lit a candle 6h agoMy father called me from Cardiff to tell me, he still talks about that Real Madrid night in 1971 like it was last week. 80 years old. That's a long time to carry a club on your back.
Their story
Don Murray was a Scottish footballer who became one of the most loyal and dependable servants in the history of Cardiff City. A centre-back, he captained the club from 1967 to 1974, made more than 500 appearances in all competitions, and still holds the club record for consecutive league appearances.…
Don Murray was a Scottish footballer who became one of the most loyal and dependable servants in the history of Cardiff City. A centre-back, he captained the club from 1967 to 1974, made more than 500 appearances in all competitions, and still holds the club record for consecutive league appearances. He died in November 2026, aged 80, after living with Lewy body dementia, and his death was announced by Cardiff City on 2 November.
Donald James Murray was born on 18 January 1946 in Duffus, near Elgin in Moray. He joined Cardiff City as a teenager and made his first-team debut at the age of 17 against Middlesbrough in May 1963. By the 1964 to 1965 season he had established himself in the side, and he held his place for around a decade, including three seasons as an ever-present. Between May 1968 and November 1971 he played 146 consecutive league matches, a club record.
Murray was made captain while still young and led the Bluebirds through a celebrated era. He won nine Welsh Cups with the club, in 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973 and 1974, which brought regular European football to Ninian Park. He was part of the side that reached the semi-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1967 to 1968, and he played in the famous 1971 quarter-final first leg at Ninian Park in which Cardiff beat Real Madrid, before going out 2-1 on aggregate. In all he played 33 matches in that competition. He won one cap for Scotland at under-23 level, in 1965.
Larger clubs made offers for him over the years, but Murray chose to stay in Cardiff. Only Billy Hardy and Phil Dwyer have played more often for the club. In his final season he had a short loan at Swansea City, then moved to Heart of Midlothian for a fee of 15,000 pounds. He later joined Newport County, linking up again with his former Cardiff manager Jimmy Scoular, and in July 1977 signed for Barry Town of the Southern League.
In his later years Murray was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia. His family, led by his son Scott, set up a fundraising appeal for his round-the-clock care, which Cardiff City, its Former Players Association and the Supporters' Trust all backed. He was cared for at Llandough Hospital in Cardiff, where he died. The club said few have or will surpass the contribution he gave to Cardiff City, and offered its condolences to his family, friends and former team-mates.
Biography adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Cardiff City FC.
Photos
1Don Murray in Cardiff City colours
by People Forever
146 games without missing one, my grandad used to say that stat like it was scripture