 Doig in 1903 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Edward Doig | ||
| Date of birth | (1866-10-29)29 October 1866 | ||
| Place of birth | Letham, Angus, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 7 November 1919(1919-11-07) (aged 53) | ||
| Place of death | Liverpool, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1] | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1883–1885 | Dunnichen FC | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1885–1889 | Arbroath | ||
| 1889–1890 | Blackburn Rovers | 0 | (0) |
| 1890–1904 | Sunderland | 417 | (0) |
| 1904–1908 | Liverpool | 51 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 1887–1903 | Scotland | 5 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
John Edward Doig[2] (29 October 1866 – 7 November 1919) was a Scottishfootballer, who played as agoalkeeper. He played the peak of his career forSunderland, in a period of time in the club's history where they were dubbed the "team of all talents".[3][4] He also played forArbroath andLiverpool at club level, and was selected forScotland five times. Noted for his exceptional performances in goal, he was also famously shy of his baldness, and always wore a cap with elastic.[1] He set a 19th-century world record by not conceding any goals in 87 of his 290 top division appearances (30%).[5]
Born inLetham, Doig began his career as an outside right with local junior club St. Helena. He moved toArbroath F.C. in 1884 after a member of the crowd shouted "let Doig play!" prior to a reserve team kick off; Arbroath were without a goalkeeper and the young Ned Doig was in the audience.[6] He spent two seasons in the reserves before breaking through to the first team in 1886 at the age of 19.[7]
In November 1889 Doig was signed byBlackburn Rovers. After one game he had a disagreement with the Lancashire club and decided to return home. In 1890, he returned to England to play for Sunderland; however, because he had not been registered with the club for seven days, and therefore still effectively a Blackburn player, theFootball League deemed him ineligible for his debut game. As Sunderland did play him, they were fined and deducted two points.[8] Doig went on to be an ever-present in goal for theWearsiders in the 14 seasons he spent at the club, winning four league championships in the process and making 457 appearances in major competitions.[9]
When the Sunderland fanzine/websiteA Love Supreme made a list of the club's greatest ever players, chosen from seasonal statistics, Doig came out as number one. In 2017 a small left-leaning supporters group, 'Ned Doig Ultras' was founded to commemorate his life.[1] Doig was the first ever goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet at the current Celtic Park site. On 6 October 1892 (around two months after the ground had opened), Sunderland beat Celtic 3–0, the first time a clean sheet was kept.[10]
Doig signed for recently relegatedLiverpool for a fee of £150 in 1904. In his first season with the Merseysiders, he helped the club achieve immediate promotion back to the top division. However, the next season saw his place lost to future England starSam Hardy. He played his last game in April 1908, at the age of 41 years and 165 days, which is still a Liverpool record.[7] He finished his career with the amateur club St. Helens Recreationals in the Lancashire league, finally retiring in 1910. He died inLiverpool on 7 November 1919 at the age of 53, a victim of theSpanish Flu epidemic.
Doig achieved two fullScottish internationalcaps in the 1880s whilst with Arbroath, and remains the club's only Scottish international.[11][12] It is likely he would have been selected frequently while with Sunderland had theScottish Football Association not operated a policy of selecting only home-based players until 1896,[1] a situation which also affected his teammates – the club often had an all-Scottish team in that era.[3][4]
After this rule was relaxed, Doig played in the firstHome Scots v Anglo-Scots trial match of 1896,[13] and subsequently was one of a group of five Anglos selected for that year'sAuld Enemy fixture againstEngland which his side won 2–1 atCeltic Park to win theBritish Home Championship;[14] this was the first ever international game with a crowd of over 50,000, and also broke England's still record of twenty matches unbeaten.[15][16] In the process, he also became Sunderland's first Scottish international. He gained two further official caps against the same opposition in 1899 (a defeat) and 1903 (a victory) for a total of five,[17][18] and also played in the 1902 match declared unofficial due to thedisaster which occurred when a wooden stand collapsed atIbrox Park.[1][19] The 16-year span of his international career set a Scottish record that lasted for 118 years, until overtaken twice in the same week by fellow goalkeepersDavid Marshall andCraig Gordon in November 2020;[20][21] until then, another custodianJim Leighton had come closest to beating Doig with his 91 caps in the late 20th century spread over 15 years, 11 months.[21]
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