Mint addition

Cliftonville Football Club were this weekend delighted to induct Peter Murray to the John McCredy McAlery Hall of Fame.

Confirmed during Saturday night’s Cliftonville FC Awards at the Hilton Hotel, Peter – who scored 47 goals in 331 appearances between 1985-2001 – joins a host of illustrious names bestowed with iconic status at Ireland’s Oldest Football Club.

Named in honour of Cliftonville FC’s founding father, the Hall of Fame was established to celebrate and highlight the achievements of our greatest ever servants, with Minto rightly congratulated and acknowledged for the integral roles he played during a number of stints at Solitude.

Handed his debut in an Ulster Cup tie with Distillery at New Grosvenor Stadium on August 17, 1985, Peter’s first goal for the Reds came in a League clash with Larne at Solitude in November of the following year.

He played a total of 215 games for the Club before moving to Portadown in December of 1991 and, after a spell with Ballymena United, returned to Solitude in 1998, playing on for a further three seasons before bringing the curtain down on his career in a Premier League encounter with Glenavon on April 30, 2001.

After a combined 10 seasons as a player, Peter was back at Cliftonville in a different capacity a further decade later when Tommy Breslin convinced him to take up the Assistant Manager’s position.

Between them, the duo – who, along with Jim McFadden, had been part of the Reds’ revered Holy Trinity in midfield during their playing days – oversaw a golden era in the Club’s history as two Premiership titles, three League Cups and the County Antrim Shield took up residence in the Boardroom.

They also steered Cliftonville to a first ever European win at Solitude when Swedish side Kalmar were defeated in the first qualifying round of the Europa League in 2012 and, though the Champions League tussles with Celtic a year later remain vivid in the memory, 2014’s goalless draw with Debrecen in Belfast remains the only time the Reds have avoided defeat in Europe’s Premier Club competition.

Minto joined Breslin in stepping down in September 2015, however the duo returned to their roles for the closing two games of the 2016/17 season and both remain legendary figures in the history of Ireland’s Oldest Football Club.

A formidable team on the pitch and in the dugout, Peter now joins his much-missed friend in our Hall of Fame, having become just the 20th inductee to the exclusive assembly.