He was his club's – Back FC - master of all trades, where his emphatic penalties and long-range shooting made him a regular goal scorer in addition to expert goal guarder
His incredible career in Lewis football has earned him a reputation as perhaps the greatest player in the history of Back FC and one of the finest to have graced the playing fields of Lewis and Harris.
Murdo 'Bloxy' Murray has sampled, more than most, the delights of Island football success.
A staggering 48 years stand between Murdo's first football winners medal and his last with the Inter-Village trophy - secured only last year by Murdo in a Back side which also contained his son Kevin.
Murdo began: "I was only 10 when I won my first Back trophy as part of the Kemnay Cup team in 1957. Beating Boy's Brigade 1 – 0 in the final.
"There were no Back junior teams then so I played for the School for three seasons from the age of 13. I was a regular in the team at outside left. We had two teachers in that school; 'Tarzan' Graham and Roddy 'Goosie', but we struggled a bit.
"Shortly after this time, playing for the school wasn't compulsory and the boys began to play for their own local teams. I signed for Back in 1962 where I got into the team at outside left. I always played there in my early days and only started to move back as I got older.
"I played in literally every position for Back over the years including in goals a couple of times. Despite the goals I scored in my early days, like a hat-trick in the 1968 EAF Final or eight in one match against Carloway, I always preferred keeping the goals out rather than scoring them. I enjoyed the tussles with the Island's best strikers, players like 'Chuck' who gave you a tough match," he continued.
"There was one player who always gave me a hard game every single time we met. That was Kenny 'Punkan' Campbell from Point. He was very hard to pin down and he always seemed to turn me and get a goal. He was a great player and he had this body swerve where you could never be sure which direction he was going to go."
Murdo quickly grew into the Back side and became one of the key players in the team and also in Lewis football. And in 1964 Murdo was part of the Back side which defeated their old rivals Point to win the Eilean an Fhraoich Cup.
It was the first of eight EAF winners medals Murdo would go on to pick up during his glittering career with the Blues and to this day his eight winners medal is a record he shares with Ally 'Suggan' Maclean.
However, it is not an EAF medal which takes pride of place amongst Murdo's collection. That place is reserved for one of far greater sentimental value.
He revealed: "When we won the Lewis and Harris league in 1972, we had actually lost the first few games of the season. We were hovering around the bottom of the table in May. Andy Gray and Allan Kerr came home from Glasgow and they boosted our team then.
"Gray wasn't the most stylish player but he always gave you 100% every time he ran onto the park and he would put his head in places where people were afraid to put their feet. I always felt Kerr was the more polished of the two but he was very nervous.
"I'm not surprised at how far Andy went in the game as he had so much determination."
The final game of the 1972 season saw Back playing Rovers at home. A win for the visitors would hand the Stornoway side the league while a draw was good enough for Back, but things couldn't have started worse for the Blues.
Murdo continued: "We were 3 – 0 down by half-time and then lost another one just after the start of the second-half. I had been playing sweeper but knew we needed to change things up so I moved up to left-half and the game started to turn in our favour.
"It was Wee Willie Macdonald's first season and he scored the equaliser in the last few minutes which won us the league. It was a fantastic night for us.
"We won the league again three years later but we had a far more established team then with guys like Willie Charles, Wee Willie and DA.
"To win the league for the first time was a bit special as it had been 25 year since Back had been champions. We then won it again three years later but then the club had to wait another 25 years for the next one. Back really should have won more leagues than we have done," he commented.
"Over the years we lost a lot of players to teams like the Builders and Tolsta and maybe that counted against us."
With every football career there are always highs and lows and Murdo is no exception. One cup final in particular frustrates him, as he explained: "The Eilean an Fhraoich Cup final of 1978 was a disaster for us. It was very frustrating and we ended up losing 7 – 1 to Ness. Everything they hit, even from 30 yards, flew into the net. It was just one of those nights where everything went right for them.
