In his first interview, Brian Barry-Murphy expressed excitement and privilege in becoming Bluebirds boss, describing the appointment as an exhilarating moment after a thorough and impressive selection process.

He highlights in-depth discussions with club staff and board members, which confirmed his alignment with the club’s vision and ambitions.

Barry-Murphy sees Cardiff as the right opportunity to restart his head coaching journey, citing the club’s potential and his career goals as a perfect fit.

His previous experience includes a brief stint as an assistant at Leicester City and three years under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, where he worked with the elite development squad.

These roles shaped his coaching philosophy, clarity, progression, and ambition, which he aims to bring to Cardiff.

His objectives for Cardiff in League One include building a dynamic, aggressive, and winning team that excites fans and leverages the club’s talented squad, particularly young players like Alex Robertson, whom he coached at Manchester City.

Barry-Murphy is eager to work with the academy’s emerging talents, and sees their development as central to the club’s identity.

He plans to implement a progressive, dominating style of play, ensuring fans feel engaged and proud.

With over 10,000 season tickets sold, he is motivated to harness this fan energy and deliver success. Preseason preparations, including a trip to Spain, will focus on pushing players to improve individually and collectively.

Barry-Murphy also aims to use his top-level contacts to attract high-caliber players to strengthen the squad, combining external talent with the club’s existing potential to achieve success in the upcoming season.

Cardiff City Football Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Brian Barry-Murphy as First Team Head Coach.

The 46-year-old has signed a three-year deal with the #Bluebirds, which runs until the summer of 2028.#CityAsOne

— Cardiff City FC (@CardiffCityFC) June 16, 2025

CLUB STATEMENT:

Cardiff City Football Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Brian Barry-Murphy as First Team Head Coach.

The 46-year-old has signed a three-year deal with the Bluebirds, which runs until the summer of 2028.

Throughout his 23-year playing career, Brian started with hometown club, Cork City, before moving to the UK with Preston North End. Following loan spells at Southend United & Hartlepool United and later 18-months at Sheffield Wednesday, Brian made Greater Manchester his home, spending six years with Bury before an eight year stay at Rochdale, where he began his coaching journey.

Brian leaves his role as First Team Coach at Leicester City to take charge of the Bluebirds, following a compensation agreement between the two teams. He previously managed Rochdale from 2019 to 2021 before a three-year period in charge of Manchester City’s Elite Development Squad.

The new City boss will be joined at the Club by Lee Riley, who fills the role of Assistant Head Coach. Lee departs his Academy Coach position at Manchester City to take up this post, having previously worked alongside Barry-Murphy with the Citizens and Rochdale.

“I’d like to welcome Brian to Cardiff City Football Club. We are delighted that he has agreed to become Head Coach.

“Throughout the interview process, Brian showed a huge passion for our Club because he believes in what we’re trying to do. He knows this level having played and managed at this standard before, where he was noted for his style of play. Since then, he has only gone from strength-to-strength as a leader.

“He’s got a proven track record in youth development having coached some of the brightest young prospects in the UK, many of whom are now playing at the very top of the game.

“He brings enthusiasm, vibrancy and an exciting outlook on what today’s football is, while looking to play an attacking style that our fans are sure to enjoy.

“It’s a combination of all of Brian’s great talents that make him the right man to take us forward into this next chapter.”

: Brian, a warm welcome from us all here at Cardiff City. Now that you’ve put pen to paper, how does it feel to become the Bluebird’s boss?

: An extraordinary feeling today. It’s gonna be in a build up for, I suppose, several days, and, and the hope of this day coming on quickly has finally landed. So, it felt really exhilarating this morning when they thought that actually coming to the stadium and and getting the feeling of being in the job for the first day. And myself and all my family are really privileged to be in the city.

: It’s been a thorough process to appoint the next manager of this football club. Can you give us a little insight into the conversations you’ve had over the past couple of days with members of staff and members of the board?

