On this day in 1981, Lincoln City supporters were reading about Cardiff City’s interest in taking Colin Murphy to Ninian Park, just months after he had led us to promotion.
The report raised the prospect of our manager stepping up to the Second Division with a club considering a £25,000-a-year appointment. Murphy had already delivered promotion from the Fourth Division, and Cardiff were looking for someone to take responsibility for their team as part of a wider reshuffle behind the scenes.
There was a complication beyond whether Murphy fancied the move: in 1981, clubs had agreed not to poach one another’s managers, and an approach from Cardiff would make them the first to break that pledge. It is a detail that feels rather quaint now, but it formed a prominent part of the story as speculation reached Lincoln.
At that stage, Murphy was reportedly an option if Cardiff could not secure a player-manager. Birmingham City’s Archie Gemmill, Nottingham Forest’s John McGovern and Torquay United’s Bruce Rioch were all mentioned as possible candidates, leaving our boss among some very recognisable names.
Murphy’s response was measured, acknowledging the speculation without suggesting he was packing his bags. He also made clear where his immediate responsibilities lay.
“As long as I have been at Lincoln, there has been conjecture linking me with other clubs.
“Until such time as anything official develops, I won’t make any comment.
“At this moment in time, my first responsibility is to this club for giving me the opportunity to manage it, and also to the players.”
Cardiff’s search came against the backdrop of an attempt to change how the club operated. Former Olympic athlete Ron Jones had been elevated from general manager to managing director, with a management committee intended to oversee the day-to-day running of both the football and rugby league clubs.
Richie Morgan, their existing football manager, was earmarked for a role on that committee, with a new appointment taking charge of coaching and team selection. Cardiff were trying to separate those responsibilities, and Murphy was being linked with the football side of that new arrangement.
The interest did not disappear after September. In early November, a national newspaper report still had Murphy on a shortlist alongside Portsmouth boss Frank Burrows, although former West Bromwich Albion captain Graham Williams had emerged as the leading candidate. What was described as a four-month search was finally nearing its conclusion.
For Lincoln, the decisive development was Murphy’s agreement to stay. By November 9th, he had signed an improved contract running until May 1985, having announced his acceptance of City’s offer a couple of weeks earlier. The delay between accepting the terms and putting pen to paper had not, in his eyes, left any room for doubt. His explanation was a lovely reflection of how he regarded his commitment to chairman Dennis Houlston.
“I had shaken hands with the chairman, Mr. Dennis Houlston on the deal, and that was binding enough for me.”
Maurice Burton’s report stated that no official contact had been made with Houlston for permission to speak to him, while also insisting Murphy had been the man Cardiff originally wanted. Burton had been fielding almost daily enquiries from the Cardiff press for more than a month about whether our manager might leave.
Williams was appointed on the same day, bringing the speculation to an end. The Division Two table from that date puts Cardiff’s position into perspective: they were 12th, with 17 points from 13 matches, having won five, drawn two and lost six. They were six points above the bottom three, so their eventual relegation should not be mistaken for their position when he arrived.
The appointment did not work out. Williams and Morgan were dismissed in February 1982, with Len Ashurst taking over, but Cardiff finished 20th with 44 points and dropped into the Third Division. A club that had been looking at our promotion-winning manager ended the season heading in the opposite direction.
There was an immediate recovery, with Cardiff finishing second in 1982/83 to return to the Second Division. They managed 15th the following season, but 21st in 1984/85 brought another relegation, followed by 22nd in the Third Division in 1985/86 and a second successive drop. By 1986/87, they were finishing 13th in the Fourth Division, a considerable fall from the level at which they had hoped to tempt Murphy away.
We cannot know how any of that would have played out had he gone to Wales. What we do know is that keeping him allowed us to continue building a side which finished fourth in the Third Division in 1981/82, just one point short of another promotion.
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