Peter Doherty (footballer)

Peter Dermot Doherty (5 June 1913 – 6 April 1990) was a Northern Irish football player and manager. An inside left, he was one of the top players of his time, winning a league title with Manchester City, an F.A. Cup final with Derby County in which he scored, and gained 16 caps for Ireland. His later career saw him as the central figure as player and manager during Doncaster Rovers most successful era. At the same time he managed Northern Ireland, leading them to their most successful achievement reaching the quarter finals of the World Cup in 1958. He was in the first group of 22 players to be inducted into the English Football Players Hall of Fame.

Playing career

Born in Magherafelt, County Londonderry, Doherty began his career with Glentoran in the Irish League. After helping Glentoran to the 1933 Irish Cup, early in the 1933–34 season Doherty joined English club Blackpool, at the age of 19. He scored 29 goals in 89 league appearances over three seasons. He joined Manchester City on 19 February 1936 for a then-club-record of £10,000. Blackpool needed the money urgently, and Doherty was summoned from his lunch to report to Bloomfield Road. The Irishman tried hard to persuade Blackpool directors that he did not wish to leave the club, for he was due to marry a local girl and had just bought a new house in the town. The fee was an...
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