Kevin Doyle

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For other persons named Kevin Doyle, see Kevin Doyle (disambiguation).
Kevin Doyle
Personal information
Full name Kevin Edward Doyle
Date of birth 18 September 1983 (1983-09-18) (age 24)
Place of birth    Adamstown, County Wexford, Ireland
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Reading
Number 9
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
2002–2003
2003–2005
2005–		 St Patrick's Athletic
Cork City
Reading		 010 0(0)
075 (25)
113 (37)   
National team2
2002–2005
2006–		 Republic of Ireland U21
Republic of Ireland		 011 0(6)
018 0(5)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 20:13, 11 May 2008 (UTC).
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 19:59, 29 May 2008 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Kevin Edward Doyle (born 18 September 1983 in Adamstown, County Wexford, Ireland) is an Irish footballer who currently plays for Reading in the The Championship.

Contents

[edit] Club career

[edit] Ireland

Doyle was a talented underage Gaelic Athletic Association player. He started his football career playing for Adamstown and his county, Wexford, before moving to his first professional club St Patrick's Athletic in September 2001. Doyle initially played for the club's under 18 side but within months had made his League of Ireland debut. He then had a successful spell with Cork City which he joined in February 2003. Doyle scored 25 goals for Cork City where he began playing on the right-wing but soon reverted to his natural position of striker. He also scored two goals from six appearances in the UEFA_Intertoto Cup [1] [2].

[edit] Reading's promotion

On 7 June 2005, Doyle signed for Reading on a two year deal from Cork City[1] for €117,000[2] (about £78,000).[3] Despite having left Cork City, Doyle received a championship medal when they won the eircom League Premier Division in November 2005. Originally, he was signed as a back-up, but injuries to other players gave him an opportunity in the first team which he retained thanks to a number of important goals. He became an intrinsic part of Reading's Championship-winning 2005–06 squad, and according to the Actim Index was one of the top players in the Championship[4]. He was named the official Reading FC player of the season for 2005-06.[5] In April 2006, he was also named as Championship Fans' Player Of The Year[6] and one of the Championship Team of the Year[7] by the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA).

[edit] Reading in the Premiership

Doyle played an important role for Reading in the 2006–07 Premier League season. His first Premiership goal came in the Royals' 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa, Doyle heading Reading in to a third minute lead. On 16 September 2006, he went one better and scored one of the fastest goals in Premiership history, hitting the net just sixteen seconds into Reading's clash with Sheffield United at Bramall Lane, even though it was the home side that kicked-off.[8] Perhaps the highlight of Doyle's Premiership season came against Manchester United, the side the striker supported as a boy. After Gary Neville handled the ball in the box, Doyle smashed the penalty past goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar to put Reading in front, with the Royals going on to draw the game 1-1.

Following a good start to his Premier League career, Doyle was rewarded with a new contract, keeping him at Reading until the summer of 2010,[9] and was nominated for the PFA's Young Player of the Year award,[10] missing out to Cristiano Ronaldo who also took the senior award.[11] In his first season playing in the Premier League, Doyle scored 13 league goals.

Unfortunately, Doyle's second season in the Premier League proved not so fruitful, and at 12 April, he had netted just five times in the league. Disappointingly for Reading fans, at the same date, Doyle had gone 18 games in all competitions without scoring a goal. However,this is most likely because of Steve Coppell playing him out of position on the right wing for the majority of the season, gaining many assists in the process.

[edit] International career

Doyle has played for the Republic of Ireland U21 team, making his debut on 2 February 2004 against Portugal. With 11 caps, and scoring five goals, he was also a member of the Irish FIFA World Youth Championship squad in 2003.[12]

He was called up to the senior Republic of Ireland squad in October 2005,[13] making his full international debut against Sweden at Lansdowne Road on 1 March 2006.[14] His first start in a competitive international was against Germany on 2 September 2006 in a Euro 2008 qualifier.[15] With this appearance, his family also won a €100 bet at 100/1 they had placed two years earlier on Doyle playing competitively for Ireland.[16]

Doyle scored his first goal for Ireland against San Marino in November 2006.[17] He was then named the official Football Association of Ireland Young Player of 2006 on 4 February 2007, also receiving a nomination for the senior award.[18]

His second goal came in a 1-0 victory over Slovakia at Croke Park in March 2007.[19] He also scored against Ecuador on 23 May 2007 securing a valiant 1-1 draw against the South Americans,[20] and he scored his best goal for Ireland, with a long range left foot shot into the top corner to the keeper's right, in a 2-2 draw against Slovakia on 9 September 2007 in the 2008 European Championships qualifying game in Bratislava.[21]

He has been nominated as the Football Association of Ireland Player of the Year for 2007,[22][23] as well as for Goal of the Year for his goal against Slovakia in September 2007.[22]

[edit] Career statistics

All-Time Club Performance
Club Season Flag of England League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
Reading

(Premier League)

 2007-08 36 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 36 6
2006-07 32 13 1 0 1 0 0 0 34 13
(Championship) 2005-06 45 18 3 1 3 0 0 0 51 19
Reading Total 110 36 4 1 4 0 0 0 118 37
Career Total 110 36 4 1 4 0 0 0 118 37
Last updated 17 April 2008 Statistics for career in English leagues only.

