He reached the quarter-finals of the inaugural, non-ranking Northern Ireland Trophy before being defeated 4–5 by Neil Robertson. In the first three ranking events of the season—the Grand Prix, the UK Championship, and the Malta Cup—Murphy reached the last 16, losing final-frame matches to Stuart Bingham, Robertson, and Graeme Dott, respectively. After his loss to Bingham, he complained about having to play his match on an outside table, given his world champion status. In the revival of Pot Black, a single-frame knockout tournament not staged since 1991, he was defeated in the final by Matthew Stevens. Murphy was awarded Sportsman of the Year at the BBC East Midlands Sports Awards in December 2005.