Kris Mark Doolan (born 11 December 1986) is a Scottish professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player who recently managed

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

club

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

. Doolan played as a striker, spending the majority of his professional career at Partick Thistle. He also played for Kello Rovers, Auchinleck Talbot, Clyde,

Ayr United Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the , the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is The Honest Men, fro ...

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the . The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greenock Morton in 1994 to celebr ...

and

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...

. Doolan represented Scotland at junior level for the 2008 Junior International Quadrangular Tournament held on the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

. Doolan joined Partick Thistle in 2009 after an impressive start to his career in the Scottish junior leagues with Kello Rovers and Auchinleck Talbot. He became one of their most prolific and consistent goal scorers in the club's history, currently in joint fourth position in the all-time top scorers list In recognition for his services to the club, Doolan was inducted into the Partick Thistle Hall of Fame in March 2019. He was released by Thistle at the end of the 2018–19 season and subsequently had short spells at Ayr United and Morton. After returning to Thistle as a youth coach at the Thistle Weir Youth Academy, Doolan was appointed Partick Thistle manager in 2023.

Playing career

Junior football

Born in

Irvine Irvine may refer to: Places On Earth Antarctica *Irvine Glacier * Mount Irvine (Antarctica) Australia * Irvine Island * Mount Irvine, New South Wales Canada * Irvine, Alberta * Irvine Inlet, Nunavut Scotland *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotlan ...

, he began his career by playing in the

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

leagues, first with a two-year stint at Kello Rovers, before moving on to Auchinleck Talbot. He had a successful time at Beechwood Park, and eventually went on trial for

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. It was replaced by the Scottish Championship. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 in Scottish footb ...

club

Partick Thistle

2009–10

Following a successful trial which began in October 2008, despite interest from

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

sides

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

and

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

Doolan was signed by Partick manager Ian McCall on an 18-month deal from Auchinleck on 9 January 2009. He made his debut on 10 January 2009, in a 3–0 defeat against

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, Inverness CT or just Inverness, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team competes in , the third tier of the Scottish Professional Footba ...

in a

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Queen of the South. On 5 February 2010, Doolan was sent out on loan to Clyde to help them try to avoid relegation to the Third Division. After returning to

Firhill Firhill Stadium, also known as Wyre Stadium at Firhill for sponsorship reasons, is a football and former rugby union, rugby league and greyhound racing stadium located in the Maryhill area of Glasgow, Scotland which has been the home of Partick ...

, Doolan struggled to cement his place in the starting eleven. However, he subsequently scored a spectacular 92nd-minute goal on the final day of the 2009–10 season against Queen of the South to give The ''Jags'' a 1–0 victory. Doolan was Thistle's top scorer in the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season with 18 goals.

2012–13

During the 2012–13 season Doolan was named as Scottish Football League Player of the Month for March 2013. On 7 April 2013, he scored in the last seconds of extra-time against Queen of the South in the 2013 Scottish Challenge Cup Final to make it 1–1 and take the match to penalties. Doolan scored with his kick, however Partick Thistle were defeated 6–5. Doolan's goals helped Thistle secure the

2012–13 Scottish First Division The 2012–13 Scottish Football League First Division, also known as the 2012–13 Irn Bru Scottish Football League First Division for sponsorship reasons, was the 19th season of the Scottish Football League First Division and the 107th season of ...

title and subsequent promotion to the new

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

2013–14

Having gained promotion, Doolan signed a new two-year contract on 21 May 2013. Doolan scored his first top-flight goal for Thistle in their 3–1 away victory against Ross County at the Global Energy Stadium. Following a poor run of results for Thistle, striker

Lyle Taylor Lyle James Alfred Taylor (born 29 March 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Colchester United. Born in England, he represents the Montserrat national team. Prior to joining Nottingham Forest, he played for Char ...

was brought in on loan from

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

in the January transfer window. Goals from Doolan and Taylor eventually helped Thistle secure their place in the Scottish Premiership for the 2014–15 season.

