Early career Born in
Maryport, Cumbria, Murray joined
Stockport County on loan for two months and he returned to Carlisle after this loan deal,
Rochdale Rochdale manager
Steve Parkin then signed Murray on loan until January 2007. Murray then signed for the club on a contract until 2009, for an undisclosed fee. He made his first start for Rochdale in their 7–1 defeat away at
Lincoln City on 21 October 2006. His first goal was a 59th-minute equaliser in their match with
Barnet on 18 November, but Rochdale lost the match 3–2. Murray made 31 league appearances in his first season with the club and scored 16 goals. Murray made his first appearance for the 2007–08 season as a 53rd-minute substitute on the opening day in Rochdale's 3–0 loss away to
Peterborough United. His first start of the season came in their 2–2 home draw with
Stoke City in the first round of the
League Cup three days later on 14 August. Murray scored his first goal of the season in a 1–1 home draw with
Norwich City in the League Cup second round, and his first league goal of the season came in Rochdale's 4–3 victory away at
Shrewsbury Town on 29 September. He made 42 league appearances scoring 21 goals, giving him an average of one goal every two games in his Rochdale career.
Brighton & Hove Albion 2007–08 season Murray had been linked with a transfer to
League One team
Brighton & Hove Albion throughout the January
transfer window, and finally completed his move to the
Withdean Stadium on 25 January 2008 for a reported £300,000. He made his debut four days later, coming on as a 61st-minute substitute for
Nathan Elder during the 1–0 defeat away to
Northampton Town. He started Albion's next match, on 2 February at home to
Crewe Alexandra, and scored two goals on his home debut in the 3–0 victory. Murray scored nine goals for Brighton during the 2007–08 season.
2008–09 season Despite suffering several injuries during the 2008–09 season, Murray made 28 appearances and scored 12 goals. On 27 September, he netted twice in a 2–2 draw at Northampton Town; his second put the team ahead in added time before
Adebayo Akinfenwa equalised. A week later he scored twice in the opening seven minutes and finished with his first
hat-trick for the team in a 3–3 draw with
Cheltenham Town.
2009–10 season On 17 October 2009, Murray won and converted a penalty for a consolation goal in a 2–1 defeat at
Tranmere Rovers, but three minutes later was sent off for a second yellow card. He scored four times in Brighton's 5–2 win away at
Wycombe Wanderers on 28 December, a result which moved Brighton out of the relegation zone. Murray's season ended on 24 April 2010 with Brighton's 2–1 win over
Bristol Rovers to stay in the division; he was sent off ten minutes after coming on as a substitute for
Chris Holroyd.
2010–11 season The 2010–11 season proved to be Murray's best season thus far at Brighton, scoring 22 goals and finishing runner-up to
Craig Mackail-Smith as League One top scorer. This included a hat-trick on 1 January 2011 in a 5–0 win over
Leyton Orient. On 20 May, the club confirmed that Murray had rejected their final offer of a new contract, so would be available on a free transfer when his contract expired.
Crystal Palace in 2012
2011–12 season On 24 May 2011, Murray signed a three-year contract with
Crystal Palace,
Brighton's main rivals. Manager
Dougie Freedman said that Murray was the type of player that his squad needed. He made his debuthis first match in the
Championshipin the starting eleven as Palace began the season with a 2–1 loss at
Peterborough United on 6 August. On 27 September, he netted as Palace won 3–1 at his former club Brighton. Murray scored the extra-time winner at
Old Trafford against
Manchester United in the
League Cup quarter-finals on 30 November.
2012–13 season On 22 September 2012, Murray scored a hat-trick including two penalties against
Cardiff City, and repeated the feat on 6 November against
Ipswich Town in a 5–0 victory despite missing a third penalty. He scored twice in a 3–0 home win over former club and now bitter rivals Brighton on 1 December, a result which put Palace on top of the league table. On 2 February 2013, Murray scored twice in four minutes against South London rivals
Charlton Athletic as Palace came from behind to win 2–1. In March, he lost out to
Watford's
Matěj Vydra as
Championship Player of the Season. On 28 March, Murray signed a new three-year contract with Crystal Palace. Murray missed the
play-off final, in which Palace secured promotion to the
Premier League, having suffered a serious knee injury in the semi-final against Brighton.
2013–14 season Murray came back from injury as a 72nd-minute substitute for
Jason Puncheon on 8 February 2014 in a 3–1 home win against
West Bromwich Albion. On 2 March, he scored his only goal of the season and his first in the Premier League, winning a late penalty against
Swansea City after being fouled by
Chico Flores and converting it past
Michel Vorm to earn a 1–1 away draw.
2014–15 season Reading (loan) On 1 September 2014, transfer deadline day, Murray moved to Championship club
Reading on loan until 1 January 2015. He scored twice in his debut match in a 3–0 win over Fulham. Murray scored eight goals in 18 league games for Reading, ending on 26 December with a brace in a 2–2 draw at Brighton where he opened the scoring after 39 seconds.
Return to Palace At the end of January 2015, Murray signed a contract extension with Palace until 2017. On 28 February, he scored twice and was sent off for two bookings as Palace won 3–1 away to West Ham United. Murray opened the scoring as Palace defeated reigning Premier League champions
Manchester City 2–1 on 6 April. Murray continued his goalscoring form by giving Palace a 1–0 lead in their 4–1 win at
Sunderland on 11 April. Eight days later, Murray was selected in the
Football Manager Team of the Decade at the
Football League Awards. On 16 May against
Liverpool, in
Steven Gerrard's final match at
Anfield, Murray's penalty was saved by
Simon Mignolet but he hit in the rebound to confirm a 3–1 victory.
