The goals keep coming for the Irishman who's the top scorer in English football
Eoin Doyle took his tally of goals to 18 in just 17 League Two games this season for Swindon Town.
by Paul Dollery
AS THEY SAVOUR the view from the top of the League Two table, Swindon Town have an Irishman largely to thank for the lofty position they currently enjoy.
Eoin Doyle has scored more than half of Swindon’s goals, helping them to maintain a three-point lead over Exeter City.
Having netted the opening goal after just 10 minutes of Saturday’s 3-0 win over Grimsby Town, Doyle has now scored in eight consecutive games.
With 18 goals in just 17 appearances this season for the Robins, the 31-year-old is also the leading goalscorer in all four divisions of English league football.
In August, Doyle was actually sent out on loan to Swindon by the team who presently sit five places below them. He was seemingly surplus to requirements at Bradford City, who must now be regretting their decision to let the Dubliner go.
After joining Bradford from Preston North End in the summer of 2018, Doyle found the net 11 times in 44 appearances as the Bantams were relegated from League One last season.
The loan deal he signed with Swindon was due to last until the end of this campaign, but taking his form into account, Bradford manager Gary Bowyer has admitted it’s possible that the club will bring him back to Valley Parade at the next available opportunity.
“The situation with him is that we review that in January,” Bowyer said of Doyle on Saturday. “You always want players to be scoring goals and playing well in any position, so we’ll review that as January comes.”
Doyle, previously of Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers, was a prolific goalscorer in the League of Ireland for Sligo Rovers, from whom he joined Scottish club Hibernian — where Pat Fenlon was in charge at the time — in 2011.
After two seasons in Edinburgh, he moved to Chesterfield and was named in the League One Team of the Season for 2015 following a tally of 21 goals in 26 games.
Doyle later had spells with Cardiff City, Preston, Portsmouth and Oldham Athletic, before making the move to Bradford City in August 2018.
Speaking recently about the prospect of Doyle being recalled by Bradford in January, Swindon Town manager Richie Wellens said: “Last season at Bradford didn’t go well for him, they got relegated, and this season didn’t start well for him either.
“Bradford made a decision to free up some money and get some other players in. We respect that decision and would love to keep him on board. We’ll just have to see where he goes.”