2014–15

On 24 May 2014, Doolan extended his contract with Partick Thistle by another two years, keeping him at the club until May 2016. Doolan scored his first goal of the 2014–15 season in a 1–0

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

away win to

in the on 26 August 2014. As of 18 October 2014, Doolan had played 203 games and has scored 70 goals in all competitions for Partick Thistle. On 21 January 2015, Doolan scored four goals against

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, who currently compete in . They were established in 1874 from the school football team at Hamilto ...

in a 5–0 win at Firhill, making him the first Thistle player to score four goals in a top-flight match since George Shaw in 1992, and the first footballer to score a

perfect hat-trick Perfect commonly refers to: * Perfection; completeness, and excellence * Perfect (grammar), a grammatical category in some languages Perfect may also refer to: Film and television * ''Perfect'' (1985 film), a romantic drama * ''Perfect'' (20 ...

in the

since its formation in 2013.

2015–16

On 18 January 2016, during the January transfer window, Doolan signed a new contract extension with Thistle to keep him at the club until the summer of 2019. The contract will take him to 10 years of service, and consequently a testimonial year.

2016–17

Doolan scored his first goal of the 2016–17 season in a League Cup group stage tie scoring the winner against

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in the . They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United Football Club ...

. He scored his first league goal of the season in a 2–0 away win against

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

Dens Park Dens Park is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland, which is the home of club Dundee F.C. and has a capacity of . Tannadice Park, the home of rivals Dundee United, is just 200 yards (183 metres) away. History Dundee moved to "Dens" from the ...

making it 2–0 with a second half strike. Doolan scored his 100th, and then 101st professional goal for Partick Thistle on 1 April 2017 against Ross County at Firhill.

2017–18

On 21 April 2018, Doolan scored his 100th league goal in a crucial post-split fixture against Hamilton, making him the first ever Partick Thistle player to score 100 league goals. He played in both legs of the Premiership play-offs against Livingston, scoring his club's only goal in the tie as they were defeated 3–1 on aggregate and relegated to the Championship.

2018–19: Last season at Firhill

On 1 September 2018, in a league match at Firhill against Greenock Morton, Doolan scored a legitimate goal which was not awarded: the ball struck the underside of the crossbar from his shot, bounced on the solid tube holding the net to the ground, came back out of the goal area and was kicked into touch by a frustrated defender. The minimal movement of the net itself deceived the referee Barry Cook into believing the ball had not crossed the line and he awarded a throw-in, despite the usual reactions of the home team and fans celebrating and the away team starting to walk back to their positions to kick off. Thistle still won 1–0 despite the error and Doolan was awarded a goal bonus which he donated to charity, with the amount matched by the club. A similar incident had occurred at the same end of the same stadium in 1993 when a shot by

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

Paddy Connolly Patrick Connolly (born 25 June 1970) is a Scottish football player and coach. In a twenty-year playing career, he made over 100 appearances for both Dundee United and St Johnstone; he also played for Airdrieonians, Greenock Morton, Ayr Un ...

entered the goal and rebounded off the supporting stanchion, but was not awarded even though a defender then caught the ball and handed it to the goalkeeper. On 16 March 2019, Doolan was inducted into the Partick Thistle Hall of Fame at Firhill Stadium. Teammates and friends including Chris Erskine, Steven Lawless,

Scott McDonald Scott Douglas McDonald (born 21 August 1983) is an Australian former professional footballer and is the current head coach for National Premier Leagues club Gold Coast Knights. Originally a striker, McDonald could also play as an attacking mi ...

and

Gary Harkins Gary Harkins (born 2 January 1985) is a Scottish professional footballer and coach who plays as a midfielder. Having come through the youth academies at Celtic and Blackburn Rovers he would notably play in the Scottish Premiership for Kilmarnock ...

were in attendance, alongside Manager

Gary Caldwell Gary Caldwell (born 12 April 1982) is a Scottish former professional footballer and coach who is the manager of Exeter City. Caldwell played for Newcastle United, Darlington, Coventry City, Derby County, Hibernian, Celtic, Wigan Athletic an ...

. On 23 April 2019, Doolan made his 400th appearance for the club, coming on as a substitute for McDonald against

. After a difficult return season to the Championship, with the club having successfully fought off further relegation, on 9 May 2019, manager Gary Caldwell informed Doolan that his contract with Thistle would not be renewed, bringing to an end his 10-year stay at the Firhill club. Partick Thistle chairman Jacqui Low stated: "Kris is, and always will be, a legend at Partick Thistle Football Club. Legend is an overused word but he has earned that title. The service he has given to the club both on and off the pitch is almost unmatched." Doolan ended his Thistle career with 401 appearances, 121 goals and 34 assists.

