WHEN NOELLE MURRAY meets The 42 on an overcast Wednesday afternoon, we take a chance that it won’t rain and congregate at an outdoor café in the Dublin suburb.
It seems appropriate in a year that has, in itself, felt like a gamble for the 36-year-old.
Until 2026, except for one season in Glasgow, Murray has spent her entire football career based in Dublin.
There were brief early spells at St Catherine’s and Shamrock Rovers, but the attacker established herself at Raheny before the club merged with Shelbourne.
During the subsequent years, she became a club legend, with 214 appearances, 120 goals, and nine years of service.
But at the end of 2025, Murray left the Dublin club acrimoniously (more on that later) and landed on her feet, joining reigning champions Athlone Town.
At 36, it was a significant change.
The commute was not ideal but manageable.
It takes roughly an hour from where Murray lives, and she has been part of a carpool of a revolving group of players that currently includes Courtney Maguire and Melissa O’Kane.
Training on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings, plus a gym session on Wednesday, means she can work as a secondary school special needs assistant without too much hassle during the week.
And the move has worked out well. Athlone are on the verge of being crowned Premier Division champions, while they also play Shelbourne in the Women’s FAI Cup final on Sunday.
“I really have enjoyed it. I didn’t think I would, to be honest; I didn’t think I’d enjoy it as much as I have,” she says.
“I thought I was going to find it a lot more difficult going to a new team and adjusting, but it’s been pretty easy.”
Murray, who has played a deeper role since moving to Athlone, having invariably operated as a number 10 at Shels, is one of the Premier Division’s longest-serving players. But, as Murray points out, she is not the oldest – Shels have a pair of 37-year-olds (Rachel Graham and Pearl Slattery) in their ranks.
Sunday will be the veteran’s 12th cup final appearance – her first was almost 20 years ago, when she lined out for Raheny against a Galway League side in the 2007 showpiece event. In addition, her most recent appearance in 2024 saw her score a brace in Shelbourne’s 6-1 victory over Athlone.
Shelbourne Pearl Slattery, Rebecca Creagh, Noelle Murray and Rachel Graham celebrate winning the FAI Cup in 2024. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Murray hopes to lift the trophy for the eighth time this weekend. And she admits it could be her last.
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“This is around the age we all start to pack it in, isn’t it?” she says.
“I’m 37 in December and still playing at that level and competing for major trophies. It’s still interesting. I still enjoy it.
“This year has been a bit tough, but I’d say maybe the whole travelling and all was an add-on to that. But physically, I still feel okay.
“It’s been a different setup and positioning for me down there when I was playing. I feel like I worked a lot harder this year than in previous years because it was a new team.
“That’s kind of what you have to do, don’t you, with a new team? You want to be playing if you’re going to be travelling that much. But it’s been a weird year. I would definitely say I’m more tired after games that I played this year than in previous years.”
She continues: “Everybody gets like that. And I’d been off work for the summer, so the summer had been pretty easy-flowing for me.
“And now I think being back and working and travelling down straight after work to train, and by the time you get home and all, it’s pretty late some nights. But I wouldn’t do it if I wasn’t enjoying it.”
Murray had contemplated retirement last year after Shels missed out on the title. But she was determined to “finish on a high,” and a league and cup double with Athlone would certainly be a fitting end to an illustrious career.
“I’m trying to let this end of the season play out and see how things go,” she adds. “But it’s a question that’s up in the air at the minute.”
Former Ireland international Lily Agg manages Athlone Town. Tom Maher / INPHO
Tom Maher / INPHO / INPHO
Athlone, as a club, have also undergone significant change this year, with ex-Ireland international Lily Agg taking over as manager in May and so far maintaining their status as the Premier Division’s top side.
Remarkably, Agg is the first female manager Murray has worked under in the League of Ireland, and she has been impressed by the coach, who is four years her junior.
“Everything about her, her sessions, even her video and stuff that we do before games, our analysis and everything, is usually spot on.
“She’s a really good person as well. She sees us as people, behind what we’re down there to do.
“I think she will go on and do big things in this chapter of her life. I could see her internationally managing very soon.”
Murray herself has a Uefa B coaching licence but does not feel management is for her.
“I think I’d rather work with kids,” she explains. “I’d rather be out doing the coaching sessions on the pitch and stuff.”
