Matt Doherty (footballer, born 1992)

Matt Doherty
Personal information
Full name Matthew James Doherty[1]
Date of birth (1992-01-16) 16 January 1992
Place of birth Dublin, Ireland
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position Right back
Club information
Current team
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Number 2
Youth career
Home Farm
Belvedere
2009–2010 Bohemians
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010– Wolverhampton Wanderers 101 (5)
2012Hibernian (loan) 13 (2)
2012–2013Bury (loan) 17 (1)
National team
2011–2012 Republic of Ireland U19 6 (0)
2012–2014 Republic of Ireland U21 8 (4)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 7 August 2016.


Matthew James "Matt" Doherty (born 16 January 1992) is an Irish footballer who plays as a right back for English club Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Doherty was signed by Wolves in 2010, who played his Irish club Bohemians during pre-season. He gained senior football experience with loan spells at Hibernian and Bury, respectively, before beginning to regularly feature in Wolves' first team.

Club career

Doherty was spotted by Wolverhampton Wanderers while playing for Bohemians in a pre-season game against them in July 2010.[2] Despite never having played a first team game for Bohs, he was invited for a trial and soon signed a two-year deal (with the option of a further year) to move to the English club for a reported £75,000 fee.[3][4]

The defender made his Wolves debut on 8 January 2011 in an FA Cup tie against Doncaster Rovers,[5] before making his Premier League debut on 24 September 2011 at Liverpool.[6]

In January 2012 Doherty was loaned to Scottish Premier League club Hibernian for the latter part of the 2011–12 season.[7] Here, he played in every defensive position, although his preference was right-back.[8] After making his debut in a 1–0 victory against Kilmarnock on 4 February in the Scottish Cup, he went on to make a total of 17 appearances for the club, in which he scored twice. His final game of the loan spell was the 2012 Scottish Cup Final, against Edinburgh derby rivals Hearts, where Hibs lost 1–5.[9] Doherty's post-match comments in interviews and on Twitter were criticised by some Hibernian fans,[10] and Doherty later apologised for the team's performance.[10]


In October 2012, Doherty was again loaned out, joining League One club Bury in a three-month deal.[11] Two days later, Doherty made his debut for Bury, in a 0–1 defeat to Swindon Town, in the first of 22 appearances for the club. He established himself in the first team, playing in the right-back position and earning praise from manager Kevin Blackwell.[12][13] However financial troubles at Bury meant that their loan players, such as Doherty, were sent back to their parent clubs in January 2013.[14][15]

With Dean Saunders appointed Wolves manager in January 2013, Doherty was soon promoted to becoming the club's regular right-back and he featured throughout the final months of the 2012–13 season as the team battled unsuccessfully to avoid a second consecutive relegation.[16] Under Saunders' successor, Kenny Jackett, Doherty has retained his place in the Wolves' team and, in September 2013, signed a new contract.[17]

Doherty was the only player to miss their penalty in Wolves' FA Cup third round replay penalty shootout defeat to Fulham on 13 January 2015.[18]

His goal against Fulham at home during the 2015-16 campaign was awarded the club's best goal of the season. [19]

He is signed to Wolves until summer 2018 (with the club holding the option of a further year).[20]

International career

Doherty played for the Republic of Ireland national under-19 football team.[9] In May 2012, he was put on standby for the under-21s.[9]

Doherty received his first call-up to the senior Republic of Ireland squad on 11 March 2016 for Ireland's friendlies against Switzerland and Slovakia.[21]

Career statistics

As of 16 August 2016)[22]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Wolves 2010–11 0010000010
2011–12 1010300050
2012–13 131000000131
2013–14 181001010201
2014–15 330201000360
2015–16 342103000382
2016–17 2100100031
Total 10155090101165
Hibernian (loan) 2011–12 132400000172
Bury (loan) 2012–13 171310021223
Total 1318121903115510

References

  1. "Professional retain list & free transfers 2012/13" (PDF). The Football League. 18 May 2013. p. 26. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  2. "A comfortable victory". wolves.co.uk. 19 July 2010.
  3. "Doherty's dream delight". wolves.co.uk. 23 August 2010.
  4. "Doherty heads to Wolves". Sky Sports. 19 August 2010.
  5. "Doncaster v Wolverhampton". BBC Sport. 8 January 2011.
  6. "Defender keen to improve". wolves.co.uk. 22 September 2011.
  7. "Coventry's O'Donovan and Wolves' Doherty loaned to Hibs". BBC Sport. BBC. 31 January 2012.
  8. Strachan, Colleen (6 April 2012). "Defender eager to banish the pain of his costly mistakes when Hibs last clashed with Motherwell". Edinburgh Evening News. Johnston Press.
  9. 1 2 3 "Doherty focused on Wolves". Sky Sports. Sky Sports. 27 May 2012.
  10. 1 2 "Doherty's Disappointment". Wolverhampton Wanderers FC. 24 May 2012.
  11. "Wolves defender Matt Doherty joins Bury on loan". BBC Sport. 4 October 2012.
  12. "Kevin Blackwell praises young defence as Bury continue good run". BBC Sport. 21 November 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  13. "Bury boss Kevin Blackwell praises impact of loan players". BBC. 30 October 2012.
  14. "Shakers duo back at Wolves". Sky Sports. 3 January 2013.
  15. "Kevin Blackwell: Bury finances may lead to departures". BBC Sport. 2 January 2013.
  16. "Matt Doherty: "I honestly think we will get promoted... automatic promotion actually"". Birmingham Mail. 12 July 2013.
  17. "Doherty aiming high". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 6 September 2013.
  18. Freeman, Jay (13 January 2015). "Wolves 3-3 Fulham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  19. http://www.expressandstar.com/sport/wolverhampton-wanderers-fc/2016/05/11/matt-doherty-cleans-up-at-wolves-end-of-season-awards/
  20. "New deal for Doc!". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 22 September 2015.
  21. "Euro 2016: Trio handed first Republic of Ireland call-up". BBC Sport. BBC. 11 March 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  22. Matt Doherty career statistics at Soccerbase
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/30/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.