Ed Murphy (soccer) - Professional Career

Professional Career

Murphy spent most of his career as an amateur with National Soccer League of Chicago clubs, including Maroon and Slovak. He led the Slovaks to the 1953 National Amateur Cup championship. He also spent a single season as a professional in 1968 with the Chicago Mustangs of the North American Soccer League (NASL). However, his greatest achievements came as a member of various U.S. national teams. In 1956, he was a member of the U.S. team which lost to Yugoslavia 9-1 at the 1956 Summer Olympics. In 1959, he saw greater success when the U.S. took the bronze medal at the Pan American Games which was played in his hometown of Chicago. In those games, Murphy scored eight goals, including a hat trick in the U.S. victory over Brazil and another two goals in the U.S. defeat of Mexico in the bronze medal game. He was also part of the team which failed to qualify for the 1960 Summer Olympics. None of these statistics count towards Murphy’s national team statistics as they were considered less than full international matches.