Murphy was playing first-team football from 15 at St Patrick’s Athletic, where he won the FAI Cup in 2023, before moving to Bristol City two months after that cup triumph in January 2024.

With the wealth of the game in England, an increasing number of young Irish talents have been moving across the channel to join teams in the Premier League and EFL.

The 20-year-old admitted that he had found the transition tricky at first, but feels like it has helped him to grow up as a person, whilst also developing as a player.

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He said: “I was in a senior dressing room from the age of 15, and that probably put a bit of hair on my chest early.

“Everyone is probably different, but, for me, the jump was quite big, but it was one that I thought I was capable of making.

“The biggest thing for me was probably the off-pitch stuff. I was a mummy’s boy growing up, so what it was going to be like living on my own and cooking for myself, I did not really know.

“In the end, I settled quite quickly, and the lads at Bristol City really helped me, so making the jump was a lot easier when I just bit the bullet and did it rather than fearing it. I feel like I have matured.”

Murphy has consistently played up age groups throughout his footballing journey, leading to him making his first senior start on his 17th birthday.

He said that he believed that experience had helped him to adapt to new dressing rooms as he looked to take his career to the next level.

He added: “I remember having a conversation with my mum a couple of days ago, and I told her that because I have done it before, I didn’t really feel much pressure [coming into a new dressing room at Swindon], the little bit of nerves weren’t there this time.

“Naturally, you are going to be a little bit anxious going into a new building, but it definitely was not as bad as when I first came over.

“I do feel like I have matured a lot since I came over [from Ireland], and I put that down to the fact I was involved in a first team from so young and being in that competitive environment.

“It is definitely different [being away from home], I miss my family and my friends quite a lot, but I feel like over here the opportunities are so great that sometimes you do have to make those sacrifices.

“Some people aren’t prepared to do that, but I have high ambitions with what I want to do in my career and how far I want to go.

“Over here had to be the next step for me, and right now that is Swindon, which I am really excited for a really good year.”