: Well, I think it’s been it’s been a really, comprehensive process, which has impressed me greatly. I suppose the steps that we went through is real in-depth, detailed football discussions at the start with with Gavin and got a real sense of the passion straight away for the club and, the talent coming through here is something that attracted me straight away for this role. And then the more detailed discussions as we progressed through the phases with, with Ken, and with Mehmet and with Steve, it just gave me a real sense of, the right type of opportunity I’ve been looking for, and it just felt right at every stage of the process. And there was never one moment where I had any doubts whatsoever. So to finally get this there where it’s confirmed, then you can start to really see the vision come to light, something that that that makes me that makes it feel really special.

: And your name is one that’s been in the rumour mill for quite some time every now and then. An EFL job comes up. You’re linked to it. Why was this the right time for you and this club, the right opportunity to restart your head coaching journey?

: Yeah. Strangely, for a prolonged period, I’ve had links to Cardiff. Honestly, in the past, there was it it never felt as if it was getting stronger than than just an interest. But this time it felt totally different. I think probably, one, because of where the club’s at and then two, because of the opportunity that that I sense was here. And it felt aligned with my sense of where I am in my career and what I want to achieve and it felt like the perfect fit. So from like I said, from the early stages, everything just felt as if this was gonna be different. And I was looking for that sense of alignment and that sense of, meeting a group of people and and a club that was, sharing the same ambitions as myself. And that’s taken us to where we are today and hopefully, as well it takes in the future.

: I’m sure most of our supporters have been reading up on you over the last few days. But for those that haven’t, perhaps, can you talk us through your last few years, obviously, at Leicester City coaching in the Premier League for the last six months, your time at Manchester City working with the elite development side, and the experiences that that’s brought you?

: Yeah. I think the the period at Leicester was a very short period in terms of, footballing experience with a six month period where I walked as assistant. That was slightly unexpected. I’d left Manchester City the previous summer with, a clear idea to go and test myself at the highest possible level. And I don’t wanna over exaggerate, but I’ve been in the shadows of, Pep Guardiola over three years where you watch and learn from, arguably the greatest mind in football. And you see so many things that, make sense of of how you see the game and the way you wanna do things in the future. And not copying, but, you know, you take so much from them and you you almost wanna put that to the test and, and and and bring it to life. So going to Leicester was, was an advancement of that where you get to test that at Premier League level and try and help the players, individually and collectively and support Ruud. And it just felt as if this was the chance to to be my own man and and to go and, to go and help this club move forward where it wants to be.

: You mentioned Pep there. Looking at the people he’s worked with, the likes of Mikel Arteta, Enzo Maresca, who you know very well, Vincent Kompany, now coaching at Arsenal, Chelsea, Bayern Munich. It’s clear that when you work in that setup at Manchester City or with Pep, you go on to success as a coach, as a player. What elements of that setup and that structure are you hoping to bring with you here?

: Well, I think I think it gives you so much clarity on on a way of working. I always use this phrase that I always knew what I wanted to do, when I was a younger coach. But, you know, when you’re younger, that’s in life, you make a lot of mistakes. You wanna learn from them, improve them. And he gave me a great sense of how to do things, you know, and to make sense of the way that I wanted to work and to take it to the next level essentially to, I suppose, to hopefully see what I’m gonna see in the next period of my career at Cardiff City. He also really wants you to push yourself and and to test yourself. And he’s always wary of people staying at that club too long and almost becoming comfortable because he’s such a, such a huge figure. So when you can almost be in awe for such a long period, it feels, it feels quite, I think, nerve wracking for certain people to leave that that environment. So I definitely use Mikel and and Enzo even more so because of how close I worked with him as an inspiration to go and test yourself and to not be comfortable, working on the pep and to go and test your idea with his knowledge in the back. And then really put yourself on the line where you have to show courage and try and inspire players and a club to be successful. And that’s why I’m here.

: Speaking of then, this new challenge at Cardiff City, it’s unfamiliar territory for the club in League One. What are your objectives and targets in this role right away and also for the whole season?

