Early career Doyle began his career as a trainee at
Celtic turning full professional for them in August 1998. He and fellow Celtic teammate
Liam Miller had a spell on loan in the Danish Premier League at club
AGF Aarhus, with Doyle playing 22 League games and scoring four goals for the Danish side. During his time at Celtic, Doyle failed to make a single league appearance for the first team.
Coventry City After the loan spell ended, Doyle signed for
Coventry City which was managed by
Gary McAllister after a successful trial, having been recommended by McAllister's assistant
Eric Black who worked with Doyle at Celtic. Doyle made his début against
Peterborough United in the
Football League Cup in August 2003, and scored in his appearance away against
Ipswich Town in a 1–1 draw. Doyle played regularly throughout the season either side under the management of both McAllister and his successor Black. Under
Peter Reid, Doyle continued to play whenever fit, forging a useful partnership with captain
Stephen Hughes. After Reid's departure Doyle continued to be favoured by new manager
Micky Adams, scoring in the crucial away win at
Watford, as the side avoided relegation from the
Championship. In 2005–06, Doyle continued to play regularly, captaining the side on a number of occasions since Christmas, notably in the 2–0 home win over
Wolverhampton Wanderers. This came in his first match after a suspension for his dismissal in the previous home game against
Crewe Alexandra for arguing with the referee. Doyle was named permanent captain of Coventry by
Iain Dowie. Doyle was part of the Coventry team that beat
Manchester United in the League Cup at Old Trafford, which remains one of the most famous League Cup upsets in recent years. During the 2008–09 season, Doyle was a regular under
Chris Coleman, starting 39 games for Coventry in all competitions. But due to the signing of
Sammy Clingan from Norwich in the summer of 2009, Doyle found his first team place under threat, the reason for him wishing to seek guaranteed first team football elsewhere.
Leeds United (loan) At the start of the 2009–10 season, Doyle joined
Leeds United on a season long loan and made his first team début in the first game of the season,a win against
Exeter. Having become first choice in midfield Doyle said in an interview to
Yorkshire Evening Post on in October that he would love to make his loan move from Coventry permanent, and he hoped that if he could impress manager
Simon Grayson enough and earn Leeds promotion that it would help his chances in securing a permanent contract at the Elland Road club. In his first six-months at Leeds, Doyle has been a regular starter partnering either
Neil Kilkenny or
Jonathan Howson in centre midfield, with Doyle only missing games through suspension or being rested by
Simon Grayson for squad rotation. After Leeds were knocked out of the Football League Trophy, Doyle was dropped from the starting line-up for the first time in the league against
Leyton Orient but remained a regular first team player. Leeds were duly promoted to the Football League Championship after finishing in second place in League One and thus earning automatic promotion. In total Doyle had played 52 games for Leeds in all competitions during the course of the season. After promotion, Doyle claimed in interviews that he still wanted to join Leeds permanently rather than return to Coventry. He also revealed that promotion with Leeds was his greatest achievement of his football career to date. Doyle returned to Coventry. During Doyle's loan at Leeds, Coventry manager
Chris Coleman had been sacked and succeeded by
Adrian Boothroyd, who saw Doyle as an important member of the team. Doyle started the season as first choice midfielder alongside
Lee Carsley in the heart of Coventry's midfield before dropping to the bench as the season progressed. Following this and in the build up to Coventry's game against his former club Leeds, Doyle controversially stated that his time at Leeds was the best year of his life. Back in the side Doyle scored his first goal for 21 months in November, a long range effort against Burnley. in 2011.
Sheffield United Doyle signed for
Sheffield United on a free transfer during the January 2011 transfer window, a move that reunited him with former boss
Micky Adams, and made his début in a 1–0 loss to
Leicester City a few days later. He played regularly for the remainder of the season but with the club in decline he was unable to help to stop the Blades slipping to relegation. Regaining his place in the starting eleven at the outset of the following season, Doyle was awarded with the captain's armband as he played regularly in the centre of midfield. As the team challenged for promotion, Doyle scored his first goal for the Blades in January 2012, scoring against
Yeovil Town at
Bramall Lane. United failed to gain promotion, but in September 2012, Doyle signed a new three-year contract with the club, committing his future until 2015. Doyle remained a regular in the side throughout the season as United fought another fruitless promotion battle.
Portsmouth On 6 July 2015, Doyle joined
Portsmouth after being released by Sheffield United. Doyle was made club captain, and was an integral part of a side which finished the season in sixth place, earning a place in the play-offs; Doyle and Portsmouth ultimately lost to
Plymouth in the semi-finals. He finished the season with 50 appearances and 2 goals in all competitions. He signed a one-year contract extension on 5 January 2016, keeping him at Portsmouth until the summer of 2017. Doyle retained the captaincy during the 2016–17 season; a campaign which saw Portsmouth win the
League Two championship after four years in the English professional game's basement division. Though Doyle's defensive midfield partner changed several times over the course of the season, with
Danny Rose and
Amine Linganzi vying for a place in the first XI, Doyle remained first-choice for the screening role in front of the defence. He featured 96 times for the
Blues, finding the net on three occasions.
Return to Coventry City On 11 May 2017, Doyle returned to
Coventry City after having captained
Portsmouth to its
League Two victory. Manager
Mark Robins said that he was delighted in welcoming him back to his former club. He also added that his "leadership qualities on and off the pitch can not be underestimated". In the same season, Doyle captained Coventry City to League 1 promotion, when the team won the 2017–18 League Two Play-Off Final at Wembley against Exeter, marking back-to-back promotion successes for Doyle as a team captain. On 31 May 2018, Coventry City confirmed that Doyle's contract extension had been triggered, with the Sky Blues' captain's contract now expiring 30 June 2019. Doyle said "I came here to try and get this club back to the Championship where it should be and where it belongs..."[i]t's my club now and I will stay here and it will be my club for the rest of my life." Doyle triggered a one-year contract extension with Coventry at the end of the 2017–18 season.
Notts County On 31 January 2019, Doyle signed for
Notts County on a free transfer. On 11 January 2020, Doyle scored his first goal for Notts, a strike from the halfway line which was later named as Notts' goal of the season. He played in goal for 72 minutes in a 3–1 victory against
Dagenham & Redbridge when regular goalkeeper
Sam Slocombe was shown an early red card. He credited his years playing
Gaelic football for
Dublin GAA club
St Mark's in
Tallaght with providing him good practice for catching the ball. On 4 May 2021, following the departure of
Maurice Ross, Doyle agreed to take over as assistant head coach for the remainder of the 2020/21 season. On 21 June 2021, Doyle agreed to become assistant head coach at
Notts County permanently and whilst he is still registered as a player, his main focus will now be in his coaching role. == Coaching career ==