Michael Doyle: 'My international cap against Holland was special and it felt like one of the greatest achievements of my career'

Michael Doyle has over 700 senior professional appearances in England to his name - but  his one international bow is the one he cherishes most.

And when taking into consideration the percentages involved of a youngster getting a trial, impressing enough to be offered terms, getting a full-time contract and then enjoying a decent career like Michael Doyle had – a single appearance for your country should be looked back on with pride.

Starting his senior career with Glasgow Celtic, Doyle and the late Liam Miller were sent on loan to Danish side AGF Aarhus to gain some valuable minutes in first-team football.

“I went out there initially on my own for around three months and then Liam came,” he explained when speaking to extratime.com.

“We lived together in a flat in Glasgow, so I was constantly trying to get him over to Denmark. Liam was a very special player and highly thought of at Celtic, but he suffered a lot with injuries.

“Martin O’Neill really liked Liam but let him go just to get a run of games.

“We both got a place in the team over there, experienced senior football for the first time and enjoyed ourselves socially as well.”

Doyle left the Hoops in 2003 for Coventry City, where he played under the likes of Gary McAllister, Eric Black, Peter Reid, Micky Adams, Iain Dowie, Chris Coleman and Aidy Boothroyd during an eight-year spell with the Midlands club.

“It doesn’t really speak well of us as players, when you’re going through that many managers,” he admits. “There was probably one a season.

“I was just a young lad in selfish mode and worrying about playing every week. As much as you want to win, you know as a young player, it’s about performance to stay in the team.

“Working under some of those managers was brilliant and they all have different attributes.

“But at that stage Coventry was quite stale because they came down from the Premier League.

“They tried to get back up in the first year but didn’t and that was it because they didn’t have the finances to have a go at promotion.

“They were trying to bring young players through the club and that’s where I fitted in.

“Players who were getting released from big clubs were brought in and Coventry tried to rebuild them and possibly sell them on.”

Whilst on the Sky Blues’ books, Michael earned his one and only senior Republic of Ireland cap in a 2004 friendly win away to the Netherlands.

“The national side and I were always a bit of a funny one,” he admitted. “Even when I was at home and playing for Cherry Orchard, I never seemed to get a break internationally.

“Brian Kerr was the underage manager, and I was flying – doing everything to get a game. I played in a cup final against Belvedere, scored the winner and Brian gave one of their players Man of the Match (laughs) ... That about sums it up.

“Don Givens capped me with the under-21s, and I loved it. I scored twice against Cyprus on my debut.

“To be fair, Brian then brought me into a lot of senior squads, and I got that cap against Holland. It was special and felt like one of the greatest achievements of my career.

“But maybe the timing was wrong for me. If I was playing for Coventry now, I’d be playing a lot more regularly but it was some side I was trying to get into.

“Roy Keane, Graham Kavanagh, Steven Reid, Colin Healy, Stephen McPhail, Andy Reid, Mark Kinsella and Matt Holland were all there.

“They’re all quality players. Back then there were a lot of very good Championship players who didn’t get many caps but it’s a lot different now.”

The midfielder went on loan to Leeds United, helping them to automatic promotion during the 2009/10 League One campaign.

On record for wanting to turn his move into a permanent one, Michael did not receive an offer from then Elland Road boss Simon Grayson.

“I loved playing at Elland Road and we had a great season,” he said. “I wanted to stay but I don’t think it was because of football reasons.

“I was on a good contract at Coventry and Leeds had a lot of players who weren’t on really good money. If I signed, that goes out the window because the club would have to take over my contract with Coventry.

“People like (Robert) Snodgrass, (Jonny) Howson and (Jermaine) Beckford all left to get better wages. I was gutted but it wasn’t to be and at least we achieved something there.”

The Dubliner saw out his playing career with Sheffield United, Portsmouth, a second spell at Coventry and finally, Notts County.

With the latter, Doyle was Assistant Head Coach to Ian Burchnall and then also at Forest Green Rovers.

And these days he is now the Professional Development Phase Coach with former club Portsmouth.

“When I stopped playing, I was very fortunate to go into coaching at first team level,” the former Ireland international said.

“Unfortunately, I lost that job with Forest Green Rovers but I always kept up good relationships with the people at Portsmouth over the last few years and talked about the possibility of going back.

“When I was out of work, they rang me up when there was an opening with their academy.

“It’s good working with young players and different because you’re trying to develop them and it’s not so much about winning. You just try to make things as real and competitive as possible.”

Michael Doyle has been appointed as a professional development phase coach@PompeyAcademy | #Pompey

— Portsmouth FC (@Pompey) July 3, 2023