Conall Murtagh

Conall Francis Murtagh (born 29 June 1985) is a Northern Irish footballer who currently plays for Bala Town. He has made over seventy appearances in the Scottish League, the Football League and the Football Conference. He has made 226 appearances in the Welsh Premier League scoring 17 goals. He has played in Europe competitions on five seasons representing Bala Town in Europe in three seasons 2012–13, 2014–15 and 2015–16, Rhyl FC in 2010 and the Champions League with TNS.
He also represented Northern Ireland at all age groups to under-21 level and has captained the side. Conall is a Sports Scientist at Liverpool Football Club and is responsible for the Liverpool under-18 squad.

Murtagh started his career with Ballymena United and Crusaders before joining Scottish League club Hearts on a two-year contract in 2003. He made no appearances for Hearts and joined Raith Rovers on loan in January 2005, where he made eleven first-team appearances in the remainder of the 2004–05 season in the Scottish First Division.

Murtagh was released by Hearts at the end of the 2004–05 (injury hit) season, commenced a degree at University of Manchester and joined League of Wales club Connah's Quay Nomads, where he made 27 league appearances, scoring three goals, in the 2005–06 season. He joined Rhyl in 2006, making 25 Welsh Premier league appearances, scoring once, in the 2006–07 season and collected a Welsh League Cup runners-up medal after a penalty defeat to Caersws in March 2007.

Murtagh joined Conference North club Southport in May 2007 but quickly left to join League Two side Wrexham in June 2007. He made six league and cup appearances for Wrexham in the 2007–08 season while completing his final year at University of Manchester, and a further six appearances for Football Conference side Droylsden, who he joined on a two-month loan in January 2008.

In January 2009, Murtagh signed for Welsh Premier League side The New Saints, having fallen out of favour at Wrexham since Dean Saunders took charge in October 2008. In January 2010, he joined Aberystwyth Town on loan for the remainder of the 2009–10 season, scoring three times in thirteen appearances before being recalled in April. At the end of the season, Murtagh's contract ended at The New Saints and he joined Aberystwyth Town on a permanent basis.

Murtagh has been Club Captain of Bala Town FC since 2014. In July 2011 he moved to Bala Town and helped the side achieve 5th place in the 2011–12 season playing a record number of games and making a clean sweep of end of season awards. In 2012–13, Bala were play-off champions and qualified for the first time in the Club's history for a European position in the 2013–14 campaign. Bala qualified again for the Europa Cup in the ensuing season, 2014–15.

Conall has represented his country, Northern Ireland, 38 times at international level at all underage groups under-15, under-16, under-17, under-19 and is also an under-21 International. He captained the side a number of times (famously when NI were victors against Brazil for the first time ever), and played all matches in NI's only Victory Shield (under-15) victory in 2000.

He holds a degree in Physiology from the University of Manchester and has a Master of Science in Sports Science with Physiology from the University of Chester. He is currently completing his PhD in Sports Science at Liverpool John Moores University and due to complete in mid 2016. The PhD is a joint venture with Liverpool FC.

He is a Sports Science fitness coach for the Liverpool FC Under 18 Squad which progressed to the quarter final of youth Champions League (2014/15) and has previously worked with DNA Sports Performance, Bolton Wanderers FC, Wrexham FC and TNS FC in sports science roles. As well as being a qualified sports scientist, he is a qualified UEFA A football coach and is an accredited member of the UK Strength & Conditioning Association (UKSCA).

Malone, J. J., Murtagh, C. F., Morgans, R., Burgess, D. J., Morton, J. P., & Drust, B. (2015). Countermovement Jump Performance Is Not Affected During an In-Season Training Microcycle in Elite Youth Soccer Players. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 29(3), 752-757.

Murtagh, C.F., O’Boyle, A., Morgans, R., Drust, B., Erskine, R.M. (2015, October). The Physiological Determinants and Genetic Contribution to Maximal Muscular Power in Elite Youth Soccer. Oral presentation at Las Palmeiras Congress of Sports Science, São Paulo, Brazil.

Murtagh, C.F., Nulty, C, Stubbs, M, Vanrenterghem, J., O’Boyle, A., Morgans, R., Drust, B., Erskine, R.M. (2015, June). The Contribution Of Skeletal Muscle Size, Architecture, Activation and Tendon Properties To Soccer-Specific Power. Oral presentation at 20th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science (ECSS) Malmo, Sweden.