Matt Doherty: From carpet cleaning to the glitz and glamour of La Liga 

FOOTBALL JOURNEY: Matt Doherty joins Atletico Madrid.

Matt Doherty has come a long way from carpet cleaning with his Dad’s company to mixing it with Antoine Griezmann, Alvaro Morata and Diego Simeone at Atlético Madrid.

A ticket to the cross-channel career he craved appeared to have passed him by when his peers from Ireland’s Class of ’92 – Robbie Brady, Jeff Hendrick and John Egan – ventured without him.

Similar to Roy Keane’s response, the only respite from mid-teen rejection was the FAI’s FÁS course – renamed the Educational Training Board – but assisting the family business led by his Sligo-born father Tom was necessary to get by as well. He had left school without sitting his leaving certificate.

Doherty would have to wait until he was officially a man in July 2010 – the same time Griezmann’s contract at Real Sociedad included a €30m release clause – for his gateway to the big time to arrive.

Mick McCarthy’s decision to pluck the rookie from the Bohemians reserves for €60,000 looked a steal when he made his Premier League debut six months later but it wasn’t until 2018 that he returned to the English top-flight.

He hasn’t looked back since – establishing himself in the Ireland side, sealing an €18m transfer to Tottenham in 2020 and this latest crusade of being the first Irish player to join either of the Madrid giants.

During his struggles on the snakes and ladders circuit of the UK professional rat-race, Atlético were the team he derived faith from.

Their style under Simeone while reaching two Champions League finals in 2014 and 2016, plus winning the Europa League and La Liga twice apiece has been derided across Europe, yet lauded by a player wedded to the creed of fundamentals of sport and life.

“You don’t have to pass teams off the pitch to win games,” the 31-year-old noted during his unveiling in the Spanish capital, when asked the reasons behind his public praise for the team back in 2016.

“I always remember watching Atlético with admiration, so those tweets were real and I meant what I said. Maybe the signs were there from six years ago.” 

The euro signs will be blinging now that he’s finally reported for duty at the 68,000-capacity Estadio Metropolitano.

Spurs inexplicably allowed their defender to depart for free when they were informed another loan move would violate the eight-player threshold, allowing his Super-Agent Jorge Mendes to reroute the entire pot towards his client. It’s a far cry from the €200 weekly wage he toiled hard to earn from his Dad, yet the money doesn’t enter the equation for motivation.

Wednesday began with an introduction to his new boss, via a translator, and they spoke the same language regarding the terms of engagement. He has the right-back of World Cup winners Argentina, Nahuel Molina, to dislodge but is willing to chip in at any position, be it for one or 90 minutes per game.

For the time being at least, he’s without his partner and daughters in a foreign country, joking during a fans’ Q&A that the evening solitude will enable him to finally watch the club’s Prime Video documentary, entitled ‘Another Way of Living’.

He’s not there for the Hollywood glitz nor the spectacular scenery, rather fully prepared to embrace the training regime not universally enjoyed by Simeone’s recruits.

“He texted me yesterday,” he said about Kieran Trippier, the England full-back who’d previously made the identical move between the clubs, returning to Newcastle United last year with a La Liga medal pocketed.

“He was very reassuring about what to expect – saying I'd enjoy working under the manager. He put me in touch with the right people for places to live, something he didn’t have to do. It goes to show what type of person he is – a good guy.

“But he didn’t need to tell me about training. I know that already. I’ve worked under Antonio Conte and it will be the same with Diego Simeone. That’s fine with me; you want to get into the best shape of your life. It’s the way to go.” 

Together they have a season to salvage and a contract extension to earn, albeit Doherty could outlast the Argentine.

Saturday evening’s fixture against Getafe marks the start of the season’s second half, with an improvement on their fourth placing in the table essential.

“There’s 19 league games left and a lot to play for,” Doherty affirmed at his official welcoming, looking dapper in his new club suit. “We want to finish the season with no regrets.

“I like to be involved at both ends of the pitch, try to score goals but, as a defender, understand that my first job is to keep clean sheets.

“I’m here till the end of the season but that doesn’t have to be the end. That will be up to me. I’ll try to perform well and see where that takes me. Initially it’s for six months but if I do well for the club let’s see what happens.” 

Never afraid of the dirty work, literally in his first job, the club nicknamed Los Colchoneros (The Mattress Makers) have landed a rock-solid acquisition in The Doc.