Murphy played more than 200 times for Albion, before moving to Swindon Town in 1939, but the Second World War ended his spell at Swindon almost as soon as it had begun. Murphy was also called up to the Welsh national team during the 1930s, winning 15 caps. Managerial career During the Second World War, Murphy was giving a speech about football to a band of troops, and in attendance was Matt Busby. Busby was so impressed by Murphy's speech that, upon his appointment as manager of Manchester United, he made Murphy the first signing of his tenure at the club. Murphy had the role of "chief coach" from 1946 until 1955, and became assistant manager in 1955 after Manchester United won their third FA Youth Cup in a row. It was Murphy's responsibility at the club to train the young footballers who were to become the "Busby Babes", which included Duncan Edwards and Bobby Charlton. Prior to this the larger teams had mainly bought rather than developed their players but instead Busby decided to slowly replace the older and more experienced players in his team with their youth players. After the Munich air disaster of 6 February 1958, he temporarily took over as manager while Matt Busby recovered from his injuries and, having assembled a substitute team, steered United to the 1958 FA Cup Final. Murphy had not been on the fatal flight because he had been away managing Wales in a World Cup qualifying game. Murphy managed Wales at the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden when they reached the quarter-finals. They lost 1–0 to Brazil (the eventual winners), to a goal by Pelé. Despite being approached to manage Brazil, Juventus and Arsenal, he remained as assistant manager at Old Trafford until 1971. Murphy chose never to become manager of the club because of his hate of the limelight, he loved working in the background but never aspired to fulfil the job of club manager. From 1973, Murphy did scouting work for Manchester United, most famously during the managerial reign of Tommy Docherty, when Murphy urged Docherty to sign wingers Steve Coppell and Gordon Hill. Murphy died suddenly and unexpectedly of a burst aorta on 14 November 1989, aged 79.The Man Who Kept The Red Flag Flying: Jimmy Murphy – The Family Authorised Life Story by Wayne Barton In Murphy's honour, Manchester United commissioned the "Jimmy Murphy Young