When John Edward Doig was born in 1866, William Gladstone was prime minister, Queen Victoria was on the throne, and Geronimo, the famous Apache chief, had just surrendered to the authorities, as Letham in Angus welcomed its most famous son. Known as ‘Ned’, he began playing football for St Helena, a junior club that played on his local common. Ned was fifteen years old and a fleet-footed right winger at this point, but his interest in football had been well and truly triggered.
He seemed keen to become
a goalkeeper and initiated his own unique training regime around this period. He built his own goal and drilled himself in swift movement along the goal-line and in punching the case-ball that he had tied to the bar, left- and right-handed from any angle. Being ambidextrous, this appears to have facilitated his ability to punch the ball with either hand, and combining weights to develop his strength in these drills, he could soon punch the ball huge distances. He also included drills that improved the accuracy of his punches and became very proficient at this.
Around 1883/84, he attended a game between Arbroath’s first team and the reserve team as a spectator. At late notice, the reserve team goalkeeper was unavailable, and with the crowd gathered and teams assembled, someone shouted, “Let Doig play!” Thus began the goalkeeping career of Ned Doig.
Within two seasons, Doig had played his way into the Arbroath first team, where he quickly established himself as a cool, calm keeper of great ability. His reputation spread, and breaking the norm of Glasgow/Edinburgh-based players, he earned two Scotland caps whilst at Arbroath, making him the Red Lichties’ only Scottish international.
In 1889, he signed for Blackburn, one of several English teams looking to raid Scotland’s best players with offers of good contracts and well-paid jobs. He played only one game before falling out with the club, who had apparently withheld a telegram offering him a job as an insurance agent in Forfar until after he had played. Ned was not having this and returned to Scotland.
In 1890, newly married Ned was approached by Sunderland secretary (manager) Tom Watson and director/club treasurer Samuel Tyzack, who persuaded him to sign as a professional player and cross the border again. There is some uncertainty about the signing fee, ranging from £40 to £80. He was probably paid a £10 signing-on fee and an initial wage of 25 shillings per week, which would rise to £3 per week all year round once the club was satisfied with his performances. His removal expenses were paid, and he moved into 17 Forster Street, a new terraced club house near the ground. As was common practice at the time, he was also given a job as a storekeeper at director Robert Thompson’s North Sands Shipyard.
On 20th September 1890, Ned made his debut at West Bromwich Albion, three days after signing. Sunderland won the game 4-0, their very first win as a Football League team. It was also the first of 147 shut-outs for the Lads by Ned Doig. Doig’s good start was quickly dampened by news that the Football League authorities had fined Sunderland £50 for fielding a player registered with another club, as Doig’s one-match stay at Blackburn came back to haunt them. Sunderland were also docked two points, the first time this punishment had been levied on a club. The docked points saw the club finish the season in seventh place; the two extra points would have placed them fifth, overtaking Bolton and, ironically, Blackburn. Despite the punishment, it was a reasonable start to life in the Football League, with the Lads reaching the semi-final of the FA Cup before losing to Notts County in a replay.
Ned Doig went on to set a tremendous appearance record at Sunderland, playing four hundred and fifty-seven games over fourteen seasons and missing only ten league games in that period. His one hundred and forty-seven shut-outs place him second in the club’s table of keepers with the most clean sheets (behind Jimmy Montgomery with one hundred and eighty-nine).
The good start in their inaugural season was surpassed in remarkable fashion in 1891/92, as Sunderland won the first of their six league titles. It was a great achievement for a club so new to the league, but manager Tom Watson was a determined character and a sharp observer of players and tactics. One of his favourite hunting grounds for players was Scotland, where the game differed from the early game played in England, as the Scots preferred a passing game and developed this style of play. In England, a more basic kick-and-rush game was prevalent. Watson had started this practice of recruiting from Scotland at his previous club, Newcastle West End, recognising the difference in style and preferring to develop the passing game in his teams. Ned Doig was not Tom Watson’s only notable capture from Scotland in the early years; Johnny Campbell and David Hannah arrived from Renton, and John Auld from Third Lanark. Hugh Wilson from Newmills and Jamie Millar from Annbank were also key players in that first league title success. A steady flow of players from Scotland would make the journey to Sunderland during Tom Watson’s tenure as manager.
Sunderland retained the title in 1892/93, losing only four league games and becoming the first team to score one hundred goals as league winners. Ned played every league game that season. Doig’s international career saw him gain only five Scotland caps, likely a victim of the policy whereby selectors preferred home-based players. Despite his burgeoning reputation, he was largely used as back-up during this period.
