Gary Doherty

Gary Doherty

Doherty playing for Norwich City in 2008
Personal information
Full name Gary Michael Thomas Doherty[1]
Date of birth (1980-01-31) 31 January 1980[1]
Place of birth Carndonagh, Ireland
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[1]
Playing position Defender / Forward
Youth career
000?–1997 Luton Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–2000 Luton Town 70 (12)
2000–2004 Tottenham Hotspur 64 (4)
2004–2010 Norwich City 202 (10)
2010–2012 Charlton Athletic 41 (0)
2012 → Wycombe Wanderers (loan) 13 (1)
2012–2014 Wycombe Wanderers 43 (2)
Total 433 (29)
National team
2000–2005 Republic of Ireland 34 (4)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Gary Michael Thomas Doherty (born 31 January 1980) is a retired Irish professional footballer. He played as a defender, having previously also played as a centre forward,[2] and gained international honours for the Republic of Ireland.

He began his career at Luton Town before having a spell with Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, however, most of his career was with Norwich City, for whom he won the player of the year award. He finished his career with Wycombe Wanderers.

Club career

Luton Town

Doherty started his league career with Luton Town in 1997. He made 88 appearances in total over less than three seasons with the Hatters and became a Republic of Ireland international.

Tottenham Hotspur

He was bought by Luton old boy David Pleat then Director of Football at Tottenham Hotspur for £1million in March 2000. The player made his Spurs debut as a substitute in a 3–1 defeat at Manchester United in May 2000.[3] He played in the team regularly during the 2000/01 season and scored his first goal against Newcastle United on 2 January 2001.[4] Other highlights that season include a late winner against Leyton Orient in the FA Cup,[5] giving his team the lead against North London rivals Arsenal in the FA Cup semi final[6] and scoring twice as Spurs came back from 2–0 down away to Sunderland to win 3–2.[7] However, the following season started badly when he broke his leg in a League Cup match against Torquay United in September following a challenge from Eifion Williams.[8] He returned before the end of the season but found it hard to break back into the side.

At Tottenham, Doherty eventually settled into a defensive role, and although he enjoyed probably his best spell after the turn of the year in 2003–04, he did not manage to consistently reach the form he exhibited before breaking his leg. He was eventually sold by Tottenham's new management team of Frank Arnesen and Jacques Santini at the start of the 2004–05 season to newly promoted Norwich City for an undisclosed fee.

Norwich City

At Norwich City his career started well, with him having a regular place at the heart of the defence, but he lost his place in February to Jason Shackell and Norwich were eventually relegated. The following season, however, saw Doherty established as a regular choice at centre-back and his form and consistency improved considerably. Although Norwich had a difficult and disappointing 2005–06 season, the supporters recognised Doherty's contribution by voting him Norwich City player of the year.

Doherty signed a new contract at Carrow Road until summer 2008. The 2007–08 season also started off poorly for Doherty and was injured for 2 months in October. Doherty's contract expired, but he signed a new two-year deal on 1 July.[9] He subsequently announced that his new squad number, 12, instead of 27 is intended to bring him luck:[10]

"It's all about superstition. Since I came to Norwich, my goal tally's been rubbish really. I used to wear 12 at Luton and Tottenham, and I used to be quite free-scoring during those times."

During the Canaries' 2008–09 pre-season tour, Doherty picked up an ankle injury that ruled him out for the first three months of the season. Having returned to the side, he scored his first league goal for more than three years on Boxing Day 2008 in a 3–1 defeat to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

Although Doherty was given the captaincy at the start of the 2009–10 season by Bryan Gunn, new manager Paul Lambert dropped him from the role immediately; and he was told he had no long-term future at the club. However, due to injuries Lambert was forced to recall Doherty to the side, and after this Doherty remained in the side for the rest of the season. He formed tight defensive partnerships with both Michael Nelson and Jens Berthel Askou and also scored seven goals in the process helping Norwich City to the League one title.

Doherty was named "man of the match" following Norwich's game against Leeds United on 27 March 2010.[11]

At the end of the 2009–10 season, Doherty was named third in the player of the season award list, but on 14 May 2010 it was announced that he had been released by Norwich City. His agent Brendan Keyes was in talks with New York Red Bulls to bring Gary to MLS and a deal looked imminent but with terms not agreed Doherty stayed in England.

Charlton Athletic

On 5 July 2010, it was announced that Gary Doherty had signed for Charlton Athletic after being released on a free transfer from Norwich City. Doherty became a regular in the Charlton side during the 2010-11 season but only made three appearances for the club in the 2011-12 season.

