Eoin Doyle (born 12 March 1988) is an Irish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a forward for League of Ireland Premier Division club St Patrick's Athletic. Doyle has previously played for

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, Preston North End,

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. ...

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

and Bolton Wanderers in England, as well as Shelbourne, Shamrock Rovers and Sligo Rovers in his native Ireland and Hibernian in the Scottish Premier League.

Playing career

Youth

Doyle was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

and had a very successful underage career which included playing for the U15 Republic of Ireland national football team. He first began his sporting career in Gaelic Football from an early age in Dublin. He the began his underage club career at then Irish champions Shelbourne, however after three years he left for Cherry Orchard in 2001. He was widely tipped to make the move to English football within a few years as his coaches believed him to be of such a standard.

Shelbourne

Following a four-year spell with Dublin club Crumlin United, Doyle returned to Shelbourne who had just been relegated to the

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division ( ga, Céad Roinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division, is the second level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. Th ...

. He was one of new boss Dermot Keely's first signings and was expected to make a large impact at the club. His time there was cut short and he was released midway through the 2007 season without making his league debut following a disappointing spell for him and the club.

Shamrock Rovers

Later on in the 2007 season he signed for Shamrock Rovers. He was promoted from the U21s to the senior squad during the 2007 season, making his début against

Waterford United Waterford Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Phort Láirge) formerly Waterford United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Waterford who play in the League of Ireland First Division. The club was founded and elected to the ...

on 10 August 2007. In his first full season,

2008 League of Ireland The 2008 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 24th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The division was made up of 12 teams. Bohemians were champions while St Patrick's Athletic finished as runners-up. Club information ...

, he netted 5 goals in 30 league appearances. His debut league goal coming in Sligo. It was speculated that he would move to a different club following former manager Pat Scully's departure however he remained at the club for the 2009 season. He was a substitute for Stephen Bradley in the first game at

Tallaght Stadium Tallaght Stadium ( ga, Staid Thamhlachta) is an association football stadium in the Republic of Ireland based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club Shamrock Rovers originally announced details of the stadium in July, 1996. The stadium is now o ...

. Unfortunately for Doyle he did not become a major player under new Rovers manager, Michael O'Neill after the signing of

Gary Twigg Gary Twigg (born 19 March 1984) is a Scottish former association footballer who played as a forward. Career Derby County Twigg began his career in 2000 with English club Derby County, having graduated through the youth system. He made his de ...

Sligo Rovers

Doyle joined Sligo Rovers on 16 July 2009. He scored on his debut in a 2–0 win over St. Patrick's Athletic. He also scored in the 2009 FAI Cup Final at

, however Sligo lost the match 2–1 to

Sporting Fingal Sporting Fingal Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Fine Gall Spórtúil) was an Irish association football club based in Fingal. Between 2008 and 2010, the club played three seasons in the League of Ireland. During their first two seasons they ...

. Doyle contributed 8 goals during the successful 2010 season that saw Sligo win both domestic cups, the FAI Cup and the

EA Sports Cup The League of Ireland Cup ( ga, Corn Sraithe na hÉireann), also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', is an annual knockout competition in men's football in the Republic of Ireland. It is contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited c ...

. Doyle did very well when forced to play as a centre-forward in the FAI Cup final win and scored one of two penalties in the shoot-out. The 2011 season proved to be his best to date. Early on in the season he was moved into the centre-forward position. He relished the role, scoring a hat-trick in a 3–1 win over Bray Wanderers and at one stage was the league's leading scorer. Doyle ended up scoring 25 goals as Sligo finished second in the league and won the 2011 FAI Cup Final. Doyle scored in the Cup Final penalty shootout, where Sligo ran out victorious 4–1 against Shelbourne. His contract with Sligo expired at the end of the season.

Hibernian

In December 2011, Doyle played in a closed-doors friendly match for Hibernian. Doyle signed an 18-month contract with Hibernian later that week. He made his first team debut in a 3–1 defeat against Edinburgh derby rivals Hearts. Doyle scored his first goal for Hibs on 7 January, in a

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 189 ...

