The meteoric rise of Doyle

Kevin Affleck

• Last Updated: November 12. 2009 10:30PM UAE / November 12. 2009 6:30PM GMT

Kevin Doyle and Ireland are just two games away from reaching the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Sakis Savvides / AFP

The spectacular leap in transfer fees means it is increasingly difficult for managers to scour the world market for bargains in these apparent recessionary times. The inflated nature of the market also serves to highlight just how judicious some of the previous cut-price deals have been.

The combined £1.75million (Dhs10.7m) Manchester United paid for Peter Schmeichel and Eric Cantona must rank as one of the shrewdest pieces of business of this, or indeed any other, era. And what about the £500,000 Arsenal paid for Nicolas Anelka or the £150,000 the Gunners invested in Kolo Toure.

Kevin Doyle, as mild-mannered and humble a footballer as you are likely to encounter, might find it uncomfortable to hear himself mentioned in the same breath as such alumni, but the £79,000 Reading sent across the Irish sea to Cork City to bring Doyle to the club in 2005 makes it impossible not to include the Wolves and Republic of Ireland quicksilver striker when compiling a list of transfer bargains. £79,000? You would struggle to get a football agent to get out of bed to arrange a deal for that these days.

In the space of four years Doyle has seen his value soar on the back of four fairy tale seasons for Reading. He now finds himself at Wolves with a club record price tag of £6.5m on his head and the hopes of a nation resting on his shoulders as Ireland face France in a two-legged play-off. A sought-after place in the World Cup finals is on the horizon. Talk about a meteoric rise.

Doyle will spearhead the Ireland attack tomorrow night in Dublin and on Wednesday in Paris with Robbie Keane, who knows a thing or two about hefty price tags having commanded a total of £70.3m in transfer fees.

Keane is only 29 but is one of those players who appears to have been around forever. His rise to stardom is in stark comparison to that experienced by Doyle. Identified as a schoolboy prodigy at Wolves, Keane was groomed through the pampered academy system, broke into the first team as a teenager and has gone on to earn fame and fortune. Doyle, on the other hand, came via the unconventional route.

He looked destined for a career in Gaelic football after winning titles for school, club and county in County Wexford, but at the age of 17 – a year older than Keane was when he made his debut for Wolves – Doyle decided it was one or the other and dedicated himself to football.

The then winger signed for St Patrick’s Athletic and then moved to Cork. The rest, as they say is history, but an emblematic example, if any were needed, as to the stratospheric rise of Doyle comes with the fact that, in 2002, while Keane was inspiring Ireland to the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Japan & South Korea, Doyle was pulling pints at his parents’ pub, The Coopers Inn, in Wexford.

“The time difference meant the games were on in the morning and I was working at the pub,”recalled Doyle. “It was a great atmosphere, particularly the quarter-final against Spain and it showed me exactly what it means to people when Ireland are playing. It is still strange to think that I used to watch the World Cup on the sofa or in the pub and now I’m only two games away from potentially playing in the tournament.”

Does Doyle, 26, still feel the need to pinch himself sometimes?

“I’ve gone past that stage now,” he said. “I’ve been playing for Ireland for a few years now and I’m not as wide-eyed as I was.”

Handed his Ireland debut in March 2006 by Steve Staunton, Doyle has no regrets about his path to the top. He spent two months training with Torino, of all teams, at the age of 16, but that experience, if anything, taught him he was not ready to leave the emerald isle at that age. He believes his upbringing provided him with a good grounding and an appreciation of the privileged lifestyle he now leads.

“I hope I’ll never change,” he said. “I’ve got the same girlfriend I had when I was at school, the same friends and the same family so it’s easy to keep grounded.”

The bond between the Doyle family was intensified when trag-edy struck in 1993. Bernard, Doyle’s elder brother, died from testicular cancer at the age of 21. Doyle was only 10 at the time.

“It was massive, but as a family we don’t mind talking about it,” said Doyle, who has an older brother and two older sisters. “I was kept from it and it was something my brothers and sisters had to deal with more but we remember him fondly. He was my oldest brother and I always looked up to him.”

Doyle pays tribute to Bernard with a salute to the heavens every time he scores while his mother looks to the skies and says a little prayer to her son whenever something good happens to Doyle. It promises to be an emotionally-charged affair at a jumping Croke Park tomorrow night as Ireland seek to make the most of home advantage ahead of the second leg next week.

“It’s my biggest game for Ireland,” said the forward, who has 29 caps. “We have two games to reach a World Cup and I’m really looking forward to it. It is a tough draw but anyone we would have got would have been tough.

“However, I think we play better against the bigger teams. Everyone will be expecting France to win and all the pressure will be on them so it is a no-lose situation for us. The pressure will be off us and we always do well as the underdog.

“They are obviously not playing as well as they have done in the past, otherwise they wouldn’t be in the play-offs. But they are still a good team and have some very good players. But I think it’s fair to say they are not at the peak of their abilities at the moment.”

Inconsistent they maybe, but France will arrive in Dublin with a squad brimming with talent. Will Doyle be tempted to ask one of William Gallas Thierry Henry or Anelka a for their shirt after the game?

“I have never asked anyone for a shirt swap,” said Doyle. “I don’t like annoying other players after the game for their jerseys.”

There could be a clamour for Doyle’s No 9 jersey if he inspires Ireland to a momentous victory against the 1998 world champions.

kaffleck@thenational.ae