[2] After helping Glentoran to the 1933 Irish Cup,[3] early in the 1933–34 season Doherty joined English club Blackpool for a £2,000 fee, at the age of 19.

The Irishman tried hard to persuade Blackpool directors that he did not wish to leave the club, for he was due to marry a local girl and had just bought a new house in the town.

Tightly man-marked by Bill Shankly throughout, he failed to make an impact, leading to one catcall from the crowd of "Ten thousand pounds?

He also guested for numerous clubs across the country: Port Vale, Blackburn Rovers, Derby County, Birmingham, Brentford, Grimsby Town, Lincoln City, Liverpool, Manchester United, West Bromwich Albion and Walsall.

Doherty was unhappy with the directors who opposed his plan to secure his future by taking over the Arboretum Hotel and an earlier dispute over FA Cup final tickets.

[13] The "Terriers" boasted a powerful front five of Albert Bateman, Jimmy Glazzard, Alf Whittingham, Doherty and Vic Metcalfe.

[14] At Leeds Road he scored 33 goals in 83 league appearances, finishing as the "Terriers" top-scorer in his final two seasons under George Stephenson.

In his autobiography, Len Shackleton wrote of Doherty: He made his final move to Doncaster Rovers in April 1949, where he assumed the role of player-manager.

He led the country at the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden after they topped their qualification group ahead of Italy and Portugal.

[17] At the tournament itself, Northern Ireland qualified for the knockout stages after finishing second in their group, having beaten Czechoslovakia, lost to Argentina and drew with West Germany.

[18][19][20] Having finished level on points with Czechoslovakia, they then beat the Czechs 2–1 in a play-off game, with Peter McParland scoring a brace at the Malmö Stadion.

He emphasised ball practice, and instead of endless laps of the pitch, Doherty suggested volleyball "to promote jumping, timing and judgement"; basketball "to encourage split-second decision-making and finding space"; and walking football, "to build up calf muscles".

[24] He and Andy Beattie also served Notts County as 'professional advisers' from December 1965 to March 1966, providing council to first-team manager Ernie Coleman.