My dad lets me know that he’s won a trophy and I haven’t
Ben aims to copy his father’s successful days with Derry
BEN DOHERTY can still remember being brought onto the pitch by his dad to celebrate Derry City’s 2002 FAI Cup final win over Shamrock Rovers.
So he would love the opportunity to do that in reverse — with the Candystripes gunning for glory on two fronts this season. Doherty’s dad Eamon captained the club to Blue Riband success 22 years ago at Tolka Park, when Liam Coyle’s goal settled a tense decider against tonight’s opponents.
The game itself was memorable not only for Coyle’s brilliant strike, but for a fire that broke out on the padding around one of the floodlight pylons.
And then there were the postmatch celebrations and a night in Dublin, before the long trek back up the road to Derry, where the celebrations continued.
Doherty, in his second spell at the club, is desperate to emulate his dad — and to go one further by winning the Premier Division, something Derry last did in 1997, shortly before Eamon arrived. “My dad was captain of the FAI Cup winning team in 2002, so he lets me know that he’s won a trophy and I haven’t,” said the defender.“I was on the pitch, I was four or five then, so I remember it well. It was a great day. Just like a few years ago, the town emptied, everyone came down. “Look, we have to just try and get ourselves into a position where we can bring success to the city and give the people something to celebrate.”
Asked about his memories of the 2002 final, he said:“The fire, yeah! I remember that. I remember all that.
“I remember lifting the trophy on the pitch. Great memories, great photos to have. There are plenty of photos in the house to look back on.
“We stayed down that night. I couldn’t tell you where, my memory is not that good. But I would say the celebrations were good.
“It’s one of them where you want to be the team that gives the fans something to celebrate. It would be nice to be a part of that.
“The Cup win a few years ago, the city was hopping from days after. I joined then that January and the players were still talking about it. It was massive.”
Points
Derry City face a tricky run-in in the league, starting tonight before games against Drogheda United (away) and Sligo Rovers (home).
Then it’s back to the FAI Cup where their reward for a quarter-final win over Shelbourne, four points ahead of them in the Premier Division table, is a semi-final away to Bohemians.
After that, it’s full steam ahead in the league, with games against Bohs (home), Dundalk and St Patrick’s Athletic (both away), and a potential title decider at home to Shels.
“Dad didn’t win the league. He joined a few years later, after ‘97. That’s the one that got away from him,” said Doherty. “There would definitely be bragging rights if we won the league.”
Ben would love to celebrate that one on the pitch two more generations of Dohertys — his dad and baby daughter. “I do have a wee girl, she’s one next month. I brought her out onto the pitch on the first day of the season against Drogheda and she was only two or three months old,”he said.
“It was a proud moment. Obviously you want to give them memories and have memories yourself to look back on. Football doesn’t last forever, so it’s something to look back on fondly. If we got that opportunity to create those memories, it would be massive for me on a personal level.”
Doherty, who came off against
Shels with a sore calf, trained this week ahead of the visit of Rovers.
“It’s a big game.
That’s why we play, you want to be involved in these games,”he said.“It’s one of them where they are coming up to the Brandywell and we have to put on a performance, hopefully the type of performance we put on last week, to give ourselves the best chance.”
He added: “The league is massive. It’s the one that has eluded the club for a while.
“They’ve won FAI Cups and League Cups in between all that and it’s one of those where you just want to get it, you just want to be the team that goes and finally wins the league. But you can’t look too far ahead yet.
“At the start of the season, I’m sure every club has them, we had a meeting where we talked about ambition and goals, and we always said, give yourself that chance, where if it comes down to it, you have that opportunity to go and win the league.
Season
“We’ve had ups and downs this year but thankfully we are still there or thereabouts, and we’ve got a great opportunity between now and the end of the season to go and do something special.”
That Derry are in contention on both fronts, according to Doherty, is down to the atmosphere Ruaidhrí Higgins has fostered in the dressing room.
“It’s that family feel around the club. It’s something that we have all bought into as players and people, most importantly,” he said. “Between all the players, even the most recent ones that have come in, Sean Robertson, Duncan Idehen and Andre Wisdom, you’d think they were all here for years. “Everyone fits so seamlessly in. It’s a credit to the gaffer and the staff who do their due diligence on the players they are signing, not just as players but as people off the pitch as well where everyone comes together.”