Celtic v Rangers: The game’s the thing for Murphy

By PAUL FORSYTH
Published 1st Feb 2015, 00:00 BST
He may be a Celtic fan but for MP and Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy scoring has to be celebrated even when its in a Rangers strip at Ibrox against a team in hoops in a charity game. Picture: SNSHe may be a Celtic fan but for MP and Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy scoring has to be celebrated even when its in a Rangers strip at Ibrox against a team in hoops in a charity game. Picture: SNS
He may be a Celtic fan but for MP and Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy scoring has to be celebrated even when its in a Rangers strip at Ibrox against a team in hoops in a charity game. Picture: SNS
JIM Murphy has amassed quite a collection of football memorabilia. His match programmes include one from the 1966 World Cup final, which was played more than a year before he was born. His old strips range from Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs to Real Betis, Motherwell and Middlesbrough. That some of Celtic’s faded hoops are also to be found in the drawer goes almost without saying.

The leader of the Scottish Labour Party has been a fan for as long as he can remember. Billy McNeill’s last match, the 1975 Scottish Cup final, was Murphy’s first. Celtic beat Airdrieonians 3-1, and McNeill was carried off shoulder-high, but it was that first glimpse of the national stadium, long before kick-off, that mesmerised the seven-year-old.

“It was a big game, and the sun was shining,” he recalls. “It was the most extravagant thing I’d ever done. I remember climbing up the grass, getting to the top of the stadium, then looking down into the old Hampden for the first time. It took your breath away. I think that was the moment when I fell in love with football.”

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The flame still burns. Born and brought up in a Glasgow flat, Murphy emigrated with his family to South Africa before returning to embark on a career in politics. He became Scotland’s youngest MP, and now aspires to be its First Minister, but he remains a season-ticket holder at Celtic Park. This afternoon, he will be back at Hampden for the Old Firm derby, hoping that his team can secure a place in the Scottish League Cup final.

He followed his family in supporting Celtic, but it is the game Murphy loves most. At home, or on his travels, he watches it at every opportunity. On Boxing Day, he went to see Bolton play Blackburn. He has also been to Goodison Park this season, as well as the Etihad, and several matches at Firhill. “I don’t have Sky telly because I would get nothing done,” he says. “I would watch any game from anywhere in the world.”

He plays too. At 47, he is still a midfielder in the House of Commons XI, who play a monthly charity match. Six years ago, in a fund-raiser at Ibrox, he played – and scored – in a Rangers shirt. By all accounts, he is quite the competitor – and a keen runner, right – although Scott Brown need not feel threatened. “I’m about double his age with about a 20th of the talent,” says Murphy.

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