One game he did play was a traumatic experience for him and many others. On 5th April 1902, he played for Scotland against England at Ibrox in the British Home Championship. Scotland only needed to avoid defeat to win the championship, and a huge crowd, estimated at 68,000, had crammed into the three-year-old ground, almost twice its normal capacity. During the first half, the recently developed West Tribune Stand collapsed, dropping two to three hundred people to the concrete floor below. Despite the collapse (two people were declared dead at the scene), the authorities decided to resume the game to keep fans in the rest of the ground in place and not hamper the rescue operation. Many of the injured were carried out by Ned’s goal, and he is said to have spent much of the game distraught and in tears at the unfolding tragedy. Twenty-five people died, and over three hundred were injured. The Ibrox disaster changed how football stadiums were designed and built, with wooden stands being phased out.
Ned had a better international experience in 1895/96, when Scotland beat England to end their twenty-match unbeaten record and win the British Home Championship again. In most photographs of this era, Ned is pictured with a cap tied around his chin, reportedly sensitive about his receding hairline. It was not uncommon for opposition players to try to remove this cap as part of the general ‘roughing up’ of keepers allowed at the time. Doig apparently took a dim view of this and dished out his own retribution when provoked. A teammate remarked that his reputation for being calm and cool was well deserved, but if he lost his cap in the melee of a game, his calm persona would slip, and his prime concern became retrieving his cap rather than keeping the ball out of the goal!
Doig’s performances earned him acclaim in the press and among fans. His ability to punch the ball not only a huge distance but directed towards one of his own players was lauded. His speed and slipperiness in avoiding opposition players trying to charge into him were also noted. The cry of “Good old Teddy” was often heard from fans as they came to appreciate the Scot’s unique skills and efforts. Sponsorship and advertising in the early 1890s saw Ned’s face on the popular “Wills Wild Woodbine” football cards. One of these cards sold for £1,660 in 2001, portraying Ned in his Sunderland shirt and cap.
Sunderland finished second to Aston Villa in 1893/94. It was a measure of how far Tom Watson’s ‘team of all talents’ (as they were now christened) had come in such a short time that this was regarded as a shock. In 1894/95, the ‘talents’ were league champions again, with Ned Doig playing every league and cup game that season.
He was also in goal when Sunderland became World Champions. With football generally only played in Scotland and England at the time, it was agreed between the two leagues to commence an annual World Championship Challenge Match between the title winners. Hearts were the title winners in Scotland, and the game was played at their Tynecastle ground. In front of 12,000 fans, Hearts were 2-0 down and then 3-2 up in a thrilling game. With Ned Doig displaying his calm authority under robust Hearts pressure, Jamie Millar levelled the score in the second half, and in the last ten minutes, Johnny Campbell scored his second goal, and John Harvie scored to win the game 5-3 for Sunderland, crowning them World Champions. This game, like most of the season, saw Sunderland’s team composed entirely of Scots players.
Season 1895/96 was Tom Watson’s last as Sunderland manager, as he left to join Liverpool. Three league titles and a second-placed finish in four seasons was a great legacy, but as Watson headed to Liverpool, he never forgot the keeper who had anchored his team to success.
The “new manager bounce” did not work for Doig and his teammates in 1896/97, as Sunderland struggled, finishing second bottom of the league, with Ned registering only two shut-outs all season. One third- and two second-place finishes over the next four seasons saw Sunderland move from Newcastle Road to Roker Park in 1898, and Ned Doig continued his remarkable appearance count. In 1901/02, Sunderland were league champions again, with Doig missing only two games all season as they earned their fourth league title in ten years.
Sunderland would have retained their title in 1902/03 had they beaten Newcastle in the last game at St James’ Park. Despite dominating the game with little for Doig to do, they lost 1-0 and finished third on goal average. The following season saw Sunderland finish sixth, bringing Ned Doig’s career at Sunderland to a close. He played his last game in a 2-1 defeat at Manchester City, culminating a career at Sunderland with 457 appearances, four league titles, a World Championship trophy, and the Charity Shield.
Doig’s former manager Tom Watson returned to sign the keeper he had never forgotten, to anchor his relegated Liverpool team in the promotion battle in 1904/05. Doig cost Liverpool £150 but repaid that fee by anchoring the team to promotion in his first season. At the age of 41 years 165 days (still a Liverpool record), he played his last game in April 1908 before signing for the delightfully named St Helen’s Recreationals, an amateur club in the Lancashire League, where he retired in 1910.
Ned Doig settled in the Liverpool area with his wife and children but was tragically a victim of the Spanish Flu Epidemic, passing away on 7th November 1919 at the age of fifty-three. Both he and Tom Watson were buried in unmarked graves in Anfield cemetery, a stone’s throw from Liverpool’s ground. Thankfully, with the efforts of both families and supporters, these legendary figures now have fitting headstones to mark their passing.
Ned ‘Teddy’ Doig was a remarkable servant to Sunderland Football Club. His 457 appearances over fourteen years, during which four league titles were won, tell only half the story of this intriguing Scot, who comfortably fits the accolade of legend.
