AFC Fylde Appoint Danny Murphy as Women’s First Team Head Coach

AFC Fylde are delighted to announce the appointment of Danny Murphy as the new Women’s First Team Head Coach.

In what is the first full time Women’s role in the club’s history, Danny will be overseeing the running of the Women’s set up, whilst coaching the team and helping to create a pathway for young talent to progress at AFC Fylde.

After a thorough interview process with plenty of impressive candidates excited by the new role on the Fylde Coast, the club felt Danny was the perfect candidate to push the Women’s side forward and his experience within both the men’s and women’s game proving pivotal.

Murphy had a long-playing career after coming through the academies at West Ham United and Queens Park Rangers. The 42-year-old made his debut for The R’s in a 3-2 win over Chesterfield under Ian Holloway before going on to make over 20 appearances over the coming months.

A move over to Cork City in Ireland followed in 2004, a club which Murphy would go on to have a long association with as both a player and coach, quickly becoming a fans favourite at Turner’s Cross. The former defender enjoyed three different spells at Cork, turning out over 200 times for the famous Irish outfit before later becoming a Head Coach within their Women’s set up.

After moving into coaching, Murphy has enjoyed a role at Welling United as their Women’s Head Coach as earning extensive experience in the US across Women’s Soccer, before moving back to Cork in a coaching capacity in May 2022, joining as their Women’s Head Coach and Girls Academy Manager.

Murphy again went down a success in Cork, leading the Women’s side to their first Women’s FAI Cup Semi Final since 2020 and a 9th-placed finish in the Women’s Premier Division.

He also helped reached the Semi Finals of the Avenir Sports All-Island Cup, whilst enjoying famous wins against the likes of Shamrock Rovers and defending Champions Seamount United last season.

The former Ireland youth international has also been well recognised for his role in player development, Cork club captain Eva Mangan being a fine example as she played her way into the Republic of Ireland Women’s National Team for their UEFA Nations League games against Sweden, England and France respectively whilst under the guidance of Murphy.

Speaking ahead of the move to the Fylde Coast, Murphy said: “I’m excited to be here. We’ve got a job on our hands, we’ve got games we need to win and we’re looking to improve straight away.

“But I can’t wait to get going. It’ll be good to meet the girls and hopefully we can start to progress up the league.

“The facilities are unbelievable when you consider the training facilities and the fact we have our own ground. I want to make this a club that players want to come and play for and make it a team that fans and the local community want to come and watch.

“It’s not just about the football club, it’s about the community and the schools and if we can bring that together, we can create a pathway for young girls to make their way into elite football.”

AFC Fylde’s Chief Operating Officer Pete Sutton added: ““We are extremely excited to appoint Danny to this role. This new full-time appointment shows the intent that AFC Fylde has to further develop the women’s section of the club.

“He brings with him a wealth of coaching experience with a fantastic pedigree of developing players and I’m sure he will make an immediate impact to the club.

“We already have some of the best playing facilities around and we have big plans for pathway development along with other female orientated projects which Danny will oversee as part of his remit. It’s really exciting to see where this next step in the journey for the club will take us.”

Everyone is delighted to welcome Danny to the club and wishes him all the very best during his time at AFC Fylde. A full interview with Danny will be available on the club website shortly.