Mike Doyle (soccer player)

Mike Doyle
Personnel
Surname	Michael Doyle
birthday	November 25, 1946
place of birth	Manchester ,  England
date of death	June 27, 2011
Place of death	Ashton-under-Lyne ,  England
position	Outrunner , central defender
Juniors
Years	station
until 1962	Stockford Boys
1962-1964	Manchester City
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1964-1988	Manchester City	448 (32)
1978-1982	Stoke City	115 0(5)
1982-1983	Bolton Wanderers	40 0(2)
1983-1984	Rochdale AFC	24 0(1)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1968-1969	England U-23	8 0(0)
1976-1977	England	5 0(0)
1 Only league games are given.

Michael "Mike" Doyle (born November 25, 1946 in Manchester , † June 27, 2011 in Ashton-under-Lyne ) was an English football player . As an outside runner , central defender and temporary "substitute center forward", the five-time England international was one of the pillars of the successful Manchester City team , which between 1968 and 1970 made four important ones: the English Championship, the FA Cup, the European Cup Winners' Cup and the League Cup Title won.

Active career

In the club

Manchester City (1962–1978)

Doyle was born to a police officer in Manchester. He expressed his desire to become a professional footballer at an early age and wrote a corresponding "letter of recommendation" to the local newspaper Manchester Evening News at the age of nine. When he later made the words speak for themselves as a defender for the Stockport Boys , he finally caught the eye of Harry Godwin - then chief scout of Manchester City - who accepted the fanatical City supporter in the youth department in May 1962. Tall, slim and agile, Doyle developed into one of the most hopeful talents in the club and also noticed his extraordinary personality and emotionality, which later brought him a lot of anger and insults, especially from local rivals Manchester United . He was also confident and bold towards his teammates, as exemplified by an anecdote with the legendary goalkeeper from the 1950s Bert Trautmann . When he had conceded eight goals against Wolverhampton Wanderers , the young Doyle, who had to sweep in the dressing room during his apprenticeship years, asked him about the good health of his back, which was caused by the constant stooping when getting the balls out of his own goal had to hurt - Doyle paid for this “cheek” by having to wash Trautmann's car for the rest of the season. In terms of sport, he made his breakthrough in March 1965 with his debut in the second division against Cardiff City as an outside runner . In the spring of 1964 he had previously lost to Manchester United in the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup and started the "enmity" with George Best, which both sides had from now on.

With the arrival of the new head coach Joe Mercer and the charismatic assistant Malcolm Allison , a turning point in the club began. The duo led the former second division midfield team in 1966 to promotion to the top English division and although Doyle was not yet a regular player, he showed his skills mostly in midfield, but also temporarily with success as a center forward . In the 1967/68 season, however, Doyle was a key player as the right wing runner with the number 4. Strong in duels and headers, he was part of an attractive climber who even won the championship in the end and, ironically, inherited the local rival as the title holder. Doyle attracted particular attention with his good performance in the away win at Old Trafford . The next trophies were not long in coming and after an FA Cup success in 1969 in the final against Leicester City (1-0), he contributed to the 2-1 against West Bromwich Albion in the league cup final in 1970, the meanwhile equalizer. A few weeks later he was largely responsible for the fact that the European Cup Winners' Cup also went to Manchester after a 2-1 in the final against the Polish representative Górnik Zabrze .

Mercer resigned a little later and under the now "ruling" Allison City was on the way to another English championship title in 1972, until the engagement of Rodney Marsh, who was equally talented and extroverted like Doyle, contributed to the destabilization of the team and the "Citizens" on At the end of only took fourth place. Doyle made no secret of his aversion to Marsh, who came from the south of England, and found him to be a "show-off". He himself switched to central defense in 1973, where he initially worked alongside Tommy Booth and later with the young David Watson . Doyle was also in good shape in this new role. He moved into the 1974 final against Wolverhampton Wanderers and although he lost this, the 1973/74 season ended with a "satisfaction" when he promoted the local rivals with an away win of his team in the second division.

A year later Doyle took over from Tony Book , ex-captain and now the new coach of Manchester City, the office of team captain and under his reign, the club won the league cup again in 1976 with a 2-1 in the final against Newcastle United . His leadership skills were so convincing that Don Revie enabled him to pursue a late career in the English national team even at the advanced age of 29 . Doyle played at the highest level during the 1976/77 season, before an ankle injury in the spring threw him back decisively, he was missing in important games in the again hopeful title race and City finally only the runner-up behind Liverpool FC . Doyle struggled to regain his former fitness level, lost his regular place to Tommy Booth and after more than 550 competitive games he left Manchester in July 1978 for a transfer fee of 50,000 pounds in the direction of the second division club Stoke City, trained by Alan Durban .

Career finale: Stoke, Bolton and Rochdale (1978–1984)

At the Victoria Ground, Doyle immediately fit into the new central defense with Denis Smith and in his first year he managed to return to the top English league via the second division championship. Although he was often only able to play with pain, he only missed a single game. This changed in the 1979/80 season, in which, however, he continued to be a role model for the young teammates in the ultimately successful fight for relegation. At the side of Alan Dodd , Doyle found his strength back in the 1980/81 season and even scored four goals, including one in the 2-1 win over ex-club Manchester City in March 1981. Shortly after Denis Smith left his Having recovered from his injury and also signed David Watson from Southampton FC , Doyle left Stoke City in January 1982. He returned to Lancashire and joined the Bolton Wanderers for £ 10,000 in the second division .

The debut of his time in Bolton, which lasted until the end of the 1982/83 season, failed strongly; he scored an own goal in his first match against Oldham Athletic and saw the red card in the subsequent match against Newcastle United . He played a total of 40 league games for the "Trotters" and scored two goals. In his last professional year, he let his career end with the fourth division AFC Rochdale until May 1984 .

English selection teams

After he had already played eight U-23 internationals between 1968 and 1969, he was in the provisional squad of England's senior team for the 1970 World Cup in Mexico . He canceled a possible participation because of a serious illness of his wife and from then on he was no longer considered by the "Three Lions" for a long time. His only experience in national teams was limited to two games of a Football League eleven against Scottish counterparts in 1972 and 1976 and also in 1976 an encounter between an English team against a "Team America".

It was only in his "second spring" after being promoted to team captain in Manchester in March 1976 that Doyle made his debut in the English senior team against Wales (2-1). Overall, his national team career, which lasted less than a year, was not a good star, as three defeats from five games proved. His last appearance was in February 1977 when England received a sensitive 2-0 home defeat against the Netherlands and Doyle was a bit out of place as one of three classic central defenders against an opponent without a real center forward.

Away from the soccer field

After retiring from active sports, Doyle worked for the sporting goods company Slazenger and was a frequent commentator for Piccadilly Radio in Manchester . A recurring problem that he did not get permanently under control throughout his life was alcohol. In 2007, he went to the Sporting Chance Clinic rehabilitation facility founded by Tony Adams and stayed dry for 18 months. His symptoms worsened after a relapse and he died of liver failure at the age of only 64 in late June 2011.

Title / Awards

• European Cup Winners' Cup : 1970
• English Championship : 1968
• FA Cup : 1969
• English League Cup : 1970, 1976

Web links

• Obituary from The Independent
• Obituary from The Guardian
• Statistical data of the club career
• Mike Doyle as England international

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Tony Matthews: The Legends of Stoke City . Breedon Books Publishing, 2008, ISBN 978-1-85983-653-8 , pp. 64 f .