The Boot Room: Joelle Murray

Around Easter Road, Joelle Murray is a bit of a celebrity. Club captain, ambassador, Scotland international and Hibs TV Pundit. You wouldn’t know it though. A lifelong servant to the club, Murray has been one of the most influential figures in shaping woman’s football in the capital - through both her on-field leadership and her off-field emphasis on building a solid foundational structure for the progression of young females at Edinburgh’s finest.

As far back as the mind’s eye goes - for Murray that is around the age of 5 - she dreamed of playing for Hibs. Dreaming as a young boy of playing football is one thing, as a young girl something completely different. Mucking about with our mates in the park, we tended to have a go-to footballer. ‘I’m Beckham’, you might’ve said with your ruined white Predators on as you line up a free-kick. All the heroes were men.

Most of the people in the park were too, which is how most of the young girls that play football professionally now started out - with boys around their age - always the odd-one-out and as a result, most will end up being deterred early on. They’ll focus on something else, do what their girl pals do. Indomitable in the cold Scottish air, breath highlighted by the streetlights, Murray ploughed on at her local boy’s club, season after season, until her dream came a little bit closer to reality.

Aged 12, she made her way into the Hibs youth set-up. Hibs have always had a reputation as a pioneering woman’s side, maintaining a strong focus on making the dreams of those who, like Murray, persevered with the lads, come true. Within a few years, Murray had established herself as a leader. Soft-spoken, but not to be messed with.

Captaining the Hibernian under-17 side, the Berwickshire-born defender signed for the full-team only three years later, going on to captain them too. The Hibernian Murray signed for then, and the one she plays for now, are different beasts though. The recent re-branding from ‘Ladies’ to Hibernian Women reflects this evolution of the club as an organisation.

Logistically, Hibernian Women have moved away from the Community Foundation to a side with its own board of directors. The implications of independence from the community side of the club are clear for Murray:

The re-branding in itself is a significant one, mainly so from a financial perspective, as we are now a separate entity it allows us to source funds that we weren't able to access under the charitable arm of the club. It also ensures that the board of directors can concentrate solely on Hibernian Women with a main and focal purpose to progress and develop every aspect and structure of the club.

There’s something symbolic about this move too. Disappointed in the aftermath of the Scotland Woman’s World Cup qualification for the 2019 tournament, where a pre-tournament match against Jamaica brought a record-breaking 18,555 fans to Hampden Park, before viewerships dwindled almost immediately after. The country had rallied behind the side at the tournament, with great viewing figures, before it disappeared just as quickly. To Murray, this was both “baffling and very frustrating”.

So, for her lifelong club to make such a bold commitment to women’s football with their rebrand coming the following year, Murray was once again buoyed. There was a bit of personal good news in there too, “Being the first Hibernian Women’s player to sign a professional contract was certainly a proud and momentous moment for not only me but for the club as well.” In an increasingly competitive league, where unaffiliated sides like Glasgow City have been so successful, Hibernian Women have moved towards their own self-sustaining model. Separate from Hibs, but also unquestionably together.

Other clubs in the UK have gone through a similar process over the last few years, epitomised by Manchester City’s ‘one club’ ethos - a standout example to Murray. City Women’s 2012 amalgamation with the men’s side brought a unity both behind the curtains and on centre stage. The club not only share resources and, to a large degree, sponsorships, they also use marketing and branding, as well as communication channels like Twitter, to speak of the club as two sides of the same coin.

“It shows a great togetherness,” Murray says, an important aspect of her role both in the woman’s side, but also with Hibs at large. Although the Women’s side have moved from the Community Foundation, Murray’s role there is closer than ever. Operating as the Girls and Women’s Academy Director, Murray is tasked with keeping the machine well-oiled.

Besides her hands-on role working with player progression, Murray understands how crucial it is that everything and everyone develop with a common goal in mind, “it's important that as well as asking the coaches to challenge the players, I also challenge the coaches.” Murray and Hibernian see things the same way, that’s why this formula seems to be a winning one. With a masterplan for their pathway through woman’s football, the two are committed to replicating the glorious triple-doubles of 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Keeping a card up her sleeve, should the unlikely event occur that she becomes tired of the early starts and long-days, Murray has become a fan-favourite on Hibs TV, offering her nuanced insights to fellow fans on matchdays, “I absolutely love doing it and the feedback has been very heart-warming,” she says of her experiences in front of the camera so far.

Whether it’s on the field or off of it - playing, coaching directing or presenting - Murray is Hibs through and through, an iconic figure at the club whose influence cannot be understated. Although there are still clear obstacles blocking the road to growth for women’s football, all movement point in the right direction. Through the work Murray and her associates are doing at the club, young girls from around Scotland will be able to see where their dedication could take them.

At the park, breath aloft in the cold nights of winter, the young girls who are adamant about playing with the boys now have a different set of heroes to aspire to. When they pull on the club’s green and white shirt, it’ll be ‘I’m going Murray’, that they’ll say.