Matt Doherty is a Northern Irish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. An attacking half-back, noted for his footwork and passing, Doherty was one of

Derry City FC Derry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Derry, Northern Ireland. It plays in the League of Ireland Premier Division, the top tier of league football in the Republic of Ireland, and is the League of Irela ...

's early stars. During his time at the

Brandywell The Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium ( ga, Tobar an Fhíoruisce ) is a municipal football stadium with an adjoining greyhound racing track in Derry, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of League of Ireland team Derry City F.C. and (temporaril ...

he picked up winner's medals in the City Cup and North-West Cup, played in Derry's 2–0 defeat to

Linfield FC Linfield Football Club is a Northern Irish professional football club based in south Belfast which plays in the NIFL Premiership – the highest level of the Northern Ireland Football League. The fourth-oldest club on the island of Ireland, Li ...

in the 1936

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Ina ...

final, and in 1938 came within a whisker of helping the club to their first league title, Derry losing 3–1 to

Belfast Celtic Belfast Celtic Football Club was a football club. Founded in 1891 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, it was one of the most successful teams in Ireland until it withdrew permanently from the Irish League in 1949. The club left the league for polit ...

in a replayed title-deciding test match. 1937–38 was perhaps Doherty's finest season, selected by both

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and the Irish League XI. In September 1937 he came extremely close to signing for Burnley FC before Derry rejected their £1,000 offer. He did finally leave the Brandywell in 1941, joining

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

in the League of Ireland, where he earned three

League of Ireland XI The League of Ireland XI, more recently referred to as the ''Airtricity League XI'' for sponsorship reasons, is the representative team of the League of Ireland, the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. For much of its ...

caps while at

Glenmalure Park Glenmalure Park, often simply known as Milltown, was a football stadium on the Southside of Dublin city in Ireland. Located in the suburb of Milltown, it was home to Shamrock Rovers from 1926 to 1987, when it was sold to property developers ...

. He returned to Derry after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and finally tasted success in the Irish Cup. He was awarded a benefit game on 4 May 1955 against

. Doherty, who also managed the club from late 1959 until the end of the 1960–61 Irish League season, is father to Matt Jr. who also later went on to play for Derry.

Honours

: ** 1948–49 *

City Cup The City Cup was a rugby league competition involving Australian premiership teams. The post season tournament was a regular feature in the years 1912–1925. City Cups were also played in 1937, 1942 and 1959. The inaugural city cup was contested ...

: ** 1934–35, 1936–37

External links

Matt Doherty
on a Blogspot page
Matt Doherty
n the Derry City FC website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Doherty, Matt Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Pre-1950 IFA men's international footballers Derry City F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players League of Ireland players Derry City F.C. managers Possibly living people Year of birth missing League of Ireland XI players 20th-century births Irish League representative players Men's association football wing halves Association football managers from Northern Ireland