured on the losing side in the 2011 FA Trophy final and was named as the club's Player of the Season as Mansfield won promotion into the Football League as champions of the Conference Premier in 2012–13.

He had short loan spells at Rainworth Miners Welfare and Worksop Town after falling out of favour in 2013.

He retired from playing at the end of the 2014–15 season, though briefly came out of retirement to play for Sutton Coldfield in 2018.

He was appointed as Mansfield Town's assistant manager whilst still a player and became caretaker manager in November 2014.

A 12th-place finish followed in the 2015–16 season, before he quit the club in November 2016.

He was appointed Boston United manager the next month, taking the club to a 15th-place finish in the National League North at the end of the 2016–17 season.

He resigned in October 2017 and was named as assistant manager at Guiseley the following month.

He left Guiseley in February 2018 and went on to coach at Burton Albion, Barnsley, West Bromwich Albion, Port Vale and Beşiktaş.

He served Barnsley as caretaker manager in October 2019 and October 2020.

He took charge at AFC Fylde in November 2022 and led the club to the National League North title at the end of the 2022–23 season, before being sacked in October 2023.

He joined Cheltenham Town as assistant manager in October 2023 and was appointed manager at Eastbourne Borough in January 2024.

Born in Birmingham, West Midlands, Murray began his career as a trainee with Derby County at the age of 11.