Michael Edward Doughty (born 20 November 1992) is a former 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 played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Early life

Doughty was born

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, Greater London, the son of the late

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

owner Nigel Doughty. He was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

, obtaining 14 A grades.

Club career

QPR

Doughty joined the youth set-up at QPR as a schoolboy at the age of 14, after five years in the

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

at Chelsea. He made his debut for QPR in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

defeat against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

, after coming off the bench in the 88th minute. Doughty's

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

debut for QPR came on 10 February 2015 at the age of 22, under caretaker managers Chris Ramsey and Kevin Bond, coming on as an 85th-minute substitute against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

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in what was QPR's first away victory (in fact their first away points) of the season.

Crawley Town (Loan)

In August 2011 he signed a six-month loan deal with

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

Aldershot Town (Loan)

On 5 March 2012, Doughty joined League Two side

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spr ...

on a one-month loan deal.

St Johnstone (Loan)

On 29 January 2013 Doughty joined

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

side

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...

on loan.

Stevenage F.C (Loan)

Two weeks into the 2013–14 season, Doughty joined League One side

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

on loan until January 2014. He made his debut a day after signing, on 17 August, playing the whole game in a 1–0 home defeat to

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

. On 26 October 2013, Doughty scored a 90th-minute goal, his first goal in professional football, a left-footed angled shot from the left flank into the far corner, during Stevenage's home match against

Gillingham (Loan)

On 24 October 2014 Doughty joined League One side Gillingham on an initial one-month loan deal, which was later extended for a further two months. He was recalled by QPR on 9 January 2015.

Swindon Town (Loan)

In January 2016 Doughty joined League One side

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

until the end of the 2015–16 season. Doughty rejoined the club following season on a season long loan.

Peterborough United

On 29 June 2017 Doughty signed for

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

of League One on three-year contract.

Return to Swindon Town

On 23 July 2018, following a spell at

, Doughty returned to

on a two-year deal. On 4 August 2018, Doughty started against Macclesfield Town on the opening day of the League Two season. Swindon won two penalties in the 96th and the 98th minute meaning Swindon won the game 3–2, with Doughty scoring a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

as he scored both the penalties. Doughty finished August with five goals to his name and was nominated for the League Two player of the month award. In July 2019 he signed a new contract with Swindon until 2022. On 12 September 2020 Doughty left Swindon Town for personal reasons.

Retirement

Doughty retired from football at the end of the 2019–20 season.

International career

He has been capped at under-19 level internationally for Wales, playing in a friendly against Liechtenstein. In August 2012 Doughty was selected in the Wales Under-21 squad for the

2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification The 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification was a series of parallel association football competitions held over 2011 and 2012 to decide the qualifiers for 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, to be held in Israel. The draw for ...

match against

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

on 10 September 2012.

Career statistics

Honours

Swindon Town *

EFL League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...

: 2019–20

References

External links

Player profile at qpr.co.uk
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Doughty, Michael 1992 births Living people Footballers from the City of Westminster People from Westminster English men's footballers Welsh men's footballers Wales men's youth international footballers Wales men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Woking F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Premier League players Premier League players English people of Welsh descent People educated at Harrow School 21st-century English sportsmen