'We spoke every week for two months . . . I could have gone back but no' - Murphy

Former Donegal captain and All-Ireland winner Michael Murphy opens up on how close he came to coming out of retirement and making a return to the inter-county scene under Jim McGuinness. 

The Glenswilly native played under five different managers during his tenure with Donegal between 2007 and 2022, where he lifted five Anglo Celt Cups, two Division 2 titles, and one All-Ireland, all as captain. 

Speaking on the Ratified Podcast alongside Marc Ó Sé, Paddy Andrews, and Aaron Kernan, the four football legends discuss their reasoning for eventually retiring from the sport and the reasons for stepping away. 

“Retirement is a difficult one, but it was a straightforward one, I think at the start of every year you know what is required every year,” the All-Ireland winning captain said.  

“Some players can go by ticking boxes and manage to switch in and out and get up and down for certain games. I wasn't that figure as a player, I had to be 100 miles an hour at the first training in November and the same way in July. 

“I was constantly all in and that required an energy. I have to bring involvement and energy as a player for myself to prepare and to get Donegal to a good level and you were captain too for 11 years.” 

Following his side's defeat to Armagh in 2022, the then Donegal captain recalls his emotions and surroundings when he made the decision to step down from the county scene 

“I just knew, I can remember that day in Clones getting beat by Armagh and being in that dressing room on the right-hand side,” said Murphy.  

“The team was gone, only Hugh McFadden and Eoghan ‘Bán’ Gallagher were left, and they knew from the way I was putting together my bag, I said to the two of them ‘I’m going home in the car with my parents’, I never did that before in my life. 

“I just knew that was me (finished). I just knew the energy that was going to be needed to go again, Declan Bonner was leaving, a few things like that, so I just thought ‘naw that’s me gone’.” 

While the former Donegal forward admitted it was a difficult decision for him to make, he admitted by the time winter of that year rolled around, it reaffirmed to him that he made the correct decision. 

“Because it’s such a big decision, I gave myself time. I spoke to Neil McGee and Neil Gallagher and told them I was deadly serious. When November came around, if anything, it further strengthened my decision. 

“It was a difficult decision, there was a lot made about Donegal, they were in limbo at the time with regards to not having a manager. People were probably thinking the reason you didn’t come back was because there was no manager, but I told the boys I was retiring after the Armagh game.” 

And while Murphy played no role in Donegal’s 2023 season which saw them relegated from Division 1 before being eliminated in the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final to Tyrone, the three-time All-Star winner admits how he was nearly coaxed out of retirement when McGuinness returned to the hotseat as Donegal manager a few months later. 

“We had good discussions. We spoke every single week for two months. I liked that experience because it really put me to the pin of the collar to see if this was right or wrong,” Murphy said about his meetings with the current Donegal manager. 

“You have a loyalty to him, and I was like ‘Go for it’, I remember one morning I said ‘Right you're back’. Put yourself in that position and this is what you do. But by lunchtime, I was out.  

“I could have gone back and ticked a box and managed my way through the year but no, I would have been an anti-Christ about the place.”