Ben Doherty (born 24 March 1997) 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 lea ...

who plays as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Men's Premier Division (), also known as the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Republic of Ireland and the highest level of the Republic of I ...

club Derry City. He previously played for

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...

clubs

Institute An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

, Glenavon,

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...

and

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

Career

Institute

A native of

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

, Doherty played in the academy of

, before making his debut in a 3–2 loss at home to

Cliftonville Cliftonville is a coastal area of Margate in the Thanet District, Thanet district of Kent, England. It includes the Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay estate, built in the 1930s with wide avenues and detached and semi-detached houses with driveways, gar ...

on 16 August 2014. He went on to make a total of 13 appearances for the side in all competitions before departing the club in January 2015.https://ie.soccerway.com/players/ben-doherty/359291/

Derry City

Doherty joined

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

club Derry City's under 19 side in 2015, remaining there for 2 seasons before being called up to the first team by manager

Kenny Shiels Kenneth Shiels (born 27 April 1956)Marshall Gillespie, ''The Northern Ireland Football Yearbook 1996/97'', UTV Books, 1996, p. 59 is a Northern Irish football manager and former player who last managed NIFL Premier Intermediate side Moyola Park ...

. He made his debut on 27 August 2016 in a 2–2 draw away to

Bray Wanderers Bray Wanderers Football Club are an Irish association football club playing in the League of Ireland First Division. The club in its present form was founded in 1942 in Bray, and was known until 2010 as ''Bray Wanderers A.F.C.'' It was elect ...

at the

Carlisle Grounds The Carlisle Grounds is a football stadium in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided ...

. Doherty scored the first goal of his senior career on 30 August 2017 in a 3–0 win over

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

Maginn Park Maginn Park is a football stadium in Buncrana, County Donegal, Ireland. It is used by the amateur Inishowen Football League for staging cup finals and other important matches. During the 2017 League of Ireland season, the ground served as the ...

. He made the first European appearances of his career in July 2017 when Derry faced Danish side

Midtjylland The Central Denmark Region (), or more directly translated as the Central Jutland Region and sometimes simply Mid-Jutland, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish municipal reform. The refo ...

Glenavon loan

On 17 August 2018, Doherty was loaned out to

club Glenavon until January 2019. He scored 1 goal in 20 appearances in all competitions during his loan spell.

Coleraine

On 28 December 2018, Doherty joined

club

on a permanent basis, with midfielder

Ciaron Harkin Ciaron "Jackie" Harkin (born 15 January 1996) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for League of Ireland Premier Division club Derry City. He previously played for NIFL Premiership clubs Institute and Coleraine. Career Y ...

going in the opposite direction and joining Derry City as part of the deal. In later years, he described leaving Derry for Coleraine as the hardest decision of his career. He scored his first goal for the club on 18 January 2019, opening the scoring in a 2–1 win away to

Ards Ards (or ARDS, ARDs) may refer to: Medical * ARDS, Acute respiratory distress syndrome * ARDs, age-related diseases Places * Ards Peninsula, Northern Ireland ** Ards (territory), several historical territorial divisions on the Ards Peninsula ...

. Doherty scored 5 goals in 3 appearances in the club's run to winning the

2019–20 Northern Ireland Football League Cup The 2019–20 Northern Ireland Football League Cup (known as the BetMcLean League Cup for sponsorship purposes) was the 34th edition of Northern Ireland's football knockout cup competition for national league clubs, and the sixth edition of the co ...

, but missed out on the final as his side defeated

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

2–1 at

Windsor Park The National Football Stadium at Windsor Park (officially the Clearer Twist National Stadium at Windsor Park for sponsorship reasons), or the National Football Stadium, also known as Windsor Park is a association football, football stadium in B ...

. He finished the 2019–20 season with 14 goals in 31 appearances in all competitions, his best goalscoring return to date. On 17 September 2020, Doherty scored the first European goals of his career, scoring twice in a 2–2 draw with

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

in a 2–2 draw before his side were knocked out of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

on penalties by the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

club. On 8 July 2021, Doherty made his final appearance for the club, scoring his side's goal in a 2–1 loss away to Velež Mostar in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

in the

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

Larne

Doherty signed for

club

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

on 27 July 2021, on a 3 year contract, with Conor McKendy signing for

as part of the deal. On 11 January 2022, Doherty started the final of the 2021–22 County Antrim Shield as his side defeated Linfield 1–0 at Seaview.

Return to Derry City

On 6 January 2023, Doherty returned to

club Derry City on a 3 year contract. He made his returning debut on 10 February 2023, in the 2023 President of Ireland's Cup as his side defeated

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

at the

Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium The Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium () is a municipal football stadium in Derry, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of League of Ireland team Derry City F.C., (temporarily) NIFL Championship team Institute, and also to NIWFA Championshi ...

. He made 43 appearances in all competitions during his first season with the club, scoring 5 goals as he helped them to secure

UEFA Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual football competition organised since 2021 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the thir ...

football again for the following season. At the end of the 2023 season, he was named in the PFAI Premier Division Team of the Year by his fellow professionals. On 11 October 2024, Doherty suffered a hamstring injury in a 1–1 draw with Bohemians which required surgery that ended his season and resulted in missing the 2024 FAI Cup final which his side lost 2–0 to

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club is a professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches at Sullivan & Lambe Park. The current club is the ...

at the

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium, also known as Lansdowne Road (, ) or Dublin Arena (during UEFA competitions), is a List of stadiums in Ireland by capacity, sports stadium located in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,711 spectators ...

International Career

Doherty received his first call up to the Northern Ireland U21 squad in August 2017 ahead of their game with Albania U21 in which he made his debut in a 1–0 win. He made a total of 4 appearances for the side.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;Coleraine *

Northern Ireland Football League Cup The Northern Ireland Football League Cup (known as the BetMcLean Cup for sponsorship purposes, and commonly known as the Irish League Cup) is a national football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland open to all member clubs of the N ...

(1): 2019–20 ;Larne *

County Antrim Shield The County Antrim & District Football Association Senior Shield (more commonly known as the County Antrim Shield) is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster F ...

(1): 2021–22 ;Derry City *

President of Ireland's Cup The President of Ireland's Cup, also known simply as the President's Cup, is an association football super cup featuring clubs from the Republic of Ireland football league system. It is a one-off match between the winners of the previous season's ...

(1):

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Individual

* PFAI Premier Division Team of the Year (1):

References

External links

Ben Doherty Extratime.com Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doherty, Ben 1997 births Living people Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Institute F.C. players Derry City F.C. players Glenavon F.C. players Coleraine F.C. players Larne F.C. players NIFL Premiership players League of Ireland players Men's association football defenders Association footballers from Derry (city) 21st-century Irish sportsmen People from Derry (city) Northern Ireland men's youth international footballers Northern Ireland men's under-21 international footballers