St. Joseph’s Prep mourns the loss of legendary coach Jim Murray

There will be heavy hearts when Saint Joseph’s Prep soccer takes the field today for a Philadelphia Catholic League match at La Salle College High School, following the news of the death of legendary coach Jim Murray.

The team will wear black armbands in memory of Murray, the second most winningest boys soccer coach in Pennsylvania.

Murray was Prep’s first coach in 1971 and posted 621 wins over his career, which included a four-year stint at Friends Central. He is second in the state for coaching wins only to Archbishop Ryan’s George Todt (649 wins). He was named state coach of the year three times.

Murray, who graduated from Prep and went on to play four years of college soccer at Saint Joseph’s University, was inducted into the Saint Joseph’s Men’s Soccer Hall of Fame in 1998 and Saint Joseph’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012. He was honored with induction into the St. Joseph’s Prep Hall of Excellence this past spring, and was selected to both the Pennsylvania Sports and Southeastern Pennsylvania Soccer Halls of Fame.

The Catholic Standard and Times named Murray the Coach of the Decade for the 1980s.