: Yeah. I think for the whole season, one of the main reasons that I came here was the opportunity that it provides, the opportunity to work with this group of players, with the exceptional talent coming through and try and combine and mould the squad, with the senior players that gives the whole club something to be proud of. That’s the reason I’m here. So so we wanna be successful for sure, and and I believe we will be. And every competition we go into, we wanna win. And we’re here to win as a group of people, to reward the supporters, which is arguably one of the most, strongest reasons why I’m here. The season ticket sales were above 10,000 at the first point when I spoke to the club. And, you know, I believe a lot in energy and positive energy. And every time somebody raised, a concern about the club, based on relegation or results previously, it just seemed to me as if there was opportunity, you know. And I know a lot of these players based on my knowledge and just the feeling of excitement to work with them and to improve them. Like I said, individually, kind of the unwind because we wanna have this as a winning stadium and and a winning club. But win in a certain way where the fans feel genuinely excited to walk into the stadium every single week, and feels if they’re gonna see something that represents them and and and and flaws and excites them is is the vision for me to do something slightly different. You know, we could we could win randomly or win week to week, or to do something different with the sponsor players is the thing that is my real vision for club.

: And something else that’s different is the club being in this position. There will be fans here who have never seen Cardiff City in the third tier. You’ve obviously managed in it before with Rochdale. How much do you think that experience will benefit you in helping players, staff, fans who are in unfamiliar waters now?

: Yeah. Like I said, I think the the natural feeling of disappointment are normal when you have a season as the club had, last season, but those feelings can be turned on their head in a matter of moments when they see, their team playing in a way that excites them and and and and gives them a clear vision of where we’re going. And my experience of the division, as you alluded to, is deep and makes me aware it won’t be straightforward. But, the overall vision of being a successful team and club that, wants to win the league and, and and take the club back to where we believe it belongs and beyond, is clear on the outside. On the inside, I think my way of working is very, specific in particular, for the players. We have a way of working. And it will be every single day on its merits to build the idea day by day, week by week, and take that into the games. So that’ll be very particular, and I believe will be something that the players will truly enjoy and and will relish. And there’ll be real growth for them within that. It’s perfect.

: You mentioned the squad already and early days, of course, but have you had time to really sit down and look through that squad list? Because there’s some exciting talent in there, particularly going into this division.

: Yeah. I know the squad really well. I’ve seen the players grow over, the past number of years. So I would say that I have really deep knowledge of the squad, understand where it is. But even when you say that from the outside, I know when I went to Leicester, when I was at Man City, when you get to the inner workings of a club and walk with the players on a daily basis, there’ll be things that that excite you because of that, that growth within the players. And the talent within the squad is is clear for all to see. And we’ll be looking to, improve those players, and make them really, really enjoy the experience with us and make them able to win on a regular basis for this club.

: Someone you know very well already is Alex Robertson from your time together at Manchester City. What are your memories of him as a young player coming up, and how excited are you to work with him again at this level?

: I think Alex would have been sick of the sight of me by by the time he left. I was on his case all the time. I think Alex is symbolic of of what the club is about. I think we have this whole this whole growing cohort of players that is exciting everybody, fans and staff alike and and the ownership there. And also we want to combine that with the best of talent from elsewhere in the country. And if you put that together and and have a mix of players that’s looking to improve together and to continually strive, to succeed and win, then it’s the type of important mix that we’re gonna look, to try and create at Cardiff.

: You mentioned your conversations with Gavin Chesterfield as well, our, obviously, academy manager. Some great young talents coming through, how exciting is it to have those young players coming through from the academy ready to make that step up to the first team?

: Yeah. I think my conversation with Gavin at the beginning of this process were, were very important because I had a vision for the club that I perceived to be, to be aligned with what the club wanted. So I wanted to make sure that that was the case. And like I said, his passion for the talent coming through the club and the way that he sees it working at first team level was very much aligned with with mine. And then as we, went through the post and started to speak about, about that post and what the club will look like with Ken, and with Mehmet and with Steve. I was looking for a clearer understanding of of that passion being present in them. And once I got that, then, as long as it seems to have taken, the process to be felt pretty, seamless and and pretty clear.