AFC Bournemouth On 7 August 2015, Crystal Palace rejected a £3 million bid for Murray from Premier League rivals
AFC Bournemouth. On 1 September, an improved bid of £4 million was accepted, and Murray joined the club on a three-year deal. He scored his first goal for Bournemouth on 3 October in a 1–1 draw with Watford, a fellow newly promoted team, but had a penalty saved late on. He scored a consolation goal in the following match, a 5–1 loss at Manchester City. In December, he scored a late headed goal to clinch a win against reigning champions
Chelsea at
Stamford Bridge.
Return to Brighton On 3 July 2016, Murray returned to Brighton & Hove Albion on a season-long loan. His second debut for the Sussex side came on 6 August away to
Derby County, while his first goal in his second spell came at home to
Nottingham Forest six days later; he scored his second in the same match as Albion won 3–0. and on 18 November he scored his 150th career League goal in a 1–1 draw with
Aston Villa. On 31 January 2017, Murray re-signed permanently for Brighton & Hove Albion on a deal until June 2019. He had scored 15 goals in 28 appearances while on loan to the club in the first half of the season. He contributed 8 more league goals in the remainder of the season, including the opening goal in a 2–1 home win against
Wigan Athletic on 17 April that sealed Brighton's promotion to the Premier League for the first time in their history. Newly promoted Brighton made a positive start to their inaugural Premier League season, sitting in 8th place after eleven games. An unbeaten run of four games from mid-October coincided with Murray hitting a good run of form, with the striker scoring four goals in the three games preceding the November international break. His scoring run began with two against West Ham United in a 3–0 away win, and he followed it up with goals against
Southampton at home and Swansea City away, earning Brighton four points. On 8 January 2018, Murray scored the winning goal in Brighton's 2–1 victory over arch rivals and former club Crystal Palace to eliminate them from the
FA Cup at the third-round stage. After impressive form scoring 5 in his last 6 games in the run up to
England's friendlies in March many fans believed that Murray and Albion captain Lewis Dunk should have been called for the first time, however he and Dunk were overlooked by
Gareth Southgate. Murray took the omission with humour and posted a picture on Twitter of him and Dunk with their hands on their heads in disbelief – taken in a previous match – with a caption of laughing emojis. On 1 September 2018 Murray scored twice to take Brighton from 2–0 down to draw 2–2 with Fulham. His 100th goal for Albion, the only goal of the match at home to
Wolverhampton Wanderers on 27 October, made him just the second manafter
Tommy Cook with 123to reach that milestone. In October after being linked with the England set up again after a run of decent form Murray played down the England talk but would welcome a call-up, however he was not selected in the upcoming squad and from then on the England talk evaporated. Murray signed a one-year contract extension on 13 November that runs to the summer of 2020. After 9 games without scoring, on 29 January 2019 Murray scored another two goals against Fulham in a 4–2 away defeat. This time Fulham came back from 2 goals behind, and won. On 6 February 2019 Murray scored another two goals this time coming off the bench in a fourth round FA Cup replay against
West Bromwich Albion where his goals put Brighton 2–1 and 3–1 up in the 3–1 victory. On 9 March 2019 Murray scored his 100th league goal for the Seagulls at his former club and bitter rivals Crystal Palace in a 2–1 away victory. This win meant Brighton won the double over Palace. Murray scored his first goal of the
2019–20 season in a 2–1 away win over
Bristol Rovers in the
EFL Cup on 27 August. His first league goal didn't come until 1 February 2020, scoring Brighton's third and the last of the goals in the 3–3 draw at West Ham. In April 2020, Murray alongside captain Lewis Dunk were in pay cuts talks as a result of the impact of
COVID-19 with Murray stating, "It's bringing the club together even more" describing the talks with the board as "very positive" and an "eye-opener." Murray only scored one league goal in Brighton's third year in the top flight starting 7 of his 23 appearances in which he also provided one assist. Although Murray had a frustrating season he was still well trusted and remained popular amongst the fans.
Loan to Watford and Brighton departure On 1 September 2020, Murray signed for
Championship club
Watford on a one-year loan deal. 10 days later he made his debut in
Watford's opening game of the season coming on as a sub in a 1–0 home win over
Middlesbrough. On 30 January 2021, Murray was recalled by Brighton, following a significant lack of game time. After making 6 appearances on loan at Watford, Murray returned to Brighton and 2 days after his return it was announced that he had signed for
Nottingham Forest. Murray scored a total of 111 goals in 287 appearances across both of his spells at the club, helping Brighton achieve promotion from League One to the Premier League and to the
2018–19 FA Cup semi final. He sits in second place in
Brighton's all time top goalscorers list 12 goals behind
Tommy Cook from 1921 to 1929.
Nottingham Forest On 1 February 2021, Murray signed a permanent deal with Championship side Nottingham Forest until the end of the season on a free transfer, once again linking up with former Brighton manager
Chris Hughton and players
Anthony Knockaert and
Gaëtan Bong. He made his debut a day later coming on as a substitute in the 76th minute for goalscorer
Lewis Grabban in a 2–1 away win over
Coventry City. Murray made his first start for Forest 4 days later, scoring his first goals for the club with a brace in a 3–0 away win at league strugglers Wycombe Wanderers, in a match where former Brighton teammate Knockaert also scored with another former Brighton teammate Bong assisting Murray's first goal. He managed 2 goals in his 16 league appearances for Forest.
Retirement On 31 May 2021, Murray announced his retirement with immediate effect via social media at the age of 37, thanking "clubs, players and fans I've come across on this life changing journey". Murray achieved 202 goals in 560 league appearances (including his spell in the United States), also scoring 37 times in 148
Premier League matches. ==Television and radio==