The fact that Murray will be playing this weekend against the club with whom she won three FAI Cups and appeared in six finals adds an extra layer of intrigue to the story.
When her departure from the Reds was announced last December, she publicly described it as “disgraceful”.
While it “cut deep” at the time, the Shels legend says she got over it “pretty quickly”.
She had no problem with being told she was no longer part of manager Sean Russell’s plans, but hearing it on the phone rather than face to face was “disrespectful”.
She adds: “It made me not like the club, the team, everything about the place,” though she has remained friends with many of the people at the club.
One of those who backed Murray during this saga was Katie McCabe. The pair know each other from their time together at Raheny. Their spells at Glasgow also coincided, and Murray is not surprised by her ex-teammate’s meteoric rise since then.
“I knew she had it,” she recalls of a young McCabe. “I think just some people you can tell whether they have it or they haven’t.”
Murray played alongside Katie McCabe at Raheny and Glasgow. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
While McCabe promptly established herself as a key player at Arsenal after that productive Glasgow loan, Murray was back at Shels the following season.
The Dubliner still regularly makes trips over to England with groups of friends to watch the Ireland star play, but she has no regrets about not playing football across the water for longer.
Murray won the league with Glasgow and rejected an offer to stay beyond 2017. While Scotland was her first professional football contract, “it just made more sense for me to come home financially,” and she suggests the two leagues are of a similar standard.
“I’ve signed a professional contract with Athlone. But I was never on a professional contract with Shels,” Murray adds.
While not everyone in the Premier Division is on a professional deal, the league has made major strides in recent times.
“Years ago, when we played, the pitch mightn’t even be marked for us; now they’re playing in proper stadiums and everything.
“The pitches would be all bumpy and stuff. Or you’d be waiting on the boys to get off the pitch.
“Referees not turning up to games. You wouldn’t have had anybody at our games or anything years ago. Now you’re turning up, and it’s like playing in stadiums. There are probably a couple of hundred at every game. So it’s definitely changed.”
Not that the professionalism, or lack thereof, ever influenced Murray’s love of the sport.
Growing up in Cabra with four soccer-mad brothers and regularly watching her late father Alan play in Morton Stadium, she was instantly hooked.
Much has changed in the almost two decades since Murray started competing in the League of Ireland, but her passion has remained steadfast.
“It was always for just the love of the game, wanting to play it,” she concludes. “That’s the way I’ve always been. I’ve never had any regrets about anything, and I thought: ‘Was it going to be a regret this year?’ But 100%, it hasn’t. It’s probably been one of the more enjoyable years that I’ve had. So, it’s been worth it.”
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One of Irish football's greatest servants is not finished yet
WHEN NOELLE MURRAY meets The 42 on an overcast Wednesday afternoon, we take a chance that it won’t rain and congregate at an outdoor café in the Dublin suburb.
It seems appropriate in a year that has, in itself, felt like a gamble for the 36-year-old.
Until 2026, except for one season in Glasgow, Murray has spent her entire football career based in Dublin.
There were brief early spells at St Catherine’s and Shamrock Rovers, but the attacker established herself at Raheny before the club merged with Shelbourne.
During the subsequent years, she became a club legend, with 214 appearances, 120 goals, and nine years of service.
But at the end of 2025, Murray left the Dublin club acrimoniously (more on that later) and landed on her feet, joining reigning champions Athlone Town.
At 36, it was a significant change.
The commute was not ideal but manageable.
It takes roughly an hour from where Murray lives, and she has been part of a carpool of a revolving group of players that currently includes Courtney Maguire and Melissa O’Kane.
Training on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings, plus a gym session on Wednesday, means she can work as a secondary school special needs assistant without too much hassle during the week.
And the move has worked out well. Athlone are on the verge of being crowned Premier Division champions, while they also play Shelbourne in the Women’s FAI Cup final on Sunday.
“I thought I was going to find it a lot more difficult going to a new team and adjusting, but it’s been pretty easy.”
Murray, who has played a deeper role since moving to Athlone, having invariably operated as a number 10 at Shels, is one of the Premier Division’s longest-serving players. But, as Murray points out, she is not the oldest – Shels have a pair of 37-year-olds (Rachel Graham and Pearl Slattery) in their ranks.