Ayr United

On 24 June 2019, Doolan signed a one-year deal with Ayr United and once again linked up with then former Thistle manager, Ian McCall. Doolan scored twice on his Ayr United debut as Ayr beat Berwick Rangers 7-0 in the league cup. Doolan scored his first league goal for Ayr against former club

in a 3-2 win at Firhill. Doolan was released from his contract with the club on 30 January 2020.

Greenock Morton

On 6 February 2020, Doolan signed until June 2020 with

After the season was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic, Doolan left Morton on 1 August 2020.

Arbroath

On 14 August 2020, Doolan signed with

International career

Doolan's form at Auchinleck Talbot was recognised by the

Scottish Junior Football Association The Scottish Junior Football Association (SJFA) is an affiliated national association of the Scottish Football Association and is the governing body for the junior grade of football (soccer), football in Scotland. The term "junior" refers to the ...

(SJFA) with his selection for the Umbro Quadrangular Tournament in 2008. He appeared in all three matches at the tournament and tallied one goal against Northern Ireland in a 4–3 victory.

Style of play

It is believed Doolan's talent was brought out due to the small and difficult pitches used by junior football clubs. Auchinleck Talbot scouts noted his ability to find space and utilise his "explosive pace." Along with his playing ability, he has been described as a "model professional", with leadership ability and commitment to his club. Similarly to teammate former Thistle teammate Chris Erskine, his emergence from the Scottish junior leagues has been a testament to his success and work ethic as a player and has further proven the quality and potential of younger players in the junior football leagues.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, Doolan set up a coaching academy in Ayrshire and also coached in a SFA Elite Performance School.

Partick Thistle

Doolan returned to Partick Thistle in January 2023, as he became a coach in the Thistle Weir Youth Academy. He became the Partick Thistle first team caretaker manager a month later, following the club's dismissal of manager Ian McCall. After three games in interim charge, winning two and drawing the other, Doolan was appointed manager on a permanent basis. In Doolan's first season in charge, Thistle finished fourth in the Scottish Championship and reached the 2022-23 Scottish Premiership Playoff Final, where they lost 5–4 on penalties to Ross County, who had finished 11th in the

, despite Thistle having a 3–0 aggregate lead in the 70th minute. Had Thistle won the tie, they would have made history as the first side to be promoted after finishing fourth in the second tier. In Doolan's first full season in charge, Thistle finished 3rd in the Scottish Championship, meaning they once again entered the Scottish Premiership play offs. Thistle beat 4th place Airdrie 3–2 on aggregate to progress to the play-off semi-finals, where they faced 2nd placed Raith Rovers. Thistle lost the first leg at home to Raith 2–1, but won the away leg 2–1, meaning the tie went to extra time. No winner could be found by either side, therefore the tie progressed to a penalty shootout, which Raith won 4–3. Thistle struggled for consistency in the 2024–25 season, spending much of the season in 4th place. Following a poor run of form Doolan left his position as manager on February 18, 2025.

Personal life

Doolan grew up supporting Premiership team Celtic. He is married and lives in

. His second cousin

Stephen McManus Stephen David McManus (born 10 September 1982) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player who is a first-team coach at Scottish Premiership club Celtic. McManus, who played as a centre-back, was a product of Celtic's youth acad ...

was also a footballer, mainly for

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

and

Career statistics

Managerial statistics

Honours

Club

;Partick Thistle *

champions:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

International

; Scotland Junior team * Umbro Trophy winners:

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Individual

* Scottish First Division Player of the Month: March 2013

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Doolan, Kris 1986 births Living people Footballers from Irvine, North Ayrshire Scottish men's footballers Scottish Football League players Partick Thistle F.C. players Men's association football forwards Kello Rovers F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Clyde F.C. players Auchinleck Talbot F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players Scotland men's junior international footballers Ayr United F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Arbroath F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. non-playing staff Scottish football managers Partick Thistle F.C. managers Scottish Professional Football League managers 21st-century Scottish sportsmen