SOCKERS’ LITTLE BIG MAN : Dougherty a 5-2 Scrapper

Nobody gets a bigger laugh out of being small than the Sockers’ 5-foot, 2-inch midfielder, Paul Dougherty.

“I remember the time I scored a goal while playing for Tommy Docherty in England,” Dougherty said. “He said the opposition didn’t see me. That I popped from behind a divot in the grass. That cracked me up.”

Socker Coach Ron Newman--who inserted Dougherty into the lineup nine games ago--says he’s thinking of cutting out a piece of the wall in front of the bench so Dougherty can see the game.

“I got my height from my mom,” said Dougherty, who the Sockers say is the smallest player in American professional team sports. His mother, Jean, is 4-10. His father, Dennis, who died of cancer five years ago, was 5-9.

Dougherty’s first Major Indoor Soccer League goal was a timely one. He scored the game-winner in the Sockers’ 4-3 victory Wednesday over the Chicago Sting.

Dougherty is a prankster. A joker. A comedian. And a blur in a world dominated by big men.

“You’ve got to laugh,” said Dougherty, 20. “That’s what it’s all about. Enjoy life. I can’t believe that they don’t tell so many jokes over here. Back home, someone had a different joke each day.”

Even in the Major Indoor Soccer League, where players are much smaller than in football and basketball, Dougherty is by far the smallest player in the league.

“Five-foot-two, eyes of blue, 4 1/2 shoe,” Newman said.

At one point the Sockers considered giving Dougherty uniform No. 1/2. They reconsidered and gave him No. 8.

“The jokes about my size will go on for life,” said Dougherty, who reached his present height when he was 17. “But as long as I have my health and am able to run around, you can’t expect everything.”

Dougherty’s journey from England to the five-time indoor champion Sockers is like a fairy tale.

As a regular with Wolverhampton--which dropped from the first division to the fourth division over a four-year period--Dougherty was a good outdoor player who was a crowd favorite because of his size and reckless style.

But Dougherty believed that “aerial jewels,” known as headers in this country, would always make the outdoor game difficult for someone his size. And when he played the quicker indoor game on a youth team as a teen-ager, he loved it.

Not knowing anything about the MISL except that it existed and that it was in the United States, Dougherty sent letters to all the league teams in late November. He said he sent a special letter to the Sockers and included clippings of his achievements in England.

“I did that because San Diego is in California,” Dougherty said. “I didn’t even know the Sockers were the champions.”

Dougherty received two responses from MISL clubs. One of them, Wichita, said, “Sorry.” Newman said that he was willing to have a look at Dougherty and would provide him with housing for a six-week trial but that Dougherty would have to pay his plane fare and other expenses.

Newman gets many letters from players around the world, but he said there was something special about Dougherty.

“He always seemed to play (in the English League), but he couldn’t hold his place,” said Newman, who is familiar with the English League. “I figured he’s a bloody tough critter and that he’s got nice little touches. This kid has obviously got something a little special. Only his size is restricting him.”

The showman in Newman also imagined the potential public relations value of a 5-2 scrapper who could play.

“I look for two things in young players,” Newman said. “I want a player of quality. And if a player is going to be successful, how will the fans accept him? Well, people in England thought the Refrigerator was phenomenal. Here, we have a little guy.”

When he received the letter from Newman in mid-December, the little guy decided to take a big chance.

He paid $500 for a one-way plane ticket, packed a bag, took $500 in cash and headed to the United States in January.

“I didn’t realize San Diego would be so pretty,” said Dougherty, who has quickly adjusted to the California life style. “Everything about life is great.”

He has had troubles in the past. He was 15 when his father died of cancer.

“That was the worst moment of my life,” Dougherty said. “He used to walk miles and miles to watch me play. He always encouraged us to play soccer and he loved watching us. . . .

“My dad never wanted his kids to have to work in the mines, like he did. I think I got a lot of my determination from him. Everyone says I’m a lot like him.”

Shortly after his father died, Dougherty--the third of four sons--turned professional at 16 and took it upon himself to help his mother financially.

“I gave my mom money and I looked after her,” Dougherty said. “I think about what effect it (his father’s death) had on my mom. I have to make her proud of me. She says she’s gotten over it by now, but I don’t think she has. Keeping her happy is another incentive for me to do well.”

Dougherty is excited that his mother will be visiting him in San Diego later this month. He has had an eventful three months since he left his mother and his friends in Leamington Spa, which is eight miles from Statford-on-Avon.

“When I first got here,” Dougherty said, “I was shocked how high the standard of play was. This is probably a higher level than what I’m used to. I thought, ‘How can they do these sort of things?’ I was confident in my own ability, but thought these lads are a lot better than me. As the weeks went by, I started to get a little more confidence.”

But he was short of money. Dougherty, who drove around town in a Sockers van the team loaded him, lived on a very strict budget.

“The poor bugger was starving over here,” Newman said.

He was also lonely.

“I was missing my friends a bit,” Dougherty said, “but it wasn’t so bad because soccer is my main thing. It’s a job I love doing.”

Then came the contract he had been sweating for. And praying for.

On Feb. 24, the Sockers--decimated by injuries and impressed by Dougherty’s hustle and play with the reserve team and during training sessions with the regulars--signed Dougherty to a MISL minimum contract ($2,000 a month during the season) that runs through next season.

Just how excited was Dougherty?

“I was going to buy myself a rocket because I was over the moon,” Dougherty said.

Dougherty has only five total points, but he has captured the hearts of his coach and fans with his diving, sliding style of play.

“Paul wouldn’t be playing now without all these injuries,” Newman said, “but I’m very comfortable with him. He wins an enormous number of balls. I’m surprised that his passing is so good. Finishing will be the last thing to come for him.

“He seems to have come along so quickly. I compare him to Brian Quinn. Industrious, quick. That type of tenacious good player.”

Dougherty didn’t even know the MISL rules three months ago, and now he says he’d like to make a career of indoor soccer.

“I think it is real soccer,” Dougherty said. “I like it better (than outdoor soccer). It’s soccer with a few little changes to make it better.”

Little changes that make a little guy feel right at home.