KEVIN DOYLE’S FAMILY LOOKING FORWARD TO WELCOMING HIM HOME
WHILE it’s probably fair to say that fans of America’s MLS are few and far between in Wexford, Kevin Doyle’s announcement that he would be retiring from Colarado Rapids and hanging up his boots for good came as somewhat of a shock.
Having suffered two concussions this season and regularly complaining of headaches as a result of heading the ball, the Adamstown native decided to hang up his boots on medical advice, bringing to an end the career of one of Wexford’s finest sportsmen.
In many ways, Kevin Doyle has become the embodiment of the dreams of young players who pull on oversized jerseys for their clubs every weekend, dreaming of the Premier League. Kevin made it to this promised land from the muddy pitches of the Wexford League and showed that if you have the talent and the work ethic, anything is possible.
While the likes of Mick Wallace and Pat Dolan had a major impact early in Kevin’s career, it was his brother Pádraig who probably had the biggest influence in getting him into sport initially, dragging him out for kick arounds as big brothers do.
While he displayed an interest in all sports, soccer seemed to trump the lure of the GAA and Kevin showed quite a bit of promise early on. This talent was fostered at underage level by Mick Wallace and everyone at Wexford Youths before Pat Dolan became aware of his talents and brought him to St Patrick’s Athletic before signing him again for Cork City when he made the move to Turner’s Cross.
Dolan’s faith in Kevin was handsomely repaid in Cork where he became a fan favourite, finding the back of the net 25 times in 76 appearances including a memorable winner in the Intertoto Cup in 2004.
While no doubt Kevin would cringe at the use of terms such as ‘ trailblazer’, he really did break the mould when he landed a move to Reading in 2005. The prevailing attitude was that if players didn’t make it out of the League of Ireland when they were teenagers, they’d never enjoy a career in football.
This all changed with Kevin as he completed a transfer to the Royals aged 22. Initially signed as backup for Dave Kitson and Leroy Lita, he quickly showed that he hadn’t come to warm the bench and forced his way into the team. He played a vital role in Reading’s promotion to the Premier League for the first time with a memorable goal against Leicester City, and all of a sudden he was there. The boy from Wexford would be running out on pitches like Anfield and Old Trafford and competing against some of the world’s finest players.
It was around this time that he first became involved with the national team too, something which stirred immense personal pride in him.
As he said himself as he announced his retirement: ‘I’m privileged and proud to have fulfilled my childhood dream of playing for my country. Everything else was a bonus,’ Such was the faith that his family had in his ability, when he walked onto the pitch in his first competitive international against Germany, the clinking of glasses could be heard all over Wexford as their €100 bet that they made at 100/1 two years beforehand. He scored his first of 14 goals for his country against San Marino and it was clear that everyone in Wexford would be taking a strong interest in the Irish team sheet for some time to come.
It must’ve been unnerving heading out against some of the greatest players in the game in his debut season in the Premier League, however, Kevin took to the task as if he was playing on the pitch in Adamstown.
A formidable threat in the air, he notched quite a few headers as Reading battled it out with the big boys and he was even nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year that season, missing out to an up and coming Spaniard by the name of Cesc Fabregas.
Doyle tasted his first major injury blow around this time too, a torn hamstring curtailing him for a time and contributing to Reading’s ultimate relegation. While he stuck with them and valiantly fought to try and get them back to the land of milk and honey, the lure of a new challenge came in 2009 as he moved to Wolves in a deal said to have been worth around £6.5million.
He became somewhat of a favourite under Mick McCarthy, playing as a lone striker in a 4-5-1 formation. He fought off quite a bit of competition for his place and the welcome that his family gave Mick and the rest of his teammates, along with the few rounds of drinks, when they visited the family pub, Coopers in Killinick can only have solidified his reputation as one of the lads. During his time at Wolves, Kevin had some great games.
He scored goals, he ended a Manchester United 29-game unbeaten run, he helped maintain the club’s Premier League status. Simply put, he was living the dream.
However, while Kevin’s career serves as a great example to young Wexford players, there were dark days too. While at the top of his game, Doyle was linked with moves to the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and even Juventus. None of these materialised; however, one can only wonder what might have been had he been battling it out at the top of the Premier League rather than the bottom. Wolves could only tread water
for so long and Kevin was unfortunate enough to see them fall to back to back relegations from the Premier League to end up in League One, a time where he battled with some injuries as well. Loan spells at QPR and Crystal Palace followed before Kevin and his wife Jenny decided on a new adventure across the pond, signing for Colorado Rapids in the MLS.
While his club career is definitely not to be sniffed at, Kevin will always be remembered for his performances in a green shirt. Who could forget that left footed thunderbolt into the top corner against Slovakia in 08? Or when he dug Ireland out of the mud when he came on as a sub in the 89th minute against Kazakhstan in the 2014 World Cup Qualifiers? In the space of a few minutes he had assisted the equaliser (a Keane penalty) and scored the winner himself.
He proved the perfect attacking foil for Robbie Keane for some time and along with McGeady and Duff, proved a potent attacking threat. He even managed to captain his country on a couple of occasions.
Perhaps the finest thing you can say about Kevin Doyle’s international career though is that he was a real team player. He never whinged about being played out of position. Even when he wasn’t being played he never made a fuss about travelling to join up with the Irish team.
Recently he was making the journey all the way from Colorado to be there should Martin O’Neill need to call on his services and he was even in the 32 man squad for the Moldova game this Friday night and Wales on Monday.
This made his announcement last week that he was retiring from the game all the more shocking. ‘ This year it has been clear to me that heading the ball was becoming problematic and causing me to have repeated headaches,’ his statement read. ‘ Two concussions this season and numerous others over the years have made this more concerning. After consulting the experts in this field, it has been decided that to avoid the possibility of these symptoms becoming more serious and permanent, I will be hanging up my boots for good.’ At the age of 34, the Adamstown man has nothing left to prove, so it’s probably the wisest and safest decision for him and his family. What’s next for him? Who knows, but a return to Wexford seems to very much on the cards as he signed off with ‘See you in Wexford’. No doubt he’ll be welcomed back with open arms and will be able to dine out for years on tales of his heroics across the pond.