[edit] Honours

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Reading complete double Cork deal", BBC Sport, 2005-06-07. Retrieved on 2008-03-28. 
  2. ^ Own Goal - The Slow Death of Irish Soccer. The Dubliner (October 2006). Retrieved on 2008-03-28.
  3. ^ "Bargain buy set to hit the heights", The Guardian, 2006-08-16. Retrieved on 2008-03-28. 
  4. ^ "Coca-Cola Championship Top 10 players", PA Sport, 2006-05-04. Retrieved on 2006-05-16. 
  5. ^ "Doyle wins player of the season after his superb first campaign for the Royals", readingfc.co.uk, 2006-05-02. Retrieved on 2008-02-02. 
  6. ^ "Rooney's top dog in the Prem - and there are divisional awards for Doyle, Flahavan and Hawley too", Professional Footballers' Association, 2006-04-26. Retrieved on 2006-05-16. 
  7. ^ "The PFA Team of the Year: Coca-Cola Championship", Professional Footballers' Association, 2006-04-23. Retrieved on 2006-05-16. 
  8. ^ "Sheff Utd 1-2 Reading", BBC Sport, 2006-09-16. Retrieved on 2006-09-17. 
  9. ^ "Hunt & Doyle extend Reading deals", BBC Sport, 2007-01-05. Retrieved on 2008-02-02. 
  10. ^ "Who will be following in the footsteps of Gerrard and Rooney this year?", Professional Footballers' Association, 2007-04-16. Retrieved on 2007-04-16. 
  11. ^ "Ronaldo secures PFA awards double", BBC Sport, 2007-04-22. Retrieved on 2007-05-14. 
  12. ^ "FIFA World Youth Championship 2003 - Ireland Squad", FIFA, 2006-04-23. Retrieved on 2006-05-16. 
  13. ^ "Doyle called up to Republic squad", BBC Sport, 2005-09-27. Retrieved on 2007-03-29. 
  14. ^ "Rep of Ireland 3-0 Sweden", BBC Sport, 2006-03-01. Retrieved on 2007-03-29. 
  15. ^ "Germany 1-0 Republic of Ireland", BBC Sport, 2006-09-02. Retrieved on 2007-03-29. 
  16. ^ "Father to collect on Doyle bet", The Times, 2006-09-02. Retrieved on 2008-01-08. 
  17. ^ "Rep of Ireland 5-0 San Marino", BBC Sport, 2006-11-15. Retrieved on 2007-03-29. 
  18. ^ "Doyle receives top Irish young player award", readingfc.co.uk, 2007-02-05. Retrieved on 2007-02-05. 
  19. ^ "Republic of Ireland 1-0 Slovakia", BBC Sport, 2007-03-28. Retrieved on 2007-03-29. 
  20. ^ "Ecuador 1-1 Ireland", ESPNsoccernet, 2007-05-23. Retrieved on 2007-08-27. 
  21. ^ "Slovakia 2-2 Rep of Ireland", BBC Sport, 2007-09-08. Retrieved on 2007-09-09. 
  22. ^ a b "FAI and eircom announce nominations for eircom International Awards", Football Association of Ireland, 2007-12-20. Retrieved on 2007-12-20. 
  23. ^ "Duo up for player of the year", readingfc.co.uk, 2007-12-20. Retrieved on 2007-12-20. 

[edit] External links

Awards
Preceded by
Stephen Elliott		 FAI Young Player of the Year
2006		 Succeeded by
Stephen Ireland
v • d • e
Reading F.C. – current squad

1 Hahnemann • 2 Murty • 3 Shorey • 4 Cissé • 5 Sonko • 6 Gunnarsson • 7 Little • 8 Lita • 9 Doyle • 10 Hunt • 12 Kitson • 15 Harper • 16 Ingimarsson • 17 Convey • 18 Sodje • 19 Rosenior • 20 Faé • 22 Bikey • 24 Long • 25 Bennett • 26 Osano • 28 Matějovský • 29 Duberry • 30 Kébé • 32 Federici • 33 Golbourne • 34 Henry • 35 Pearce • 36 Andersen • 39 Church • 40 Karacan • 41 Hamer • 42 Bozanic • 43 Illugason • 44 Davies • Manager: Coppell
Persondata
NAME Doyle, Kevin Edward
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Footballer
DATE OF BIRTH 18 September 1983
PLACE OF BIRTH Adamstown, County Wexford, Republic of Ireland
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH