Jim Doherty – A Tribute
Clyde supporter David Jack penned the following tribute to his friend Jim Doherty after the former Bully Wee player sadly passed away over the weekend.
Jim or “Doc”, as he was almost universally known, was signed by Craig Brown in 1981. He had been surprisingly released by his hometown club Kilmarnock where he was a fans’ favourite and it proved to be an inspired signing as he soon became a regular in the starting line-up as well as a hugely popular figure with the Clyde fans.
I remember first meeting Doc shortly after he arrived at Shawfield. I was a spotty teenager and I was so excited when he actually spoke to me, but I soon discovered that Doc spoke to everyone and anyone. He had a real gift to engage with people and, with his consistently upbeat attitude to life, it was nearly impossible not to like him.
It was not only his personality that made him a Clyde favourite as he was a player with no mean ability. Fast and strong with great passing ability he also had an amazing attitude and as one of his former team-mates stated, “Wee Doc had the heart of a lion”.
He was an integral part of the team that won the Scottish Second Division Championship in 1982 and he continued to serve the club with distinction for another five years before being joining Queen of the South. The only blip in his time at the Doonhamers was scoring a hat-trick against Clyde but, as it was Doc, even our fans could sort of forgive him. His final move was to Stranraer where he even played with a broken leg before injury forced him to retire from football at the age of 32.
His death has come to a shock to many, and tributes have flooded in from his former team-mates. Tommy O’Neill said: “Doc’s smile and effervescent character lit up the dressing room and his ability made him a great team-mate” while Jim Dempsey recalls: “he was also built like Schwarzenegger and had an electric burst of pace”.
One of his close friends from the Shawfield days was Andy Willock who remembers vividly walking into the Clyde dressing room at the age of 19 to see Doc hanging from the steel roof beam doing pull-ups as if he was in a Rocky movie. As Andy recalls: “I was just a youngster and I had never seen a physique like it. To be honest, I was a wee bit scared, I didn’t know people could have abs that big!”
In recent times, Doc was battling cancer with enormous courage, but his popularity ensured that he had a constant stream of visitors including many of his old team-mates. I was privileged to visit him along with Andy Willock, Derek Frye and Robert Reilly. I just sat back as the four of them swapped tales from their footballing days. The stories were both hilarious and outrageous and it was fantastic to listen to them laugh and see the genuine respect and affection these guys had for each other.
Doc’s passing is enormously sad, and he will be missed by so many people not least his brother Sandy who I had the pleasure of getting to know over the last few months. I have lost a friend, and the world has lost a fantastic footballer and an even better guy.
Jim Doherty – 13th September 1958 to 4th August 2024