Shayne Murphy (Scottish FA, City Football Group, Setanta College, SDM Performance): The developing football athlete

Shayne qualified with a first- class honours degree in Sports and Exercise Sciences from University of Limerick in 2010, completing his MSc in Sport Science in 2012, certifying as a Strength and Conditioning Coach in 2013.

Shayne has been working in elite football for over 11 years across first team and academy squads in the Premier League, including Manchester City, Liverpool FC, Blackburn Rovers and Cardiff City. He also spent several years with the Wales National Squads during international campaigns at U21 level. As the founder and director of SDM Performance, Shayne currently works with sports people independently as well as remaining a consultant for City Football Group, which is a global football organisation. As part of his role with City Football Group, he recently led the sport science department at New York City FC in the US for their pre-season. He also works with the Scottish FA as a Football Scientist and Setanta College as a Masters Lecturer. 


In this episode Shane discusses:

  • His career at Cardiff City, Blackburn Rovers, Liverpool and Manchester City
  • The importance of running based movement skills in football.
  • The rise of athletes having their own personal performance staff.
  • Being selective over what CPD resources you use and when.

You can keep up to date with Shayne via his Instagram: @sdmperformance .

Keep up to date with Athletic Evolution via our Website, Twitter and Instagram. You can leave us feedback or submit a question for future episodes here.