Kevin Doyle

Kevin Edward Doyle (born 18 September 1983) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a forward.

He played for Wexford F.C. (formerly Wexford Youths), St Patrick's Athletic, and Cork City in his homeland before he moved to English side Reading.

Doyle signed for his first professional club St Patrick's Athletic in September 2001 as a free agent.

Doyle initially played for the club's under 18 side but within weeks had made his League of Ireland Premier Division debut on 25 November 2001 in a 1–1 draw with Monaghan United at Richmond Park.

He made 13 appearances in all competitions for the club.

He then had a successful spell with Cork City, who he joined in February 2003, linking up with his former St. Patrick's Athletic manager Pat Dolan, who had recently taken over at Turners Cross.

Doyle scored 25 goals for Cork City where he began playing on the right-wing but soon reverted to his natural position of striker.

He also scored two goals from six appearances in the 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup, including the winner against Dutch side NEC Nijmegen.

Thousands of fans gave him a standing ovation in his final game for Cork City, against Finn Harps, before his transfer to Reading.

On 7 June 2005, Doyle signed for Reading on a two-year deal from Cork City, Ireland for €117,000 (about £78,000).

Despite having left Cork City, Doyle received a championship medal when they won the League of Ireland Premier Division in November 2005.

Originally, he was signed as a back-up, but injuries to Dave Kitson and then Leroy Lita gave him an opportunity in the first team which he retained thanks to a number of important goals along the way.

He became an intrinsic part of Reading's Championship-winning 2005–06 squad, and according to the Actim Index was the top player in the Championship.

He was named the official Reading F.C. player of the season for 2005–06.

He was part of Reading's record-breaking promotion to the Premier League in 2006.

Doyle made his debut for the Republic of Ireland national team in 2006.

He scored 19 in total including the equalising goal at Leicester City on the day the Royals were promoted to the Premier League for the first time in their history, 25 March 2006.

In April 2006, he was also named as Championship Fans' Player of the Year and one of the Championship Team of the Year by the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA).

Doyle played an important role for Reading in the 2006–07 Premier League season.

His first Premiership goal came in the Royals 2–1 defeat at Aston Villa, when he headed Reading into a third-minute lead.

Doyle began to show a great threat in the air, during the year 2007 he scored more headers than any other player in England's leagues.

He was nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year but lost out to Cesc Fàbregas.

He finished the season with 13 Premier League goals after being curtailed with a torn hamstring for two months.

Reading were relegated in the 2007–08 season, but they decided to hold onto Doyle and many of their top players.

On 1 September 2008, he was linked with a move to Aston Villa but in the end the striker remained at Reading.

Doyle remained at Reading to try to help them return to the top flight in the 2008–09 season.

He scored 18 league goals but the club failed to achieve promotion after finishing fourth and losing in the play-offs to Burnley.

In June 2009, he moved to Wolverhampton Wanderers for a then-club record £6.5 million and finished his career in the United States with Colorado Rapids.

Doyle joined newly promoted Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers on 30 June 2009 when he signed a four-year contract for a club record fee, reportedly £6.5 million.

However, he immediately had to undergo an operation to remove a hernia, which hindered his first pre-season at his new club.

He picked up another minor injury while on international duty with Ireland that caused him to miss the start of the league season.

He finally made his debut for Wolves on 22 August 2009, as a half time substitute at Manchester City.

He scored his first Wolves goal on 20 September 2009 to earn a 2–1 win over Fulham.

Throughout much of the season he operated as a lone striker in a 4–5–1 formation.

Doyle continued to play the lone striker role throughout most of the 2010–11 season, despite the arrival of Steven Fletcher who equalled Doyle's club record fee.

After Mick McCarthy rotated systems using various strikers, he eventually reverted to his previously successful 4–5–1 formation, with Doyle playing the lone front man role.

He scored fourteen goals in 62 appearances for Ireland, and played at UEFA Euro 2012.

His contribution helped the club finish 15th in their first season in the Premier League.

He also won the club's Player's Player of the Season Award and their Top Goalscorer Award after reaching nine goals.

In February 2018, Doyle took a job with the Wexford GAA Under-20s football team as an advisor to the team.