In 1890, he returned to England to play for Sunderland; however, because he had not been registered with the club for seven days, and therefore still effectively a Blackburn player, the Football League deemed him ineligible for his debut game.

[8] Doig went on to be an ever-present in goal for the Wearsiders in the 14 seasons he spent at the club, winning four league championships in the process and making 457 appearances in major competitions.

[9] When the Sunderland fanzine/website A Love Supreme made a list of the club's greatest ever players, chosen from seasonal statistics, Doig came out as number one.

[3][4] After this rule was relaxed, Doig played in the first Home Scots v Anglo-Scots trial match of 1896[13] and subsequently was one of a group of five 'Anglos' selected for that year's 'Auld Enemy' fixture against England which his side won 2–1 at Celtic Park to win the British Home Championship;[14] this was the first ever international game with a crowd of over 50,000, and also broke England's (still) record of twenty matches unbeaten.

He gained two further official caps against the same opposition in 1899 (a defeat) and 1903 (a victory) for a total of five,[17][18] and also played in the 1902 match declared unofficial due to the disaster which occurred when a wooden stand collapsed at Ibrox Park.

[1][19] The 16-year span of his international career set a Scottish record that lasted for 118 years, until overtaken twice in the same week by fellow goalkeepers David Marshall and Craig Gordon in November 2020;[20][21] until then, another custodian Jim Leighton had come closest to beating Doig with his 91 caps in the late 20th century spread over 15 years, 11 months.