“I think my career has been a bit of a story to this point, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way to be honest,” says Christian Doidge, reflecting on the obstacles in his eventful career.
A former basketball player and South Wales police officer, those days surely seem quite distant now as the 27-year-old laces his boots up for Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership.
It’s perhaps not the path he expected, but the one he has travelled all the same.
Released by Bristol Rovers academy at the age of 15 to then representing Wales on the international stage in basketball, Doidge has certainly followed the road less frequently travelled to get to where he is today.
And whilst football was not in his immediate plans when heading to his sixth form near Cwmbrân Celtic, a few games with close friends soon re-ignited his passion for the game.
“In Cwmbrân, they’ve got an academy and Cwmbran Celtic play there,” Doidge said.
“Originally, I went to that sixth form just to play basketball, because I’d just been released from Bristol Rovers, so I went there just for a bit of a change of scenery, to be honest.
“I just went to school there, but I had friends who played for the football academy so, after basketball training, I’d quickly run onto the football pitch and have a kickabout with them.
“My basketball coach wasn’t very impressed with that!
“I was at Cwmbran Celtic for probably about a year, but I was just in and out of the reserve team really and playing as a full-back quite a lot.
“My main group of friends were at Croesyceiliog though, so that’s where I really got the love for it back and Gareth Morgan was the first team manager at the time, and I was doing well for the reserve team.
“He put me into the first team and eventually I was playing up front with Jodie Jenkins who’s a bit of a legend around Cwmbran so that was really good.
“I just hit the ground running, I started scoring lots of goals and managed to get another opportunity to play a little bit higher.”
Developing at Barry Town United
That opportunity came with a household name in the Cymru Premier, as Gavin Chesterfield helped the then young forward hone his skills.
It was a partnership that blossomed, as Doidge scored the goal that gave the Linnets their first Welsh Cup semi-final appearance in a decade against Penrhyncoch in 2012.
And the forward still keeps in touch with his former manager today.
“Gavin was fantastic, I still speak to him now and he’s done a fantastic job with Barry,” Doidge says.
“The times that they’ve had where they’ve nearly gone bust and they have managed to go through the leagues.
“Now they’re an established Cymru Premier side and they’re in Europe for the second year running.
“He was fantastic for me, he basically wanted me to come and just improve.
“I remember I had opportunities to go to other teams which were in Division One.
“They were offering a few quid to play, but to play for Gavin for free and just to work under him and really improve was something that I wanted to do rather than chase the money in the lower leagues.
“As soon as I went there, I started improving and you had Damon Searle who was the assistant manager.
“You look at his career and he played for Cardiff for many years, and it was just good to go to a club where they really believed in me and they improved me a hell of a lot.”
Cup success with Carmarthen Town and keeping up with Croesyceiliog
After his time with the Linnets, a move to west Wales provided the most success for Doidge with two successive Welsh Cup victories at Carmarthen Town.
A strong relationship with former boss Mark Aizlewood gifted plenty of goals for the Old Gold and sparked a move to Dagenham and Redbridge after two seasons.
And those cup victories still seem surreal to Doidge all these years later.
“That was surreal, I remember all my friends tuning in at home, it was the first time on television as it was on S4C.
“I’m finishing the game and I’m getting loads of photos sent to me of myself on the television and you just feel like you’ve made it!
“It was very surreal and to win it two years running, I think Craig Hanford got the winning penalty two years in a row so that was a great time to play for Carmarthen.
“I’ve got a great relationship with Mark Aizlewood, he was a fantastic coach and good man-manager.
“Mark was fantastic for me; he knew what my strengths were, and he just used to get the lads to cross the ball into the box for me and I scored plenty of goals.
“When he called me to go up to Carmarthen, I remember going to his football academies as a kid and obviously he had a great career for Wales and Leeds, so he really improved me.
“I’ve still got plenty of friends at both Barry and Carmarthen and it’s always good to see how they’re getting on but I follow Croesyceiliog’s results.
“That’s where all my best friends from home are and whenever I’ve got a weekend off, I’ll always go down to Woodland Road and watch the lads.”
International ambitions
Despite earning a move to Scotland’s top tier, Doidge is far from finished when it comes to setting future goals, alongside scoring them.
The forward’s fine form for Hibernian lead to plenty of talk about a potential Wales call-up before the pandemic, including an admission from Ryan Giggs.
Whilst Doidge has admitted he must now start from scratch, it is something that he is more than willing to do.
And the opportunity to stand in front of the Red Wall and represent his country, in his eyes, would be a dream come true.
“I said that was a goal of mine and it was one of the reasons I came to Hibernian,” Doidge remarked.
“It would be a dream come true but it’s only going to come from me playing games for Hibernian and scoring goals and looking like I could help the Welsh team going forward.
“It would just be fantastic, I remember watching the Euro’s with all my friends and being in the fan zone, it was just amazing to be there in the moment.
“You can’t imagine how those lads were feeling playing for their country but for me coming from the Welsh League Division Two reserve league to go through all the ranks and then get into the Football League.
“I’ve had lots of obstacles but that would really be the icing on the cake.
“It would be nice for all the hard work I’ve done, a little bit of a reward.
“I’m extremely proud to be Welsh and I think for any kid growing up, that’s their major goal in life and to be able to do that would be extremely humbling and I’m sure it would be a great feeling.”
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