| Ross Docherty |
 Ross David Longwell Docherty was born on Saturday, 23rd January, 1993, in Paisley, Renfrewshire. The 5' 10 (11st 3lbs) midfielder signed for Ian McCall's Thistle on Monday, 1st June 2020, having most recently been with Ayr United. Aged 27, he made his debut appearance on Saturday, 19th September, 2020, in a 3-0 friendly win at home to BSC Glasgow. Ross scored his first goal for the Jags on Wednesday, 30th September, 2020, in a 2-2 friendly draw at home to Ayr United. He scored the last of his 9 goals on Saturday, 23rd April, 2022, in a 1-0 win at home to Dunfermline Athletic in the SPFL Championship. He played his last game for the club on Sunday, 4th June, 2023, in a 3-1 defeat away to Ross County in the SPFL Premiership play-offs, having appeared for the Jags on 117 occasions. At June, 2023, Ross's club-list included Livingston, Airdrieonians, Ayr United, Partick Thistle and Dundee United. |
 Docherty was a youth player at Hillwood Swifts Boys Club, before joining Livingston at youth level in 2010. A member of the Under-19 team, Docherty made his first-team debut from the start on 7 May 2011, in Livingston's 3–1 win against Alloa Athletic in the Scottish Second Division. His next appearance was in the following season on 23 July 2011, as a substitute in Livingston's 5–0 win against Airdrie United in the Challenge Cup. He was released in May 2014. On 22 November 2014, Docherty played as a trialist for Airdrieonians in a 1–0 defeat against Stranraer. He then signed for the club permanently in December 2014. Docherty left The Diamonds in June 2015, signing for Scottish League One rivals Ayr United. He scored his first goal for the club on 11 May 2016, in a 1–1 draw against Stranraer in the first leg of the Scottish Championship play off final; the ball dropped at the edge of the box and he rifled it into the bottom corner earning Ayr a draw in the 94th minute. Ahead of the 2017–18 season, Docherty signed a new contract with Ayr and was named club captain. In December 2019 it was announced in the press that Docherty had signed a pre-contract agreement to join former Ayr United manager Ian McCall at Partick Thistle for the start of the 2020/21 season, signing a two year deal. In June 2020, following Thistle’s relegation to Scottish League One, after the season was called early due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Docherty was officially announced as a Partick Thistle player. In December 2020, Docherty scored his first competitive goal for Thistle, netting the second in a 2-0 away win in League One over Forfar Athletic. After winning League One with Thistle, Docherty signed a new contract adding an extra year to his deal, extending it until 2023. Docherty scored his first goal of the 2021–22 early in August, scoring a header from a corner in a 3-0 away win against Dunfermline. It'd be the first of 4 goals he'd score against the Pars that season. Amazingly, Docherty became just the 18th Jag to score against the same club in 4 different competitive games in the same season, the joint-club-record. He was the first to do so since Kris Doolan vs. Stirling Albion in 2010-11. The defensive midfielder was generally regarded as a fine Partick Thistle captain, although signs of inconsistency were more apparent in his final season, 2022-23, which ended on a low as the side collapsed in the crucial last game of the season at Dingwall, becoming the first Scottish side in history to blow a 3 goal lead in a play-off final. In the aftermath of Ross County's first goal, it was Docherty's misplaced pass which surrendered possession straight from the restart, and this led to a second County goal within a minute. These jitters continued all the way into the shoot-out, where Docherty's weak penalty summed up his, and Thistle's, day. Terms were offered to the player to re-sign for Thistle, but more lucrative financial offers from elsewhere ensured that was a non-starter, and he signed a two-year deal with Dundee United on 19 June 2023. To his great credit, Docherty was always keen to lend his support to 'Jags For Good' who do a lot of great fundraising work for the community in and around Maryhill. |
| (WIK/WS) |