Sunday will be the veteran’s 12th cup final appearance – her first was almost 20 years ago, when she lined out for Raheny against a Galway League side in the 2007 showpiece event. In addition, her most recent appearance in 2024 saw her score a brace in Shelbourne’s 6-1 victory over Athlone.
Murray hopes to lift the trophy for the eighth time this weekend. And she admits it could be her last.
“This is around the age we all start to pack it in, isn’t it?” she says.
“I’m 37 in December and still playing at that level and competing for major trophies. It’s still interesting. I still enjoy it.
“This year has been a bit tough, but I’d say maybe the whole travelling and all was an add-on to that. But physically, I still feel okay.
“It’s been a different setup and positioning for me down there when I was playing. I feel like I worked a lot harder this year than in previous years because it was a new team.
She continues: “Everybody gets like that. And I’d been off work for the summer, so the summer had been pretty easy-flowing for me.
“And now I think being back and working and travelling down straight after work to train, and by the time you get home and all, it’s pretty late some nights. But I wouldn’t do it if I wasn’t enjoying it.”
Murray had contemplated retirement last year after Shels missed out on the title. But she was determined to “finish on a high,” and a league and cup double with Athlone would certainly be a fitting end to an illustrious career.
“I’m trying to let this end of the season play out and see how things go,” she adds. “But it’s a question that’s up in the air at the minute.”
Athlone, as a club, have also undergone significant change this year, with ex-Ireland international Lily Agg taking over as manager in May and so far maintaining their status as the Premier Division’s top side.
Remarkably, Agg is the first female manager Murray has worked under in the League of Ireland, and she has been impressed by the coach, who is four years her junior.
“Everything about her, her sessions, even her video and stuff that we do before games, our analysis and everything, is usually spot on.
“She’s a really good person as well. She sees us as people, behind what we’re down there to do.
Murray herself has a Uefa B coaching licence but does not feel management is for her.
“I think I’d rather work with kids,” she explains. “I’d rather be out doing the coaching sessions on the pitch and stuff.”
The fact that Murray will be playing this weekend against the club with whom she won three FAI Cups and appeared in six finals adds an extra layer of intrigue to the story.
When her departure from the Reds was announced last December, she publicly described it as “disgraceful”.
While it “cut deep” at the time, the Shels legend says she got over it “pretty quickly”.
She had no problem with being told she was no longer part of manager Sean Russell’s plans, but hearing it on the phone rather than face to face was “disrespectful”.
She adds: “It made me not like the club, the team, everything about the place,” though she has remained friends with many of the people at the club.
One of those who backed Murray during this saga was Katie McCabe. The pair know each other from their time together at Raheny. Their spells at Glasgow also coincided, and Murray is not surprised by her ex-teammate’s meteoric rise since then.
“I knew she had it,” she recalls of a young McCabe. “I think just some people you can tell whether they have it or they haven’t.”
While McCabe promptly established herself as a key player at Arsenal after that productive Glasgow loan, Murray was back at Shels the following season.
The Dubliner still regularly makes trips over to England with groups of friends to watch the Ireland star play, but she has no regrets about not playing football across the water for longer.
Murray won the league with Glasgow and rejected an offer to stay beyond 2017. While Scotland was her first professional football contract, “it just made more sense for me to come home financially,” and she suggests the two leagues are of a similar standard.
“I’ve signed a professional contract with Athlone. But I was never on a professional contract with Shels,” Murray adds.
While not everyone in the Premier Division is on a professional deal, the league has made major strides in recent times.
“Years ago, when we played, the pitch mightn’t even be marked for us; now they’re playing in proper stadiums and everything.
“The pitches would be all bumpy and stuff. Or you’d be waiting on the boys to get off the pitch.
Not that the professionalism, or lack thereof, ever influenced Murray’s love of the sport.
Growing up in Cabra with four soccer-mad brothers and regularly watching her late father Alan play in Morton Stadium, she was instantly hooked.
Much has changed in the almost two decades since Murray started competing in the League of Ireland, but her passion has remained steadfast.
“It was always for just the love of the game, wanting to play it,” she concludes. “That’s the way I’ve always been. I’ve never had any regrets about anything, and I thought: ‘Was it going to be a regret this year?’ But 100%, it hasn’t. It’s probably been one of the more enjoyable years that I’ve had. So, it’s been worth it.”
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Interview Katie McCabe lily agg Noelle Murray socccer Athlone Town Shelbourne