Phil Doughty

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Personal information
Phil Doughty
Full name	Philip Michael Doughty
Date of birth	6 September 1986 (1986-09-06) (age 21)
Place of birth	Kirkham, England
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Playing position	Defence
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2002–2008 2005 2007 2007–2008 2008	Blackpool → Leigh RMI (loan) → Barrow (loan) → Macclesfield Town (loan) → Accrington Stanley (loan)	0 (0) 0 (0) 5 (0) 6 (0) 3 (0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:49, 16 February, 2008 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Philip Michael Doughty (born 6 September 1986 in Kirkham, Lancashire) is an English professional footballer who is currently without a club after being released by Blackpool.

[edit] Career

After signing as a trainee on 1 December 2002, only six days later^[1] Doughty became the youngest player to represent Blackpool in the FA Cup, when aged 16 years and 93 days he came on as a last-minute substitute against Torquay United in a second-round match^[2] whilst he was still at school locally in Kirkham and still too young to train with the Blackpool team,^[3]^[4] and he had to receive special permission to play from his headmaster at Carr Hill School.^[5]

On 3 May 2003, Doughty again needed his headmaster's permission to feature for Blackpool, this time as an unused substitute for Blackpool's final league game of the 2002-03 season against Chesterfield, when then Blackpool manager Steve McMahon named five youth team players in the matchday squad.^[6] In the summer of 2003 Doughty joined the club's youth team.

Doughty signed a two-year professional contract on 17 November 2004, with an option for a further two years at Blackpool after impressing as captain of the club's reserve team and also as an unused substitute as part of the first-team squad.^[7] Since then Doughty has played for the club in competitions such as the LDV Trophy,^[8] but not in the league.^[9]

On 14 January 2005, Doughty signed on loan with Leigh RMI, who were then in the Conference National where he was due to stay until 25 April.^[1]^[10] However, on 11 February, then Blackpool manager, Colin Hendry cancelled the loan deal after Doughty had played in just one game out of a possible four.^[11] In October, Doughty broke two bones in his leg in a youth-team match and was told he would be out of action for between nine and twelve months.^[12]

After finally recovering from a fractured tibular and fibia, Doughty became a regular in the Blackpool reserve team, and on 29 March 2007, he was loaned out to Conference North club Barrow until the end of the 2006-07 season.^[13] In July 2007, Blackpool extended his contract by one year with an option for further twelve months.^[14]

Although a regular in the Blackpool reserve team, and despite being seen earlier in his career as one the club's brightest prospects,^[15] Doughty had not played a first-team game for Blackpool for three years when, on 7 November 2007, he joined Football League Two club Macclesfield Town on a one-month loan deal in order to get some first-team football,^[9] and to try and earn a new contract with Blackpool, where his contract is due to finish at the end of the 2007-08 season. Doughty was offered a permanent deal to sign for Macclesfield when his loan spell with the club ended on 17 January 2008, with manager Ian Brightwell keen to sign Doughty.^[16] However, he turned down the move and instead the following day went out on a one-month loan again, this time to fellow League Two club Accrington Stanley after talks with manager John Coleman,^[17] with a view to a possible permanent move.^[15] However, after his loan spell, he returned to Blackpool on 21 February as defensive cover for the club due to injuries.^[18] On 7 May 2008, he was released by Blackpool.^[19]