Obituary - John McMurrich, leading amateur football coach

Died: April 20, 2017

JOHN McMurrich, who has died suddenly of a heart attack aged 63, was widely recognised as one of Scottish amateur football’s leading coaches.

He was first team coach of St Patrick’s FP and guided them to two Scottish Amateur Cup victories during the 25 years in which he was in charge of the team. In his autobiography, Sir Alex Ferguson described St Patrick's in Dumbarton as one of the best footballing schools in Scotland.

However, the pinnacle of McMurrich’s football career was winning the Scottish Cup at Hampden Park in 1990, an achievement which was repeated in 1999 at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock.

John McMurrich was born in Dumbarton and as a young footballer played for Balloch Juveniles, Vale of Leven Juniors and Glasgow Perthshire, before sustaining a career-ending knee injury.

The injury put paid to him ever playing at senior level, which keen observers of the game said he was certain to have done.

Undaunted, he switched to become the first team coach of St Patrick’s High School FPs.

He had started his career in football in one of the St Patrick’s school teams, where he was coached by maths teacher Jack Gilroy, who himself had been a professional footballer. Jack Gilroy cultivated the talents of Scottish international John ‘Solly’ O’Hare, who won two European Cup medals with Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest, and Stevie Murray, who captained Aberdeen and played for Dundee and Celtic.

And they were not the only ones: there were many other players from St Patrick’s who made the senior grade in Scottish, English, Australian and Irish football.

Speaking at the funeral mass for Mr McMurrich at St Patrick’s Church in Dumbarton, his friend and fellow player Danny McKinley, described him as a football scholar.

“Johnny was my coach, manager, friend and a football scholar," said Mr McKinley. "He moved on to Balloch Juveniles, where he encountered another legendary coach and clubman, Allan ‘Elkie’ Melville, and learned from him too.”

It was while playing for Vale of Leven, which was then coached by the former Celtic and Third Lanark goalkeeper, Evan Williams - another St Patrick’s man - that Mr McMurrich sustained the injury which put him out of the game.

Mr McKinley added: “Johnny was very young to be going into the management side of the game, but obviously he had picked up a few tips from his earlier mentors.

“This was the silver lining which benefited St Patrick’s.

“When Johnny first went to St Patrick’s, the FPs were in the top division of the West of Scotland League. But, year in year out, they struggled against relegation and seldom featured in the latter rounds of cups and trophies.

“It wasn’t easy at first and the team were eventually relegated, but this proved to be a turning point in their history.”

St Patrick’s won the Second Division and this started a phenomenal run which saw Mr McMurrich, the manager, and Gerry, his brother, who looked after the administration, winning the West of Scotland league title.

The team’s prowess was recognised and St Patrick’s were invited to play in the Scottish Amateur League, where they won seven league titles.

They won the League Cup five times and the Challenge Cup on a number of occasions, including one final at Celtic Park, which gave the club and its supporters great satisfaction.

However, the pinnacleof his career in amateur football came when Mr McMurrich's team won the Scottish Cup at Hampden Park in 1990, an achievement which was repeated in 1999 at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock.

Danny McKinley said: “Johnny brought St Pat’s from struggling with relegation most years to a team who were respected throughout Scotland.

“He was an inspiration to the players, who were pumped up by his team talks before every match.

“During his reign, which lasted over 25 years, he won the ultimate prize, the Scottish Amateur Cup on two occasions.”

Away from football, John McMurrich was a happily married family man, who had worked for 39 years in the Scotch whisky industry in Dumbarton.

St Patrick’s Church in Dumbarton was packed to capacity on Thursday with mourners for his funeral mass, which was celebrated by Canon Gerry Conroy, the parish priest.

Mr McMurrich died suddenly from a heart attack at his home in Vale of Leven. He lived with his wife Mary and two daughters, Karen and Louise, in O’Hare, Bonhill, Alexandria, and is survived by them.

BILL HEANEY