Ex-Files: Colin Murdock
Central defender, Colin Murdock was born in Ballymena, Northern Ireland and became one of a host of former Manchester United trainee's to join the ranks at Deepdale in the nineties. Having been limited to just reserve team fixtures at Old Trafford, Murdock was transferred to Preston in May 1997 after a fee of £100,000 was agreed between the two clubs.
Murdock made his Preston debut in the 0-0 draw with Gillingham along with his former Manchester United teammate, Jon Macken. His first goal for the club came in the 2-1 win over Brentford on 4th October 1997. With the score tied at 1-1 and just over 5 minutes to go, new boy Murdock grabbed the winner to give Preston all three points. That goal turned out to be the one solitary strike he scored that season for the club during his 33 appearances.
After cementing his place in the Preston side, Murdock appeared 180 times and scored six goals. His last appearance for the club came in the 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forrest at Deepdale on 25th January 2003. In the summer of 2003, the six-foot-three centre half joined SPL outfit, Hibernian where he went on to make 37 appearances for the club.
Towards the end of the 2004/2005 season, Murdock returned south of the border and joined Crewe Alexandra to become team captain. Murdock skippered the side that managed to avoid relegation that season and was heralded as captain marvel as a result. Despite this, Murdock was on the move again as he joined Rotherham in the summer of 2005. He spent two years at Rotherham before leaving for pastures new.
In the summer of 2006/2007, after making 46 appearances for Rotherham, the former Preston man joined League Two outfit, Shrewsbury Town. Despite the arrival of another former Preston man, Paul Simpson, Murdock was released from his contract at Gay Meadow towards the end of the 2007/2008 season and now finds himself back in Lancashire playing for Accrington Stanley.