Cian Thomas Bolger (born 12 March 1992) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Larne.

Cian Bolger
Bolger playing for Southend United in 2014
Personal information
Full name Cian Thomas Bolger[1]
Date of birth (1992-03-12) 12 March 1992 (age 32)[2]
Place of birth Celbridge, Ireland
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)[3]
Position(s) Centre back
Team information
Current team
Larne
Number 18
Youth career
2004-2008 Celbridge Town
2008–2010 Leicester City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2013 Leicester City 0 (0)
2011Bristol Rovers (loan) 6 (0)
2011–2012Bristol Rovers (loan) 39 (2)
2012–2013Bristol Rovers (loan) 4 (0)
2013–2014 Bolton Wanderers 0 (0)
2013Colchester United (loan) 4 (0)
2014Southend United (loan) 1 (0)
2014–2016 Southend United 45 (1)
2016Bury (loan) 9 (0)
2016–2019 Fleetwood Town 85 (9)
2019–2020 Lincoln City 45 (1)
2020–2021 Northampton Town 26 (1)
2021– Larne 90 (2)
International career
2010 Republic of Ireland U19 2 (0)
2013 Republic of Ireland U21 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 1 June 2024

Club career

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Leicester City

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Son of Declan who played for Dublin county football team[4] Bolger was born in Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland,[5] and was Leicester City's academy Player of the Year in 2009.[6]

Loans to Bristol Rovers

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He made his debut in the Football League while on loan at Bristol Rovers, when he came on as a 78th-minute substitute for Carl Regan in a 6–1 defeat to Walsall on 29 January 2011.[7] Bolger was sent off for the first time in his senior career on 8 February 2011, after a second yellow card for a poor challenge on Rochdale player Chris O'Grady.[8] On 11 July, Bolger returned to Bristol Rovers on a 6-month loan deal.[9] On 24 September 2011, Bolger scored the first professional goal of his career.

On 31 August 2012, Bolger was loaned to Bristol Rovers for a third time, until 1 January 2013. On 8 September 2012 he sustained a cruciate ligament injury in a 2–2 draw against Aldershot Town, which prevented him from playing for over 3 months.[10] He made his comeback on Boxing Day, coincidentally in another 2–2 draw against Aldershot, playing the full 90 minutes.

Bolton Wanderers

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On 31 January 2013, Bolger signed for Bolton Wanderers.[11][12] On 28 March, he scored the winner for Bolton Wanderers Reserves in a 3–2 win over Stoke City Reserves. He is a former captain of the Bolton Development squad but didn't make any appearances for the first team squad during his time at Bolton.

Colchester United (loan)

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In October 2013 Bolger signed a one-month loan deal with Colchester United[13] and made 4 league appearances.

Southend United (loan)

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On 21 February 2014, Bolger joined League Two side Southend United on a 28-day loan,[14] but his loan spell was cut short after just one appearance due to an ankle injury on 24 February 2014.[15]

Southend United

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On 5 August 2014 Bolger signed a two-year permanent deal with Southend United.

On 14 April 2015, Bolger scored his first goal for Southend United in the 45th minute against Newport County with a towering header. Bolger scored Southend's final penalty in the shoot-out in the play-off final on 23 May 2015, Southend were promoted winning 7–6.

Fleetwood Town

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Bolger signed for Fleetwood Town on 22 May 2016, and went on to make over 100 appearances for the club.[16] He scored his first goal for Fleetwood in an FA Cup tie against Southport on 15 November 2016.[17]

Lincoln City

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Bolger signed for Lincoln City on 17 January 2019.[18]

Northampton Town

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Bolger signed a one-year contract at Northampton Town on 21 August 2020 ahead of the 2020–21 campaign.[19]

Larne

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After a single season at Northampton, Bolger signed for NIFL Premiership club Larne on 5 July 2021.[20]

