Bill Murphy, arriving from Stirling Albion, made a couple of appearances for Exeter City during the 1949/50 season before departing for Bristol Rovers. He later played in Australia where he won several caps for his adopted country. 

Having attracted the attention of Arsenal and Celtic in his youth, whilst suffering bad luck with injuries, Bill was playing junior football with Benburb when he signed for Stirling Albion in the summer of 1949.

Moving quickly on to Exeter City in November of that year, and described as 'a useful ball player with a reasonably good shot', Bill had just two outings for City starting with a 1-0 defeat at Bristol City. Sustaining an injury on his debut, he had to wait until the visit to Aldershot in January 1950 for his next appearance. He subsequently signed for Bristol Rovers at the end of the season.

Playing just three times for his new club Bill moved to Australia at the end of 1950/51 where he was to play for Gladesville Ryde and Hakoah. In 1954 he represented Australia against New Zealand, the first of five internationals he appeared in for his adopted country. 

Bill later returned to Exeter, where he scouted for Bristol Rovers before returning to Australia and retiring in Queensland where he lived until his death in March 2021.