He grew up with dreams of playing professional football overseas, but even Jordan Murray admits that he never expected his journey to land him in Thailand.
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After a two-year stint in the Indian Super League, the Woonona talent's attention has moved nearly 3500 kilometres away after inking a new deal with Thailand club Nakhon Ratchasima FC.
Murray's time in India proved to be a great success. After originally joining the Kerala Blasters in October 2020, the crafty forward joined ISL rivals Jamshedpur nearly nine months later.
It proved to be a fruitful move for the 26-year-old, who capped off a superb campaign when the club won their inaugural premiership earlier this year.
While delighted to lift the trophy, Murray was left hungry for more, though he wasn't sure where the next opportunity would be. That question became a reality recently when he answered a call from Thai League One franchise Nahkon Ratchasima, who were keen to snare the former Wollongong Wolves youngster.
Speaking from the Nakhon Ratchasima province, Murray said that he was excited about his new opportunity.
"To be honest, it never came to my mind [to play in Thailand], but I was always open to the experience. Once I received a call to come here, I looked at the coach [Kevin Blackwell] and the club, and saw they were progressing in the right way, and the coach was full of experience coaching teams like Leeds and Sheffield United in the Premier League, so it was a no brainer for me to come here and try something different," Murray told the Mercury.
"I made my debut last game, and we lost 2-1 to the champions [Buriram United]. We were actually very unlucky, but it was nice to get 90 minutes in the legs."
While he enjoyed his time in India, Murray admits that the experience also proved gruelling at times. The former Central Coast Mariners talent spent the majority of the two years living in a bubble due to the COVID situation.
After that experience, the opportunity to be in a more relaxed environment in Thailand was enticing for Murray.
"When I went to Kerala, I was lucky enough to get top goal scorer there, and then I went to Jamshedpur and won the league. So it was nice to have a bit of success in a foreign country, and it's a time of life that I will never forget. The title really capped off my Indian experience well," he said.
"But I did two years in hotel isolation with the team, so that was another reason why I wanted to experience something else. It was very difficult to go training and come straight back to a hotel, and not be allowed out of the section that we were in. So you've got to live your life and I've decided to come a beautiful place.
"I would say the Thai League is definitely a better league [than ISL], it's known for producing players in Japan and Korea. I would say it's probably on par with the A-League, and football in Thailand is the number two sport under Muay Thai.
"Nakhon Ratchasima is a really good team, so hopefully I can do something with them like I did in India."
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Joshua Bartlett
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
