Career
Murphy represented his native England at under-16, under-17 and under-19 international levels, but switched allegiance to the Republic of Ireland in 2011 and played for their under-21 team Early career
Born in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, Murphy broke into the Arsenal Reserves team as a schoolboy while also scoring 17 goals in 21 games for the Arsenal Academy. Murphy was previously an academy player for Wimbledon before joining Arsenal Academy.
He joined Brentford on loan for three months on 24 November 2009.
In August 2011 Murphy had a trial with Scottish Premier League champions Rangers and played for their reserve team In January 2012, he had a trial with Hibernian, another SPL club, but at the end of that month he signed for League One side Preston North End on loan until the end of the 2011-2012 season.
On 22 May 2012 Murphy was released by Arsenal along with the likes of Manuel Almunia, Gavin Hoyte, Sean McDermott, James Campbell, George Brislen-Hall and Jeffrey Monakana. Telstar
Murphy joined Dutch Eerste Divisie side Telstar on 9 June 2012, signing a one-year deal with an option for a second.
He scored his first goal for his new club on his debut in a pre-season friendly against Hartlepool United on 15 July 2012.
He made his official debut on 10 August 2012 in the home game against Helmond Sport and lost 1–2. In the 67th minute he was substituted for Leandro Resida who scored three minutes after. Dagenham & Redbridge
On 22 July 2013, he joined League Two side Dagenham & Redbridge on a free transfer, signing a two-year contract.
He scored on his debut in the 3–1 defeat to Fleetwood Town on 3 August 2013.
Oldham Athletic
On Deadline Day, 2 February 2015, Murphy signed for Oldham Athletic for an undisclosed fee believed to be in the region of £20,000, to accelerate a pre-contract agreement set to activate in the 2015 summer transfer window. Murphy signed a two and a half year contract with minutes to spare before the deadline of the transfer window.
Manager Lee Johnson said of the arrival, "I"m really pleased to bring Rhys to the club and he is an exciting prospect for us, I"m looking forward to working with him and he will fit into our style of play seamlessly". He joined League Two Crawley Town on a 93-day loan on 17 September 2015.
England
Murphy has played for the England under-16 and under-17 teams and was part of under-19 squad that reached the final of 2009 Union of European Football Associations Under-19 Championship.
Republic of Ireland.