It’s a rematch 23 years in the making. In February 2000, a fresh-faced Murphy was given the nod to start his first major Final, aged just 18, as Tranmere Rovers faced Leicester City in the League Cup Final at the old Wembley Stadium.

Fast forward over two decades and a 42-year-old Murphy could be between the sticks again when the Foxes pay a visit to Prenton Park in the same competition.

On the stroke of half time, Oxford were awarded a penalty, but the debutant denied his namesake Matt Murphy from the spot, guessing correctly to get down low to make the stop. The Irishman kept a clean sheet in a 2-0 win and it sparked an upturn in Tranmere’s form, not only in cup competitions but also in the First Division.

His potential was always clear to then-manager John Aldridge. Murphy, an Under-16s European champion with his country, was the only one to escape Aldridge’s wrath at the break.

“I’d just turned 18 in the August and that game was in October,” he recalls. “It was the first round of the Worthington Cup as it was then. I didn’t even know I was playing and we turned up and I saw my shirt hanging up where the starting 11 would be. I didn’t have time to think about it.

“It went pretty well. It was 0-0 at half-time, but they’d had a penalty and I saved it in the first half, so that really settled me. I remember the manager going absolutely crazy at everyone apart from me! He gave me some praise which gave me a massive lift. We eventually managed to win the game 2-0.”

He was thrown straight in for Tranmere’s home league fixture against Manchester City the following weekend, dislodging Dutchman John Achterberg as Rovers’ first choice keeper. Murphy registered just one defeat in 14 outings and that momentum carried through to the League Cup as Aldridge’s men made it through to the Semi-Final.

“I was still a kid at heart,” Murphy says. “I’d count myself as very lucky. I think there were a lot of people who were quite surprised that I was in the team, especially as a goalkeeper in a struggling team. You rarely got youngsters getting through. It was sink or swim.

“Back then, it was very difficult to get in and around the first team and in squads. This was a year or two after you’d gone from three subs to five subs, so you could probably have a goalie on your bench, but there wasn’t really that opportunity for young lads.”

After beating Oxford in Round Three, Tranmere drew Barnsley in Round Four. With Murphy in goal – as he was 24 years on when the two teams met again in the competition for the first since 1999 earlier this month – Rovers breezed past the South Yorkshire side.

A teenage Murphy retained his place in the starting line-up for the Quarter-Final against Middlesbrough but, after around an hour, disaster struck. The stopper was forced to withdraw after a collision with Boro striker Hamilton Ricard left him unable to continue. The prognosis didn’t look too good.

He continues: “We were doing well in both the cups and we were around mid-table in the league. I then broke my collarbone in the Quarter-Final of the League Cup against Middlesbrough and it put me out for six weeks.

“It was difficult to take. I’d started on such a high and I was getting a lot of plaudits and a lot of attention, then that happened. You don’t realise that when you’re 18 years old – you think it’s the end of the world. You go from such a high to not being available. I watched the team go to Bolton and win the two-legged Semi-Final thinking I wasn’t going to be a part of that.

“I’d been out a long time with my shoulder and actually had a small knee operation while I was out with my shoulder as well because that would’ve kept me out two or three weeks, so I just got that done while I was out.”

Around two months later, the comeback was on and just in time for the Final. Achterberg stood in for Murphy as Rovers overcame Semi-Final opponents Bolton Wanderers 4-0 over a two-legged tie.

Murphy picked up where he left off when he returned to the side just a week before the Final against Premier League opponents Leicester City.

“To play in the Final was unexpected,” he admits. “By the time I got back fit, the lads had got through the Semi-Final. I was back available for the Saturday before the Final when we played Newcastle in the Quarter-Final of the FA Cup and I was put back into the team. We did well but we got beat 3-2, then a week later was the Final. I didn’t have much time to think about it, but I had been out for six weeks, so it was a bit of a surprise.”

Even England international Tim Flowers – in goal for Leicester that day – was impressed by the season Murphy was having.

“When we were lining up in the old tunnel that was behind the goal, Tim Flowers was the goalie for Leicester and he had a chat with me when we were stood in the tunnel waiting to go out,” Murphy explains. “He was telling me I’d done great to get here and I thought he didn’t really need to do that. I was the opposition and a young kid and he probably knew I was nervous. I remember him just chatting to me as if we were having a walk in the park.”