. He scored the only goal of the game in the next round of the Scottish Cup, against Kilmarnock on 4 February. Doyle did not start a game for more than two months, until an appearance against St Mirren in late April, where he missed some chances as Hibs lost 1–0. A week later, however, Doyle scored his first league goal for Hibs during a 4–0 victory against Dunfermline, which secured Hibs' place in the SPL. ''

BBC Radio Sheffield BBC Radio Sheffield is the BBC's local radio station serving South Yorkshire and north Derbyshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital television and via BBC Sounds from studios on Shoreham Street in Sheffield. According to RAJAR, the statio ...

'' reported on 3 April 2013 that Doyle had agreed to sign for English

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club

. Shortly after this announcement, Doyle scored the equaliser in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Falkirk 4–3 after extra time after having initially been behind 3–0. Doyle played his last match for Hibs in the

2013 Scottish Cup Final The 2013 Scottish Cup Final was the 128th final of the Scottish Cup, the most prestigious knockout football competition in Scotland. The match took place at Hampden Park on 26 May 2013 and was contested by Hibernian and Celtic. It was the first ...

defeat by Celtic.

Chesterfield

Following his agreement to sign for

in April 2013, Doyle formally signed for the club on 31 May. Doyle said that the presence of manager

Paul Cook Paul Thomas Cook (born 20 July 1956) is an English drummer and member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. He was also called "Cookie" by his friends on the punk music scene. Early life and career Cook was raised in Hammersmith and atte ...

, who had worked with him at Sligo Rovers, was an important factor in his decision to join Chesterfield.

2013–14 season

Doyle scored 13 goals in all competitions in his first season with the club, in a season that saw the club promoted to

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

and reach the Football League Trophy Final.

2014–15 season

Doyle started the season brilliantly scoring seven goals in six games including a hat-trick against

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A ...

. Three days later Doyle scored another hat-trick this time against Preston North End F.C., Preston. Doyle was named Sky Bet League One Player of the Month for September after seven goals in four games. Doyle continued his form in October scoring three goals in two games against Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United and Bristol City F.C., Bristol City.

Cardiff City

On 2 February 2015, Doyle signed for Football League Championship, Championship side Cardiff City F.C., Cardiff City for an undisclosed fee. He made his début in a 1–1 draw at Hillsborough Stadium, Hillsborough against Sheffield Wednesday F.C., Sheffield Wednesday, and later scored his first goal on 21 March against Birmingham City F.C., Birmingham City. Doyle went on to score 5 goals in 16 appearances during the remainder of the season.

Preston North End

Despite being a regular in the Cardiff side the previous season, Doyle was sent on loan to Preston North End for the 2015–16 season on 1 September 2015, and made his debut as a substitute against Derby County F.C., Derby County on 12 September. It took Doyle a month to find the back the net, where he scored the winner against Nottingham Forest F.C., Nottingham Forest. Doyle signed permanently for Preston for an undisclosed fee on 29 June 2016. After a very public fight on the pitch between Doyle and Preston teammate Jermaine Beckford during the 2016/2017 season, Doyle fell out of favour and was subsequently loaned out to League Two side Portsmouth until the end of the season. During the summer of 2017 after returning from an unsuccessful loan spell at Portsmouth, Doyle featured in new Preston North End manager Alex Neil's plans for the 2017/18 season, battling it out with Jordan Hugill and Sean Maguire to lead the line.

Oldham Athletic (loan)

On 31 August 2017, Oldham Athletic A.F.C., Oldham Athletic signed Doyle on loan until 1 January 2018.

Bradford City

He signed for

in August 2018.

Swindon Town (loan)

On 16 August 2019, Doyle joined fellow EFL League Two, League Two side

on a year-long loan deal. In December 2019, he became the first player in any of England's top four leagues to score in eleven consecutive matches since Leicester City's Jamie Vardy in 2015. He was recalled by Bradford on 8 January 2020. He signed permanent deal with Swindon on 30 January 2020.

Swindon Town

Eoin Doyle signed a permanent deal with Swindon on 30 January 2020, following a successful loan with the club during the first half of 2019/20 season.

