Darren Murphy willing to shoulder a burden to 'map the way' at Finn Harps

When Darren Murphy weighed up his options on his future at Finn Harps, the process came down to one simple thing: Himself. 

The 49-year-old, in a job he didn’t initially apply for, this week agreed a new three-year deal as the Harps manager.

Murphy was initially brought to the club by Dave Rogers in late 2022. Following Rogers’ departure before the end of the 2023 season, Murphy assumed temporary charge before being appointed full-time last November.

“A lot of when I was decided whether to stay or go was down to me,” Murphy tells Donegal Live. “I didn’t apply for the role last year. Other people went for it and I didn’t, but when the club came to me, I agreed to take it for the year.”

The weekly budget, already vastly cut from proceeding seasons, will be reduced again for 2025, but during the course of a lengthy chat the Harps manager continuously returns to the point that this is about more than results.

“There will be a lot of hurt and it won’t be all rosy in the garden,” he says. “I think the football club accepts the fact that I am willing to take a burden on board. 

“It will be a difficult season again, yes, but we want to be competitive in our games as we did this year.”

Murphy had a challenging time in a personal capacity following the death of his father, Bertie, in September. 

“The support I received from the football club at that time played a huge part in my decision,” he says. “I sort of felt an obligation to people who were good to me. This is a great place with great people. I feel at home here and my family feel at home here. That was a very big factor that swayed it in that my family know that I’m in a good place in the football world.

Murphy has confirmed that his backroom team, which includes coaches Kevin McHugh, Tommy Canning, Eamon Curry, performance analyst Eoin Logue, kit and equipment manager Shane Elliott and physio Nicola Ayers will remain in place.

He has 12 players under contract so far, but admits that the prospect of ‘marquee signings’ will be hindered by budgetary restraints as Harps continue their off-field pursuit of the revival of their new stadium project - aided, they hope, by a new ownership model that is closing in on 1,000 members paying a €25 annual fee. 

“If we could find another player and a person the calibre of David Cawley . . . ” he adds swiftly. “He has been immense for us on and off the pitch. We will look in-house first of all in terms of the playing squad, but there will be some turnover.

“We will be working actively to bring in new players and we are targeting one or two.”

The recent relegation of Dundalk and Wexford FC’s appointment of former Republic of Ireland international Stephen Elliott as their new manager are just two interesting subplots ahead of the 2025 First Division.

“We are slightly behind the 8 ball compared to some others,” Murphy says. “Dundalk are coming down with a legacy, a name, a fantastic tradition and there is investment into Cobh, Athlone, Wexford.  Finn Harps continues to be fan-owned, but the club means a lot to an awful lot of people and I can buy into that.

“I know what the football club wants. I, and they know that there will be pain along the way. I am quite comfortable in this position.”

News of Murphy’s contract extension came on a day when the Kernan Group - headed up by former Harps player Anthony Kernan - was confirmed as the club’s new sponsor. 

“People like Anthony and Damian (Daly, Kernan Group Operations Director) see what we are trying to do,” Murphy says. “We are getting things right off the pitch now.”

Harps finished sixth in 2024, five points off the play-offs. A run of five successive League defeats in July and August, during a run that included one win in 10, ultimately put paid to Harps’ aspirations of making it as far as the play-offs.

Harps endured off-field difficulty with a couple of games having to be moved to accommodate an issue that rendered the Finn Park floodlights unsuitable, while road trips of over 11,000km, without any overnight stays, added to the difficulty of the job.

“If I didn’t have the energy, the drive or the determination, it would have been a very simple ‘no’ from me in terms of staying,” he says. “I do feel that I can do more to progress the football club. This is a different challenge and we want to create something meaningful here.

“We definitely have issues to sort out, but we all know that and I am certainly not naive to that. I could easily have said there that we have done x, y and z and left the club in a good place, but I do think that we can do more to develop.”

Murphy’s comments echo the thoughts of former Harps manager Felix Healy. In a recent interview with Donegal Live marking the 20th anniversary of Harps winning the First Division in 2004, Healy bemoaned League of Ireland club’s incessant chasing of an expensive dream.

“The ground we have at Finn Park shows that we aren’t ready for the Premier Division,” Murphy says. “Finn Harps needs a person who understands the situation and it can be very difficult to get someone like that, someone who understands the pressure that can come from outside noise and from supporters in terms of what things ‘should be’ and ‘needs to be’. 

“I think the club appreciates that I understand all of that and I get that the priority right now is not getting back to the top table. Of course, that is where we all want to be, but if we were to go back right now, with the situation we are in off the pitch, we’d be going down the same path as before. It’s vital that we get the right infrastructure in place, in terms of both players and facilities.”

Murphy points to the job done by his ‘great friend’ Tiernan Lynch - recently unveiled as the new Derry City manager - at Larne FC. Albeit with strong backing financially, Lynch took Larne from the bottom of the Championship to the Irish League top flight, won two Premier Division titles and are now in the Europa Conference League. 

“Would I want more money, better players and be the favourites to win the First Division?” Murphy says. “Of course I would. I have been a winner as a player and a coach, but this is something different and I genuinely want to have the structures in place underneath myself. I do feel that we can develop structures and pathways that will enable Finn Harps get to the Premier Division - but the next time the club goes up, it has to be ready to stay up.

“If I don’t get us there then I hope that I am the one who continues the path so the gap is smaller for whoever comes after me. This isn’t about personal satisfaction or glory for me, but I do want fans to understand and appreciate that sometimes results may not go the way they want them to.

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“The new stadium is the number one priority for the football club and number two is having a thriving academy, for boys and girls. Then, we have a thriving club and a community and at that point what happens at first team level will be really important.

“Maybe I may not be the guy who gets the club to a final destination, but maybe I am the guy who can map the road.

“It isn’t all about what happens on the pitch and we need things to be right off it to move us to the next level. I genuinely feel that I can help the club. It’s actually a very simple process. The Board get that and I get that.”