Michael Doyle (footballer, born 1981)

Michael Doyle

Personal information
Full name	Michael Paul Doyle
Date of birth	(1981-08-08) 8 August 1981
Place of birth	Dublin, Ireland
Height
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Portsmouth
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1998–2003	Celtic	0	(0)
2001–2002	→ AGF Aarhus (loan)	22	(4)
2003–2011	Coventry City	264	(22)
2009–2010	→ Leeds United (loan)	42	(0)
2011–2015	Sheffield United	188	(9)
2015–	Portsmouth	24	(0)
International career‡
2007	Republic of Ireland B	1	(0)
2006	Republic of Ireland	1	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:44, 2 January 2016 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14:19, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Michael Paul Doyle (born 8 August 1981) is an Irish footballer who plays for Portsmouth. Born in Dublin, Doyle started his career at Celtic before a spell on loan in Denmark playing for AGF Aarhus. He subsequently spent the majority of his career at Coventry City and Sheffield United. Doyle has also been capped once by the Republic of Ireland.

Club career

Early career

Doyle began his career as a trainee at Celtic turning full professional for them in August 1998. He and fellow Celtic teammate Liam Miller had a spell on loan in the Danish Premier League at club AGF Aarhus, with Doyle playing 22 League games and scoring four goals for the Danish side. During his time at Celtic, Doyle failed to make a single league appearance for the first team.

Coventry City

After the loan spell ended, the tenacious central midfielder was then signed for Coventry by Gary McAllister after a successful trial, having been recommended by McAllister's assistant Eric Black who worked with Doyle at Celtic. Doyle made his début against Peterborough United in the Football League Cup in August 2003, and scored in his appearance away against Ipswich Town in a 1–1 draw. Doyle played regularly throughout the season either side under the management of both McAllister and his successor Black.

Under Peter Reid, Doyle continued to play whenever fit, forging a useful partnership with captain Stephen Hughes. After Reid's departure Doyle continued to be favoured by new manager Micky Adams, scoring in the crucial away win at Watford, as the side avoided relegation from the Championship.

In 2005–06, Doyle continued to play regularly, captaining the side on a number of occasions since Christmas, notably in the 2–0 home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers. This came in his first match after a suspension for his dismissal in the previous home game against Crewe Alexandra for arguing with the referee. Doyle was named permanent captain of Coventry by Iain Dowie. Doyle was part of the Coventry team that beat Manchester United in the League Cup at Old Trafford, which remains one of the most famous League Cup upset's in recent years.

During the 2008–09 season, Doyle was a regular under Chris Coleman, starting 39 games for Coventry in all competitions. But due to the signing of Sammy Clingan from Norwich in the summer of 2009, Doyle found his first team place under threat, the reason for him wishing to seek guaranteed first team football elsewhere.

At the start of the 2009–2010 season Doyle joined Leeds United on a season long loan and made his first team début in the first game of the season,a win against Exeter. Having become first choice in midfield Doyle said in an interview to Yorkshire Evening Post on in October that he would love to make his loan move from Coventry permanent, and he hoped that if he could impress manager Simon Grayson enough and earn Leeds promotion that it would help his chances in securing a permanent contract at the Elland Road club. In his first six-months at Leeds, Doyle has been a regular starter partnering either Neil Kilkenny or Jonathan Howson in centre midfield, with Doyle only missing games through suspension or being rested by Simon Grayson for squad rotation.

After Leeds were knocked out of the Football League Trophy, Doyle was dropped from the starting line-up for the first time in the league against Leyton Orient but remained a regular first team player. Leeds were duly promoted to the Football League Championship after finishing in second place in League One and thus earning automatic promotion. In total Doyle had played 52 games for Leeds in all competitions during the course of the season. After promotion, Doyle claimed in interviews that he still wanted to join Leeds permanently rather than return to Coventry. He also revealed that promotion with Leeds was his greatest achievement of his football career to date.

Leeds manager Simon Grayson decided not to sign Doyle permanently, Doyle returned to Coventry. During Doyle's loan at Leeds, Coventry manager Chris Coleman had been sacked and succeeded by Adrian Boothroyd, who saw Doyle as an important member of the team. Doyle started the season as first choice midfielder alongside Lee Carsley in the heart of Coventry's midfield before dropping to the bench as the season progressed. Following this and in the build up to Coventry's game against his former club Leeds, Doyle controversially stated that his time at Leeds was the best year of his life. Back in the side Doyle scored his first goal for 21 months in November, a long range effort against Burnley.

Doyle playing for the Blades against Oldham Athletic in 2011.

Sheffield United

Doyle signed for Sheffield United on a free transfer during the January 2011 transfer window, a move that reunited him with former boss Micky Adams, and made his début in a 1–0 loss to Leicester City a few days later. He played regularly for the remainder of the season but with the club in decline he was unable to help to stop the Blades slipping to relegation. Regaining his place in the starting eleven at the outset of the following season, Doyle was awarded with the captain's armband as he played regularly in the centre of midfield. As the team challenged for promotion, Doyle scored his first goal for the Blades in January 2012, scoring against Yeovil Town at Bramall Lane.

United failed to gain promotion, but in September 2012, Doyle signed a new three-year contract with the club, committing his future until 2015. Doyle remained a regular in the side throughout the season as United fought another fruitless promotion battle.

Portsmouth

On 6 July 2015, Doyle joined Portsmouth after being released by Sheffield United.

He signed a one-year contract extension on 5 January 2016, keeping him at Portsmouth until the summer of 2017.

International career

Doyle made his début for the Republic of Ireland in 2006, but it remains his only cap to date. In 2007 he played for the Republic of Ireland B team.

Honours

• League One Runners Up (Promoted): 2009–2010 – Leeds United
• Coventry City Player of the Year Awards – 2004–05: Player of the Year

Career statistics

As of 2 January 2016.

Season	Club	Division	League		FA Cup		League Cup		FL Trophy		Play-offs		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
2003–04	Coventry City	Championship	40	5	5	1	2	0	–	–	–	–	47	6
2004–05			44	2	2	0	3	1	–	–	–	–	49	3
2005–06			44	0	3	0	2	0	–	–	–	–	49	0
2006–07			40	3	2	0	0	0	–	–	–	–	42	3
2007–08			42	7	3	0	4	0	–	–	–	–	49	7
2008–09			37	2	5	1	2	0	–	–	–	–	44	3
2009–10	Leeds United (loan)	League One	42	0	6	0	3	0	1	0	–	–	52	0
2010–11	Coventry City	Championship	17	3	5	1	2	0	–	–	–	–	24	3
Coventry City Total			264	22	25	3	15	1	0	0	0	0	304	25
2010–11	Sheffield United	Championship	16	0	0	0	0	0	–	–	–	–	16	0
2011–12		League One	43	3	4	0	2	0	2	0	3	0	54	3
2012–13			43	3	4	0	1	0	2	0	2	0	52	3
2013–14			40	2	6	0	1	1	1	0	–	–	48	3
2014–15			43	1	5	0	7	0	1	0	0	0	56	1
Sheffield United Total			188	9	18	0	11	1	6	0	5	0	223	10
2015–16	Portsmouth	League Two	24	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	26	0
Total			518	31	51	3	29	2	7	0	5	0	611	35

External links

• Michael Doyle career statistics at Soccerbase