The tall, strapping 19-year-old with the shock of red hair made it to the second last show on Foxtel's football reality program.

McMurray says he began to get recognised in shops after the FOX8 show aired. And it was this fame that ultimately contributed to an untimely suspension from the game for nine months.

The weekend after returning from the show last June, the Sydney United U/20 player helped out a mate's lower league side which was short on players.

Despite losing the game by a big margin, some of the opposition fans and players recognised McMurray and reported him. McMurray was subsequently suspended.

He had done enough on the show to also alert the eye of a number of A-League clubs - and the day after he was suspended, the central midfielder received an offer to trial with Gold Coast's youth side.  McMurray was gutted.

"They wanted to fly me up and trial me for the youth team. It was pretty painful. I still haven't got over it but hopefully I'll get something next year," McMurray told au.fourfourtwo.com.

Speaking on the set of Tim Cahill and Lucas Neill's recent Sony TV advertisement shot at the SFS - in which the youngster had a cameo role - McMurray was frustrated that his burgeoning career could be cut short at such a vital time.

"I can't do anything, I can't even train with my team," he added.

McMurray, 19, has a great engine and can run all day. He also has good skills for such a big lad. The Penrith teen with the Irish and Dutch heritage has been at Sydney United since he was 14.

McMurray caught the eye with his steely determination to succeed on the football reality show, hosted by Brian McFadden and Lee Furlong.

"I really liked training with Melbourne Victory," he said. "Even though we had  a lot of stuff, like going to DreamWorld and doing a lot of stuff, I really only loved the football and training with the professionals and coaches.

"I really wanted that contract."

McMurray got knocked behind winner Luke Pilkinton who now has a contract with Victory. McMurray still enjoyed his time though, saying Furlong was "nice to talk to and Brian McFadden was just a joker."

That said, the show has been somewhat of a jinx for some of the players. Last year's winner Adam Hett from Perth had a season ending injury weeks after joining Sydney FC. He is now a student at Macquarie University and occasionally trains with Sydney FC's youth team but is uncontracted.

In the meantime, central midfielder McMurray is a professional freestyler (you may have seen him on the Red Bull Street Style show) putting on shows for fans at Sydney FC games. He's also taking a personal fitness trainer's course.

But McMurray hopes next season, with the help of an agent who's lined up A-League trials, he can perform on the park, not out in the lot doing tricks for the punters.