Learning English

Hi, it's Rob here from BBC Learning English, and I'm very lucky to be interviewing Danny Murphy, a great footballer - and we can describe you as a great achiever as well, because that's what we're talking about. So we're going to talk a bit about your football career. Let's start back in the early days…

When did you start playing football?

I started playing football probably [when I was] three years old. I was very fortunate, I had three older brothers who loved playing and we had a small field and a patch of grass near where I lived and every minute I could be out, I was playing, I was kicking a ball… I was - sounds cliché but I just didn't want to be doing anything else. I wasn't really bothered about computers, and then of course as I got a little bit older, I joined the first team I could … it was a cub scout team - I think it was - initially and then every time I could, I played as often and anywhere I was wanted and quickly progressed into local teams and playing for the school and soon got noticed, and realised I was quite good!

How long did it take to become to be a professional player?

I became a professional player on my 17th birthday which was sooner than I anticipated. It was a long journey that really even though when you think you've made it when you are a professional at 17, it's just the start really.

Obviously, you have done very well so let's talk about some of your achievements… when did you score your first goal for a professional team?

I actually got my first goal coming on as a substitute, as a 16 year old, for Crewe in a home game against Preston. It was a night game, I'd never started a game before, I was quite nervous. I think I was only on the bench because of an illness throughout the squad. And I came on as centre-forward and someone played a through-ball and I just found myself one-on-one with the keeper, and naturally did what I'd done for years, and put it in the bottom corner - and it was a great moment for me because it had come much sooner than I had anticipated.

How did you feel when you scored that first goal?

It's an amazing feeling like a blanket of warmth, goes through you, you know, so it's something that I'll miss, actually.

How did it feel to be part of the Liverpool team that won 5 trophies in a year?

I don't think while I was involved in that you realise the enormity of what you're achieving. I think it's only when you look back on achievements in football that you fully appreciate what you've done, and at that point the club was evolving and the team was evolving, and we managed to win those trophies so quickly and I think I look back on it with great pride because I played a lot of games, scored some important goals and ultimately when you play football, and you look back at what you did, you look back at the things you won. And winning trophies, playing in finals, semi-finals, experiencing the joy of being successful as a unit and individually is the ultimate in football.

And of course you played for England, what was it like – how did you feel playing for England?

I felt when I played for England the very first time, a sense of achievement, I felt like I'd reached the ultimate goal in what I'd set out to do – I played football because I loved it and then I played football to achieve and do the best I could, and putting on an England shirt for the first time and getting on that pitch at Old Trafford against Sweden with my family there watching me was as special a feeling as I could ever have. 

And you've played obviously for many teams – Liverpool, Crewe, many others – which team did you enjoy playing for the most?

The team where I started my career at Crewe was amazing because I was playing professional football for the first time so that was special for that alone. Then to play regularly and successfully in a team that I supported as a child and loved so much, and so dearly: it's the ultimate dream of a young boy growing up watching his team and thinking one day I'd love to play on this pitch – not just play for Liverpool but to succeed there and be part of winning trophies and score big goals and big games was all I ever dreamt of doing so I achieved it. But then on a different way, at Fulham, what we achieved there – I was part of that club when we had the most successful spell in its history and to be captain during that time and to lead the team during that time was personally very satisfying because I felt I contributed hugely to that, so that was a real honour to be part of a brilliant club's success and be remembered favourably because of it.

Finally, what was your greatest footballing achievement?

In terms of achievements, the year we won the treble has to top it. That was a wonderful achievement because it meant that you individually did well but collectively as well. So the treble-winning year where we won those 3 trophies would be my best achievement because it's ultimately what you base success on: winning things.

Danny, thank you very much for speaking to us - and congratulations on all the things you've achieved.