Ned Doig
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John Edward Doig (29 October 1866 – 7 November 1919) was a Scottish
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 lea ...
, who played as a
goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...
. He played the peak of his career for
Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...
, in a period of time in the club's history where they were dubbed the "team of all talents". He also played for
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 ...
and
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
at club level, and was selected for
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
five times. Noted for his exceptional performances in goal, he was also famously shy of his baldness, and always wore a cap with elastic. He set a 19th-century world record by not conceding any goals in 87 of his 290 top division appearances (30%).


Club career


Early career

Born in Letham, Doig began his career as an outside right with local junior club St. Helena. He moved to
Arbroath F.C. Arbroath Football Club is a semi-professional Scottish football club based in the town of Arbroath, Angus. They currently play in the . The club was founded in 1878 and plays home matches at Gayfield Park. They play in maroon strips and are ni ...
in 1884 after a member of the crowd shouted "let Doig play!" prior to a reserve team kick off; Arbroath were without a goalkeeper and the young Ned Doig was in the audience. He spent two seasons in the reserves before breaking through to the first team in 1886 at the age of 19.


Sunderland

In November 1889 Doig was signed by
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
. After one game he had a disagreement with the Lancashire club and decided to return home. In 1890, he returned to England to play for Sunderland; however, because he had not been registered with the club for seven days, and therefore still effectively a Blackburn player, the
Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...
deemed him ineligible for his debut game. As Sunderland did play him, they were fined and deducted two points. Doig went on to be an ever-present in goal for the ''Wearsiders'' in the 14 seasons he spent at the club, winning four league championships in the process and making 457 appearances in major competitions. When the Sunderland fanzine/website ''A Love Supreme'' made a list of the club's greatest ever players, chosen from seasonal statistics, Doig came out as number one. In 2017 a small left-leaning supporters group, 'Ned Doig Ultras' was founded to commemorate his life. Doig was the first ever goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet at the current Celtic Park site. On 6 October 1892 (around two months after the ground had opened), Sunderland beat Celtic 3-0, the first time a clean sheet was kept.


Late career

Doig signed for recently relegated
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
for a fee of £150 in 1904. In his first season with the Merseysiders, he helped the club achieve immediate promotion back to the top division. However, the next season saw his place lost to future England star Sam Hardy. He played his last game in April 1908, at the age of 41 years and 165 days, which is still a Liverpool record. He finished his career with the amateur club St. Helens Recreationals in the Lancashire league, finally retiring in 1910. He died in
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
on 7 November 1919 at the age of 53, a victim of the
Spanish Flu epidemic The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 subtype of the influenza A virus. The earliest document ...
.


International career

Doig achieved two full Scottish international
caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...
in the 1880s whilst with Arbroath, and remains the club's only Scottish international. It is likely he would have been selected frequently while with Sunderland had the
Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (; also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA) is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA incl ...
not operated a policy of selecting only home-based players until 1896, a situation which also affected his teammates – the club often had an all-Scottish team in that era. After this rule was relaxed, Doig played in the first
Home Scots v Anglo-Scots Home Scots v Anglo-Scots was an annual association football trial match organised by the Scottish Football Association between the 1890s and 1920s to examine the abilities of possible players for upcoming full British Home Championship internationa ...
trial match of 1896,Football. International Trial Matches.
The Glasgow Herald, 26 March 1896
and subsequently was one of a group of five Anglos selected for that year's Auld Enemy fixture against
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
which his side won 2–1 at
Celtic Park Celtic Park is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic F.C., Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest List of football stadiums in Sco ...
to win the
British Home Championship The British Home Championship (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Championship) was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams: England, Scotlan ...
; this was the first ever international game with a crowd of over 50,000, and also broke England's still record of twenty matches unbeaten. In the process, he also became Sunderland's first Scottish international. He gained two further official caps against the same opposition in 1899 (a defeat) and 1903 (a victory) for a total of five, and also played in the 1902 match declared unofficial due to the disaster which occurred when a wooden stand collapsed at
Ibrox Park Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Scottish Premiership team Rangers, Ibrox is the third-largest football stadium in Scotland, with an all-seated ca ...
. The 16-year span of his international career set a Scottish record that lasted for 118 years, until overtaken twice in the same week by fellow goalkeepers David Marshall and
Craig Gordon Craig Sinclair Gordon (born 31 December 1982) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Heart of Midlothian and the Scotland national team. Gordon started his career with Currie Boys before joining Heart of ...
in November 2020; until then, another custodian
Jim Leighton James Leighton (born 24 July 1958) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Leighton started his career with Aberdeen, where he won seven domestic trophies and the 1982–83 European Cup Winners' Cup under the m ...
had come closest to beating Doig with his 91 caps in the late 20th century spread over 15 years, 11 months.Scotland Players by Career Span
London Hearts Supporters Club; retrieved 6 February 2021


Honours

;Sunderland *
Football League Division One The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...
: 1891–92, 1892–93, 1894–95, 1901–02 *
Sheriff of London Charity Shield The Sheriff of London Charity Shield, also known as the Dewar Shield, was a football competition played annually between the best amateur and best professional club in England, though Scottish amateur side Queen's Park also took part in 1899. Th ...
:
1903 Events January * January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India. * January 10 – The Aceh Sultanate was fully annexed by the Dutch forces, deposing the last sultan, marking the end of the Aceh War that have lasted for al ...
*
World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...
:
1895 Events January * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island (off French Guiana) on what is much later admitted to be a false charge of tr ...
When Sunderland met Hearts in the first ever 'Champions League' match , Nutmeg Magazine
Nutmeg Magazine, September 2017
;Liverpool *
Football League Division Two The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...
:
1904–05 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' D ...
;Scotland *
British Home Championship The British Home Championship (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Championship) was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams: England, Scotlan ...
: 1886–87, 1888–89, 1895–96, 1902–03 (shared)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doig, Ned Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Arbroath F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players 1866 births 1919 deaths Men's association football goalkeepers Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic in England English Football League players Footballers from Arbroath