: Not long to go until the players are back. Pre-season games start again. It’ll all roll around again very quickly. What are your immediate next steps in the next few days?

: Always when I heard the phrase, getting ready, can’t wait to get started, etcetera. So you think like, well, everybody says that. We’re really looking forward to actually getting on the pitch because, you know, we spoke about having a dynamic squad that wants to play, progressive and aggressive football. That’s that’s the way I see it, in in terms of how the squad can evolve and how I’ve evolved as a as a head coach. And really the way that is brought to life is on the training pitch. And the training pitch is essentially my life where where I love it and I spend so much time of it. And the players, will get absolute dedication from me and my staff. And the staff that we form here will be, will replicate the same trace. You know, it’ll be dynamic and it’ll be looking to work incredibly hard to give the supporters what they wanna see on the weekend. And the first part of that was that next one, they win the players return back, and we won’t waste one day or or one minute building the idea.

: Fans already excited to see what a Brian Barry Murphy team looks like in terms of style of play. I won’t ask you to go too much into that, but can you give them a flavour of how you expect your team to set up the type of thing you want to see on the pitch from them?

: No. I think my my vision, for this group of players and and the reason I’m here is because I see a team that potentially can be really aggressive and progressive, and essentially never take a step back. So, you know, whatever a quarter we come up against in this division, there’s gonna be loads of different challenges. But the idea for us is to always be trying to dominate, the game and to be aggressive and for the supporters to never get any moment of the game where they feel as if there’s nothing happening. I think as long as you get that, then I’m very confident this group of players, would be successful, and would replicate what the club deserves to achieve. But it’s gonna take a lot of hard work and and like I said, a lot of, days where it’s gonna be step by step and repetition where the players feel as if they’re improving every single day with the overall, goal in mind.

: You’ve already touched on the fans over 10,000 season tickets sold already. You must be really looking forward to walking out there in front of a full stadium and having that backing from day one.

: Yeah. Exceptional. And I believe in in the energy of of different things that all moves forward. And like I said, the initial disappointment will wear off whenever we start to excite them again. And I believe in in that process, starting on the very first day of pre season. And then we’ll put in the work to essentially be judged on on the first game. And every game of pre season will be important to show that we’re improving the idea and and building our game. And when it comes to the, league fixtures in the August, then we’ll be as ready as we can be and and looking to essentially play on their behalf to give them something that they haven’t experienced for a while on this pitch.

: And those pre-season plans, a trip to Spain already confirmed with a fixture at the end of it, some more games in the pipeline. You must be eager to really get the ball rolling literally and get those games underway now.

: Yeah. The way that I like to walk is the idea is to push the players as much as possible from day one so that they’ve come back and they do a testing. But the idea of those games, those training sessions is that the players are exposed, and a feeling that they’re doing things that they haven’t done before to lay out. I know that, that that leads to improvement. And like I said, if we can achieve that and improve the players individually and collectively, my belief that I’ve garnered over the course of my coaching career is that that will bring a winning team, and, it just takes a lot of work and a lot of hard work for the players to go through in the possible season.

: And last but not least, it’s always a busy summer of ins and outs at every level. I won’t ask you too much about your transfer plans, but the contacts that you have at the top of the game, you must be looking to use them to the benefit of Cardiff City.

: Yeah. We’ll be looking to bring the the best possible talent that we can to this football club. Like I said, we’re we’re in a good position. We’re a unique position. We’re we’re the only customers in League One. A club of his stature in league one can attract a certain caliber of player. And we’re looking to combine that with the best talent that we have here. So, in the initial phase, I’m looking really I’m really looking forward to getting to know the parents who are here, watching how they can grow and and their application training to improve. Then a natural post is for us to to make the squad the best it can be on behalf of the supporters. And our motivation for that will be, instant daily.