Career statistics

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As of 9 May 2021
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Leicester City 2010–11 Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2011–12 Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bristol Rovers (loan) 2010–11[21] League One 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
Bristol Rovers (loan) 2011–12[22] League Two 38 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 41 2
Bristol Rovers (loan) 2012–13[23] League Two 4 0 0 0 0 0 1[a] 0 5 0
Bolton Wanderers 2012–13[23] Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Colchester United (loan) 2013–14[24] League One 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Southend United (loan) 2013–14[24] League Two 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Southend United 2014–15[25] League Two 23 1 0 0 0 0 3[b] 0 26 1
2015–16[26] League One 22 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 25 0
Total 45 1 1 0 1 0 4 0 51 1
Bury (loan) 2015–16[26] League One 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0
Fleetwood Town[27] 2016–17 League One 33 5 6 1 1 0 3[c] 0 43 6
2017–18 League One 41 3 5 2 1 0 2[a] 1 49 6
2018–19 League One 11 1 2 0 2 0 2[a] 0 17 1
Total 85 9 13 3 4 0 8 0 110 12
Lincoln City[28] 2018–19 League Two 17 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 1
2019–20 League One 28 0 1 0 2 0 2 0 33 0
Total 45 1 1 0 2 0 2 0 50 1
Northampton Town[28] 2020–21 League One 26 1 0 0 2 0 3 0 31 1
Career total 263 14 17 3 10 0 17 1 307 18
  1. ^ a b c Appearance(s) in the Football League Trophy
  2. ^ Appearances in the League Two play-offs
  3. ^ Two appearances in the Football League Trophy and one appearance in the League One play-offs

Honours

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Southend United

Lincoln City

Larne

Individual

References

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  1. ^ "Professional retain list & free transfers 2012/13" (PDF). The Football League. 18 May 2013. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  2. ^ "Cian Bolger". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  3. ^ "Cian Bolger - Defender - First Team Squad - Northampton Town". www.weareimps.com. Lincoln City F.C. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  4. ^ https://m.independent.ie/sport/soccer/premier-league/bolger-opens-window-to-his-future/26798402.html
  5. ^ "Player Details: Cian Bolger". English National Football Archive. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  6. ^ "Bristol Rovers sign Leicester defender Bolger on loan". BBC Sport. 17 January 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
  7. ^ "Walsall 6 – 1 Bristol Rovers". BBC Sport. 29 January 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
  8. ^ "Rochdale 3 – 1 Bristol Rovers". BBC Sport. 8 February 2011.
  9. ^ "Leicester City's Cian Bolger returns to Bristol Rovers". BBC Sport. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  10. ^ "Bristol Rovers defender Cian Bolger ruled out for three months". BBC Sport. 11 September 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  11. ^ "Bolton: Medo Kamara, Cian Bolger & Steve De Ridder sign". BBC Sport. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  12. ^ "Bolger deal confirmed". Bolton Wanderers FC. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  13. ^ "Colchester United sign Bolton's Cian Bolger". BBC Sport. 24 October 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  14. ^ "News: Cian Bolger joins Southend United". Southend United FC. 21 February 2014.
  15. ^ "Bolton Wanderers: Cian Bolger's Southend United loan ends". BBC Sport. 24 February 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  16. ^ "Cian Bolger: Fleetwood Town sign former Southend United centre-back". BBC Sport. 22 May 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  17. ^ "Fleetwood 4–1 Southport". BBC Sport. 15 November 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  18. ^ "Imps sign Irishman from The Cod Army". weareimps.com. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  19. ^ "Northampton Town Complete the Signing of Cian Bolger". Northampton Town F.C. 21 August 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  20. ^ "Who is Cian Bolger? All you need to know about League One man who has signed for Larne". belfasttelegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  21. ^ "Games played by Cian Bolger in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  22. ^ "Games played by Cian Bolger in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  23. ^ a b "Games played by Cian Bolger in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  24. ^ a b "Games played by Cian Bolger in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  25. ^ "Games played by Cian Bolger in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  26. ^ a b "Games played by Cian Bolger in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  27. ^ Cian Bolger at Soccerway. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  28. ^ a b "Republic of Ireland - C. Bolger - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  29. ^ Shepka, Phil (23 May 2015). "Southend United 1–1 Wycombe Wanderers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  30. ^ "League Two: 2018/19: Current table". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
    "Lincoln: Squad details: 2018/19". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  31. ^ "Larne secure historic first Irish League title". BBC Sport. BBC. 14 April 2023.
  32. ^ "Larne lift title as Carrick secure Euro play-off". BBC.
  33. ^ "Co Antrim Shield: Impressive Larne see off Linfield in gripping final to retain trophy". BBC Sport. BBC. 11 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  34. ^ "County Antrim Shield final: Larne complete hat-trick with shootout win after lengthy injury delay". BBC Sport. BBC. 17 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  35. ^ "County Antrim Shield: Larne beat Glentoran 2-1 to win silverware for fourth consecutive season". BBC Sport. BBC. 23 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  36. ^ "NIFL Charity Shield: Larne come from behind to win Charity Shield". 5 July 2024.
  37. ^ "Ni Football Awards Team of the Year".
  38. ^ "Uhlsport Team of the Year 2023/24".
  39. ^ "Fan and Sponsor Award Evening a great success". Fleetwood F.C. 25 April 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
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