Wycombe Wanderers (loan)

On 24 February 2012 Doherty moved alongside Charlton team-mate Paul Hayes to Wycombe Wanderers, who at the time, sat bottom of League 1. He was one of 4 new loanees that featured in the 5–0 win over Hartlepool. Doherty scored in the game to cap an impressive debut.[12] He was later awarded with the Sponsor's Man of the Match.

Wycombe Wanderers

On 3 July 2012, Doherty signed for Wycombe Wanderers on a two-year contract after being released from Charlton.[13] On 9 July 2012, Doherty was given the captain's armband.[14] After two seasons with Wycombe, Doherty was forced to retire due to a knee injury sustained in the 2014-15 pre season.[15]

International career

Doherty moved with his family to Luton in England at the age of six, but he came through the youth system of his native country, playing for the Republic of Ireland national under-19 football team in the 1997 UEFA European Under-18 Football Championship finals in Iceland scoring against France.[16] He was also part of the UEFA Under-18 Championship winning side in 1998, and the Under-20 side that got to the quarter-finals of the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship.

Doherty primarily played as a forward for his country, making his international debut against Greece in April 2000. He was becoming a regular in the squad when he broke his leg in September 2001. He recovered in April 2002, scoring his first international goal against the United States, but he missed out on the squad for the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals. Doherty returned to the team for Ireland's unsuccessful Euro 2004 qualifying campaign, where he top scored with three goals.

Statistics

Club

Season Club Division League FA Cup League Cup FA Trophy Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
1997–98Luton TownSecond Division100100000110
1998–99206201010246
1999–00416522110489
1999–00Tottenham HotspurPremier League2000000020
2000–01223530000276
2001–027000100080
2002–03151102000181
2003–04170213000221
2004/051000000010
2004–05Norwich CityPremier League202102000232
2005–06Championship420103000460
2006–07340302000390
2007–08340213000391
2008–09343200000363
2009–10League One386202021447
2010–11Charlton AthleticLeague One380401031461
2011/123000201060
2011–12Wycombe WanderersLeague One131000000131
2012-13 League Two 23 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 25 2
2013-14 20 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 23 1
Country England 434303382519250141
Total 434303382519250141

Stats updated on 30 November 2016. [17]

National team

Republic of Ireland national team
YearAppsGoals
200030
200150
200252
200392
200460
200550
Total334

Doherty is affectionately known by many fans as either "The Doc" or "Ginger Pelé" (which was immortalised by the publication of the football song/chants book: One Ginger Pele).

Most recently Doherty has become the inspiration for a song by Norfolk band "We Can't Dance". The track, titled with the players name, makes reference to newspapers giving Doherty a hard time and has a chorus consisting of his name, ending with the line "I don't care what they say about you anyway".[18]

Honours

Norwich City
Awards

References

  1. 1 2 3 Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2009). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009–10. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0.
  2. ↑ Goodley, Simon (29 March 2010). "Gary Doherty demands Easter legs from Norwich". The Times.
  3. ↑ "Man Utd 3 Tottenham 1". Sporting Life. 6 May 2000. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  4. ↑ "Three off as Spurs hit Toon". BBC Sport. 2 January 2001. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  5. ↑ "Spurs find joy away". BBC Sport. 6 January 2001. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  6. ↑ "Arsenal sink rivals Spurs". BBC Sport. 8 April 2001. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  7. ↑ "Spurs stun Black Cats with late rally". BBC Sport. 14 April 2001. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  8. ↑ "Tottenham 2–0 Torquay". BBC Sport. 13 September 2001. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  9. ↑ NEW DEAL FOR DOHERTY | Norwich City | News | First News | First News
  10. ↑ DOC ON LUCKY NUMBER 12 | Norwich City | News | First News | First News
  11. ↑ "Doherty targets victorious Easter". BBC. 28 March 2010. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  12. ↑ "Wycombe 5–0 Hartlepool". BBC Sport. 25 February 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  13. ↑ "Waddock Snaps Up Fab Five". Wycombe Wanderers. 3 July 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  14. ↑ "Doherty named new Wanderers captain". Bucks Free Press. 9 July 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  15. ↑ "Gary Doherty: Ex-Norwich City defender forced to retire by injury". BBC Sport. 2014-12-18. Retrieved 2016-11-30.
  16. ↑ The Irish Times http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1997/0725/Pg016.html#Ar01600:3195E13625FD32F6F93627112E782D31A8453A95C93FD5E43A964F3DB6673BC8DF3EE8F654265D5756744D07445027557728817A3899. (subscription required (help)). Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. ↑ Gary Doherty career statistics at Soccerbase
  18. ↑ "Band's song tribute to footballer". BBC News. 1 April 2010.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Mark Fotheringham		 Norwich City Captain
2009 		Succeeded by
Grant Holt
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