"I would have to say that the best team I have ever seen in island football is definitely the Aths team of the late 60s and early 70s. They were far stronger than the United team who won five in a row, the Ness team of the 80s or Lochs today.
"They actually came after me to sign for them when I left School but I was too loyal and signed for my home team of Back.
"I think the way players today play for clubs all over the island spoils Lewis football. The teams would be stronger if players stayed with their own areas.
"However, that Aths team were brilliant. I think they beat Carloway 19 – 0 one night and they had quality in every position."
His natural leadership skills on the field made Murdo an outstanding candidate for club manager and this was a role which he filled for a brief period in 1982. His record, although brief at just three games, saw him part with an undefeated record and also with the EAF Cup.
His son Kevin remains a big part of the current Back side and when Kevin fired them to title glory in 2000 he became the third generation of the Murray family to lift the Lewis league title with Back.
The Murray family ties to Back stretch deep into the foundations of the club and Murdo's uncle, John Murray, was part of the first Back league championship side who won the title in 1947 and John and Murdo's fathers were also two of the Back committee who created the now firmly established football club.
It was also a historic moment when father and son lined-up alongside one another for Back and Murdo admits this is something he is very proud to have achieved. Murdo and Kevin also boast a first as they are the only father and son duo in the history of Lewis football to both be named Player of the Year. Murdo shared the top honour in 1976 with Hamish Fraser while Kevin earned the accolade 24 years later.
Having spent most of his life as a player and fan of local football who does Murdo rate highest over the past fifty years?
"Wee Willie Macdonald and Kenny Macsween's names are often raised when talking about the greatest player in Lewis football and people often debate who was the better of the two," he replied.
"I feel there was very little between them but Willie was better in the air and that was the only difference. They were both great players and it is only a shame that Willie was involved with that accident and Kenny died so young.
"Rob Macleod, and Chuck from Lochs were another two who really stood out but there were good players all over the island at that time."
Recognition from the Lewis Select quickly beckoned for the inspirational Bacach and Murdo recalls fondly some of his experiences with them.
He said: "I enjoyed playing with the Lewis Select and one of my favourite games with them was playing against Sunnybank from Aberdeen over in Lochs one night. That was a very hard game but I enjoyed it and I think we won that night.
"I also played against Morton three times in one week. The first was as an overage player with the U21 Lewis Select, then I guested with Harris a few days later against them and then played for a third time for the Lewis Select against them at the end of the week. I scored two goals that night but we lost 4 – 3. I think one of those goals would count as the best I have ever scored as I hit it from about 35 yards.
"I also had two trials with Inverness Thistle who wanted me to sign for them but as it was at the end of their season and the beginning of ours at home, I turned them down. I do wonder sometimes if I made the right decision as I would have liked to have seen if I was good enough."
Murdo's impact on the local game is still evident today as his ability on the field is recalled with great fever and at the recent Field of Memories dinner, Murdo was honoured with an award after being named in the most ex-players 'Dream Teams' for a player who began before 1970.
He is a regular at the touchline at home games at Upper Coll and he has also shared in some of the club's greatest triumphs in recent years at home and abroad.
Murdo continued: "I was at the Highland Amateur Cup final in Dingwall in 2004 when Back won it. They really deserved to win it on the day and it was good to see Kevin getting a goal.
"It was also brilliant to see them win the league again in 2000, 25 years after the last time when I was a player. They won it after earning a 0 – 0 draw down in Harris and that was good to be a part of as well.
"I hope to be back supporting Back next year and although Back have some good young players I think they lack a few experienced heads alongside them and it looks like Lochs will be strong again.
"I do feel that there is a real lack of two-footed players in the game today. I was right-footed when I started but I played outside left and quickly became strong with my left foot and after a while I was comfortable using either."
Like so many before him perhaps the trickiest of all Murdo's football challenges is picking a dream team and he confesses he is unable to pick a Back team after playing alongside so many great players over the years. Therefore he has opted to pick one player from every club in the league.