Bolton Wanderers

On 10 July 2020, Doyle joined newly relegated EFL League Two, League Two club Bolton Wanderers on a three-year deal, turning down offers from EFL League One, League One sides

and Sunderland A.F.C., Sunderland to sign for ''The Trotters''. After scoring three goals in Pre-season, his competitive debut came on 5 September in Bolton's first match of the season, a 1–2 home defeat against Bradford City AFC, Bradford in the first round of the EFL Cup. He scored his first competitive goal on 3 October, scoring Bolton's first goal in a 2–1 win against Harrogate Town F.C., Harrogate Town. Doyle finished the season as Bolton's top scorer in all competitions, having scored 19 goals in League Two as his side achieved direct promotion to League One. Plus, he was named in the league's PFA Team of the Year (2020s), Team of the Year, together with his team-mate Ricardo Santos (footballer, born 1995), Ricardo Almeida Santos. In January 2022, it was confirmed that, despite leaving Bolton Wanderers for St Patrick's Athletic, Doyle would take up a role as Bolton's Scout (association football), scout for the Republic of Ireland region and would combine the role with his on-going playing career. This led to Bolton signing Eoin Toal from Doyle's recommendation.

St Patrick's Athletic

On 7 January 2022, it was announced that Doyle had returned home to

, signing for League of Ireland Premier Division runners up and current FAI Cup holders St Patrick's Athletic on a 3-year deal where he would play under their new manager Tim Clancy, a former teammate of Doyle's at Hibernian. On 11 February 2022, Doyle scored on his debut for the club in the 2022 President of Ireland's Cup against his former club Shamrock Rovers at

. On 11 March 2022, Doyle scored his first league goal for the club by heading home a Chris Forrester free kick to help his side to a 2–0 win away to Finn Harps F.C., Finn Harps. He followed his first league goal up by opening the scoring in a 2–0 win over University College Dublin A.F.C., UCD at Richmond Park (football ground), Richmond Park 3 days later. On 22 April, he scored twice, in another 2–0 win over Finn Harps F.C., Finn Harps, this time at Richmond Park (football ground), Richmond Park. On 15 July 2022, Doyle scored his 200th career goal in his 596th career appearance when he opened the scoring in a 1–1 draw at home to Dundalk F.C., Dundalk for his 10th league goal of the season. Doyle made his first appearance in European football for the club on 21 July 2022, assisting Chris Forrester's equaliser in a 1–1 draw with Slovenian side NŠ Mura in the UEFA Europa Conference League. Doyle scored a brace of penalties on 3 October 2022, to help his side to a 4–4 draw having previously trailed 4–2 away to rivals Shelbourne at Tolka Park. His final goals of the season came in the final game of the year on 6 November 2022 when he scored a brace and also assisted a goal for Anthony Breslin in a 4–0 win over Shelbourne to take him up to 15 goals in all competitions in his first season with the club.

Personal life

Doyle is a fully qualified electrician. His cousin is fellow League of Ireland footballer David Webster (footballer), Dave Webster.

Career statistics

;Notes

Honours

Sligo Rovers * FAI Cup: 2010 FAI Cup Final, 2010, 2011 FAI Cup Final, 2011 *League of Ireland Cup: 2010 League of Ireland Cup, 2010 Chesterfield *

: 2013–14 Football League Two, 2013–14 Portsmouth *Football League Two: 2016–17 Football League Two, 2016–17 Swindon Town *EFL League Two: 2019–20 EFL League Two, 2019–20 Bolton Wanderers * Football League Two promotion: 2020–21 Individual *PFA Team of the Year: PFA Team of the Year (2010s)#League One 6, 2014–15 League One, PFA Team of the Year (2020s)#League Two, 2019–20 League Two, PFA Team of the Year (2020s)#League Two, 2020–21 League Two *EFL League One Player of the Month: September 2014 *EFL League Two Player of the Month: October 2019, November 2019, December 2019 *EFL League Two Player of the Year: 2019–20 *EFL League Two Top Scorer: 2019–20

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Doyle, Eoin 1988 births Association football forwards Chesterfield F.C. players Crumlin United F.C. players Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Scotland Hibernian F.C. players League of Ireland players Living people Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate association footballers Scottish Premier League players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players Sligo Rovers F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Association footballers from Dublin (city) English Football League players Cherry Orchard F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players