Search

17 Oct 2025

Ben Doherty returns to Derry City on a three-year deal

Derry City

Ben Doherty has returned to Derry City. Pic by Ben McShane/ Sportsfile

Ben Doherty feels the Derry City fans will see a differently player entirely after returning to his hometown club after four and a half years away.

The 25-year-old has signed a three year deal as part of a deal which sees both Michael Glynn and Joe Thomson going in the opposite direction to Larne.

Doherty, who has played 59 times already for Derry City between 2016-2018, left the Brandywell to join Glenavon on loan in August 2018, before making a permanent move to Coleraine in December of the same year. He remained at the Showgrounds until July 2021 before joining Larne, and has played his part in Tiernan Lynch’s side title push this season.

But given the opportunity to return to his hometown club, Doherty couldn’t say no.

“Probably in my head I thought I would come back some day but I didn’t think it would be so soon,” he said. “Looking in as a Derry boy, when your hometown club comes calling it’s hard to ignore. The project as a whole, excites me and the changing room that Ruaidhri has built, and obviously Ruaidhri himself, it’s all appealing to me and something that I want to give my all to.”

A teenage Doherty played in some big games for the club in his first spell, including the Europa League, and he believes that experience helped him prepare for similar experiences in the Irish League.

“When I left here I was a 17 or 18 year old boy and I’ve gone and I’ve gained experience,” he explained. “I’m thankful for those experiences when I was here the first time because they probably molded me. I went and played European games after that for Coleraine and Larne and it’s only stood me in good stead. All those experiences I can take with me and bring back to the League of Ireland and hopefully give it a good go this time.

“I’ve learned a lot of different roles on the pitch and different positions and I’ve really developed as a player so I think the fans will see something different from me coming back.

“I’m just looking forward to getting out there on the pitch now and February 10 can’t come quickly enough.”

To continue reading this article,
please subscribe and support local journalism!


Subscribing will allow you access to all of our premium content and archived articles.

Subscribe

To continue reading this article for FREE,
please kindly register and/or log in.


Registration is absolutely 100% FREE and will help us personalise your experience on our sites. You can also sign up to our carefully curated newsletter(s) to keep up to date with your latest local news!

Register / Login

Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.

Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.