It was a full house at the home of football for the last-ever League Cup Final to be staged at the old Wembley.

“We knew the stadium was coming down that year to re-do Wembley,” says Murphy, who has played under the arch twice – winning with Scunthorpe United in the 2009 League One Play-Off Final and competing in the EFL Trophy Final in the same year.

“I’ve been lucky enough to play at them both. When people ask me if I’ve played at Wembley, I say, ‘which one?’ We knew the stadium was coming down that year to re-do Wembley. It was getting to that stage where it needed a change.”

Tranmere slipped to a 2-1 defeat to Leicester; Foxes skipper Matt Elliott scored both goals for Martin O'Neill’s men while David Kelly made the score sheet for Rovers.

Leicester went ahead in the first period before Kelly levelled for Tranmere late in the second half, but the lead was restored in the final 10 minutes.

He adds: “It was exciting but nerve-wracking. It was just a bit surreal walking around the stadium. Everyone had the same size jersey – there was nothing fitted about the jerseys back then! I still remember it to this day.

“The result didn’t go for us, but to get there, it’s one of the highlights in the Club’s history to get to a major Final. In terms of stature of a game and a cup run, you’ll do well to match that.”

In the summer of 2020, Murphy re-signed for Tranmere, circling back to where it all began in the twilight of a career which has so far encompassed over 600 appearances during which time he played at the highest level in the Premier League.

Since returning to Birkenhead, he has made 40 appearances, taking on a dual coaching role last season alongside acting as an understudy. He signed his latest one-year extension this summer and he didn’t expect to be involved as much on the playing side of matters until his chance came knocking in the Carabao Cup earlier in August.

League Two side Tranmere knocked out League One outfit Barnsley on penalties to reach Round Two. It finished 2-2 after 90 minutes and Rovers prevailed 7-6 in the shootout.

“You have to have a little giggle. It got a bit of attention with the time gap between the Barnsley game and the last time we played Barnsley in the cup in 1999. I was getting so many posts. It was madness. It’s just making me feel old!

“Then our name gets pulled out of the hat by Martin O'Neill funnily enough who was the manager at Leicester at the time. I had a lot of texts and a lot of people on to me about the draw. It was mentioned when the draw was made and we were the first ball out of the hat.

“Just looking at the Leicester game, it’s on the 29^th and I’m actually 42 on the 24^th so I’ll be 42 years old if I’m selected for that game. It’ll be 25 years near enough that I played in that Final. It doesn’t sound right, does it?”

He has been realistic in his approach to this campaign since taking on the added responsibility of the Club’s goalkeeping coach, but he is still eligible to play and after seeing Tranmere through to Round Two, it looks likely he could be making another appearance against Leicester and what a story it would be for Murphy.

“I’ve done a full circle now and it’s come all the way around now I’m back at the Club where it all started for me when I was 15 years old,” he states. “It feels like yesterday for me, to be honest, it really does.

“The five years I had at Tranmere was the reason I stayed in football. It gave me a great grounding. I’ve lived in this area in the Wirral for the last 10 years or so and Merseyside people are passionate about their football. Irish people, especially the Dublin people, are very similar to Liverpudlians in that way.”

Earlier in February, Murphy became the oldest player to represent the Club when he stepped in against Stevenage in League Two, usurping Ian Goodison’s crown. Tranmere won 2-1 against promotion-chasing Boro and the 41-year-old was awarded the Man of the Match prize. For a man who is winding down, it was quite a shift.

He laughs: “It’s another stat I don’t know whether to be proud of or embarrassed of! I think eight of our starting XI weren’t even born when I made my debut in 1999. I’ve been very lucky to do what I’ve done for so long. I’ve actually had people telling me they were 14 when they first came to watch me and now, they’ve got sons that are 14 years old.

“I still love playing and if selected, I’d love to play in the game. I know I’m not going to have many more even though I’d love to play for many more years. Sometimes your age just catches up with you and I get that.

“The gaffer told me two or three weeks ago that he’d like me to play in the cups to keep sharp just in case I do get called upon. I spoke to Luke McGee about it and he was fine. As long as we keep winning, it means I get another game or two.”

And if Murphy does play his part against Leicester next week, it would be a blast from the past for the veteran keeper.