Ex Files - Matt Doughty
Saturday, 28th Jul 2007 08:20

Ah fantastic, a goal scoring left back. Or so we thought after his debut at Oxford that time.

Player Profile: Matt Doughty

Name	Matt Doughty
Position	Left Back
Date of Birth	2nd November 1981
Born	Warrington
Height	5'8
Weight	11'0
Signed for Dale	Chester City - 20.07.01
Fee	Free Transfer
Debut	Oxford 1 Dale 2 - 11.08.01
Other Clubs	Chester City Accrington Stanley Halifax Town
Left Spotland	10.05.04

Dale Stats

	League			Cup			Total
Season	App	Sub	Goals	App	Sub	Goals	App	Sub	Goals
2003-2004	25	6	0	3	1	0	28	7	0
2002-2003	39	2	0	6	0	0	45	2	0
2001-2002	32	4	1	7	1	1	39	5	2
Total	96	12	1	16	2	1	112	14	2

Doughty joined Dale on a free transfer from Chester City, due to a technical error by the Deva Stadium club. It seems that he wasn't properly registered with Chester, meaning he could walk away on a free transfer when he contract expired, despite being under the Bosman exlusion age of 24. He was very hotly tipped when with Chester and had numerous Premiership sides scouting him during his time with them. Injury prevented him joining Southampton on a weeks trial, and had it not been for that injury, chances are we would not have had the chance to sign him.

He was signed by then manager Steve Parkin, who took advice from Doughty's former manager Graham Barrow before making his mind up. Despite this, he still signed Doughty, with a view to playing him as a left winger. It seemed the perfect signing, especially when thirty minutes into his League debut for Dale, he produced a stunning goal to become the first ever person to score a goal at Oxford's new Kassam Stadium. Alas that was to be his only League goal in Dale colours.

His second season was very much along the same lines as his first season, with Doughty playing in all but five games for the side, usually playing in the left back role - a position that he had reverted to during the latter part of the 2001-2 season. The left back role was very much his own that season, with all of his performances in defence.

Following that season, Doughty was very much left in the lurch during the Summer of 2003, as it was announced that he would have to wait for the new manager to decide on whether to retain Doughty at Spotland. Following a couple of months on a monthly contract, Doughty was rewarded with a deal until the end of the season, but he never found first team opportunities as easy to come by as he had during his first two seasons.

It was a shame that Doughty never added to his goal tally ('cept a header at Tamworth in the FA Cup) as it looked like we would have a real prospect on our hands. One of the problems with Doughty was that whilst there was no doubt he could fulfil the wingback role, he didn't seem to have enough attacking about him to play in the midfield role. He was released by Dale at the end of the 2003-4 season

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