Brian Dooher

Infobox GAA player |

name =Brian Dooher
irish =Brian Ó Dúichar
placeofbirth=County Tyrone
countryofbirth=Northern Ireland
bday=10
bmonth=08
byear=1975
occupation=Veterinarian
sport=Gaelic football
code=Football
county=Tyrone
province=Ulster
clposition= Midfield
club=Clann na nGael
clyears=? -Present
1993-1996
clapps(points)=
clcounty=
clprovince=
clubs=Clann na nGael
UCD
counties=Tyrone
icposition= Right Half Forward
icyears= 1995- Present
icapps(points)=48 [cite news |first=Declan |last=Bogue |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=McGrane set for '60' |work=Gaelic Life |publisher= |date=2008-05-16 |accessdate=2008-05-17 ]
icprovince=5
icallireland=3
nfl=2
allstars =2
icupdate=15:09, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
clupdate=(00:03, 6 September 2006 (UTC))
|

Brian Dooher is an Irish, All Star-winning Gaelic footballer and current captain of Tyrone. [citation | title = Dooher to stay as Tyrone captain | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/7179826.stm | date = 2008-01-08 | accessdate = 2008-01-12 | publisher = BBC Sport] Dooher plays his club football for the Tyrone club side Clann na nGael. He has won three All-Ireland Senior Football Championship medals, five Ulster Senior Football Championship medals, two All Stars, and six Ulster All Stars - the joint leader with Kieran McGeeney and Stephen McDonnell.

His playing style is of the hardworking middle-man, often doing the gritty, unfashionable work, like picking up the ball in defence, to feed the forward players. Although he usually starts in the half-forward line, his roaming nature means he is rarely ever stationed there for very long. His contributions to the game do not go unnoticed by his team-mates, as Sean Cavanagh remarked in 2003 how "I wouldn't be able to [play to my strengths] without Brian's workrate."
In the same article, the Irish Examiner said, "it would be no exaggeration to call him the hardest working footballer in Ireland."

He is a practicing vet in Derry.cite web | url = http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2003/09/25/story243198234.asp | title = Tyrone’s trojan is not a talker, he’s a Dooher | accessdate = 2007-03-06 ]

Football career

Dooher is a former pupil of St. Columb's College in Derry City. Dooher won the Sigerson Cup with University College, Dublin in 1996. [cite web| url = http://www.ucd.ie/news/sept05/championship.htm | title = UCD grad hoists Sam in Tyrone’s epic victory over the Kingdom | accessdate=2007-03-06] He has won the All-Ireland with the Tyrone Senior football team on three occasions, most recently in 2008, when he captained the side.

He has been on the winning side in the National Football League with Tyrone on two occasions and he was also on the winning side for five Ulster Championships. He received an All-Star award in 2003 and again in 2005. [cite web | url = http://www.hoganstand.com/allstars/football.aspx | title = Football All Stars 1971-2006 | accessdate=2006-03-06]

He made his debut for Tyrone in the league in 1995 against Kildare, and in 1996, his first full year as a Senior, reached the All-Ireland semi-final with the team. He was one of several Tyrone players, along with Ciaran McBride, Jody Gormley, Chris Lawn and Peter Canavan who suffered injuries at the hands of what many Tyrone fans perceived as heavy-handed tactics by their opponents, Meath. [cite web | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/2140983.stm | title = Tyrone can maintain progress | accessdate= 2007-03-06] Meath defender, Martin O'Connell stood on Dooher's head while he had been felled. During the half-time interval, Dooher had to receive staples in his head, and played the rest of the game heavily bandaged. [cite web | url = http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=95&si=793604&issue_id=7753 | title = Trip to Croke Park gives trio chance to bury ghost of '96 - (registration required) | accessdate = 2007-03-06 ] Despite this, he won the Ulster GAA Writers Player of the Year Award, at the age of just 20. [cite web | url = http://www.ulstergaawriters.com/citations/bdooher.htm | title = TENNENTS/UGAAWA MERIT AWARD FOR AUGUST 2003 | accessdate= 2007-03-06]

In 2003, Colm O'Rourke, in his capacity as a television pundit for RTÉ remarked that Dooher was one of the weak links in the Tyrone, and that he would "eat his hat" if Tyrone won the All-Ireland with Dooher in the team. Dooher's response was modest, stating that O'Rourke was entitled to his opinion, but that he only cares what the Tyrone manager Mickey Harte thinks. Tyrone did go on to win the All-Ireland, and Dooher was included in the starting lineup throughout the season.

Dooher was handed the captaincy of Tyrone in 2004, after the untimely death of Cormac McAnallen. As Dooher was making his acceptance speech in 2005 after lifting the Sam Maguire, he made an emotional eulogy to McAnallen, remarking how he knew Cormac was with him. There was also a hugely emotional moment between Dooher and Mickey Harte after the final whistle. Surrounded by dozens of photojournalists, and thousands of Tyrone fans, the two men embraced in tearful remembrance of their fallen captain.

He missed most of the 2006 campaign because of a shattered kneecap, but returned to Championship action with aplomb in 2007, earning a Man of the Match with his five-point haul in Tyrone's second round match against Donegal. [cite web | url = http://www.independent.ie/other/harte-preaches-caution-despite-emphatic-win-but-heaps-praise-on-dynamic-dooher-704554.html | author = Colm Keys | title = Harte preaches caution despite emphatic win but heaps praise on dynamic Dooher | date = 2007-06-18 | accessdate = 2007-06-20 | publisher = "Irish Independent"] .

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External links

* [http://tyrone.gaa.ie/ Official Tyrone Website]