Michael Boulding

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 82.47.144.15 (talk) at 17:16, 8 July 2008. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Michael Boulding
Personal information
Full name Michael Thomas Boulding
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Position(s) Forward / Winger
Team information
Current team
 Mansfield Town

Michael Boulding (born 8 February 1976 in Sheffield) is an English professional football player, who can play as a forward or as a winger, having previously been a promising young tennis player. Boulding has played for a number of clubs, including Aston Villa, and currently plays for Bradford City FC.

Tennis career

Boulding is a former youth and professional tennis player who was once ranked in the top 20 in Britain and played in junior Wimbledon and in the qualifying rounds for the main event.[1] He began his tennis career at the age of 13 and was coached by Tony Pickard.[2] He held an ATP singles world ranking between 8 July 1996 and 1 November 1999, apart from between 25 August 1997 and 24 August 1998, which peaked at 1119 with four world ranking points on 3 May 1999.[3] His highest doubles ranking was 964 on 10 February 1997 with 15 ranking points.[4]

Football career

Boulding switched to a professional footballing career in 1999 after he was offered a trial and a contract by Mansfield Town.[1] He made 74 appearances in all competitions, scoring 12 goals, for Mansfield in two seasons.[5] He left Mansfield Town in 2001 on a free transfer and joined Grimsby Town.[6]

Boulding joined Grimsby Town in September 2001 having had less than three seasons in the Football League.[1] He broke into the first team, initially being used as a substitute, and was the club's leading scorer for the 2001–02 season with eleven goals in 39 appearances.[7] His one-year contract expired in the summer of 2002 and although he was offered a new contract,[8] he joined Aston Villa in July 2002 on a Bosman free transfer.[9]

Boulding was immediately involved in Aston Villa's Inter-Toto Cup campaign, playing against FC Zurich and scoring the first goal in the second leg as Aston Villa won 3–2 on aggregate.[10] He did not make an appearance in the Premiership however and in September 2002, he joined Sheffield United on a one- month loan with a view to a permanent move.[11] An ankle injury restricted his opportunities at Sheffield United and he returned to Aston Villa in November 2002.[12]

Six months after joining Aston Villa, Boulding returned to Grimsby Town in January 2003, initially on a one-month loan and then on an 18-month contract.[13] He scored four goals in 12 games in the remainder of the 2002–03 season,[14] but this was not enough to stop the club being relegated from the Football League Championship.[15] A good start to the 2002–03 season saw him score 12 goals in 27 games,[16] but the sacking of manager Paul Groves in January 2004 following a run of poor results that left Grimsby one point off the relegation places,[17] led to Boulding leaving the club for Barnsley.[18]

Boulding joined Barnsley in February 2004 for a fee of £50,000[19] and scored 16 goals in 39 league appearances.[5] However, he fell out of favour and joined Cardiff on loan in March 2005[20] and was released by Barnsley manager Andy Ritchie at the end of the 2004–05 season.[21] Following a successful trial with Crewe Alexandra in the summer of 2005, Boulding was offered a contract[22] but instead decided to retired from professional football.[23] Seven months later in March 2006, he joined Rotherham United until the end of the 2005–06 season.[24] He did not make any first-team appearances for Rotherham and left the club at the end of the season.[25]

In July 2006, Boulding returned to Mansfield Town and after impressing manager Peter Shirtliff in pre-season training, he was offered a contract.[25] His younger brother Rory Boulding also joined Mansfield at the same time.[25] By the end of the 2007–08 season, Boulding had made over 90 appearances, scoring 31 goals, in his second spell at Mansfield.[5] After Mansfield Town were relegated to the Football Conference at the end of the 2007–08 season, he was out of contract but was offered new terms by the club,[26] as well as at least four little League Two clubs including Accrington Stanley, Dagenham and Redbridge, Barnet and Bradford City, If Boulding has any ounce of a brain cell he wont join a tin pot club like Barnet or be that much of a tosser to join Bradford City, he'd go to the biggest club in in League TWO the Mighty Mariners!

References

  1. ^ a b c Hughes, Richard (2001-11-07). "Boulding courts success". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2008-05-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Hill, Graham (2002-07-14). "Boulding can hold court in Premiership says Tony Pickard". Sunday Mercury (Birmingham, England). Retrieved 2008-05-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ "ATP Rankings For 5/3/99". ATP Rankings and Results. Steve G Tennis. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
  4. ^ "ATP individual doubles rankings for 2/10/97". ATP Rankings and Results. Steve G Tennis. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
  5. ^ a b c "Michael Boulding". Soccerbase. Racing Post. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
  6. ^ Scott, Ged (2001-10-27). "Blues sink to debut double". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 2008-05-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ "Grimsby 2001/2002 player appearances". Soccerbase. Racing Post. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
  8. ^ "Striker's Grimsby hope". BBC Sport. 2002-04-24. Retrieved 2008-05-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ "Villa sign winger Boulding". BBC Sport. 2002-07-08. Retrieved 2008-05-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ "Villa revive Euro dream". BBC Sport. 2002-07-27. Retrieved 2008-05-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ "Boulding joins Blades". BBC Sport. 2002-09-27. Retrieved 2008-05-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ "Boulding leaves Blades". BBC Sport. 2002-11-28. Retrieved 2008-05-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ "Boulding joins Grimsby". BBC Sport. 2003-01-10. Retrieved 2008-05-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ "Grimsby 2002/2003 player appearances". Soccerbase. Racing Post. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
  15. ^ "Grimsby 0-1 Walsall". BBC Sport. 2003-04-21. Retrieved 2008-05-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ "Games played by Michael Boulding in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Racing Post. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
  17. ^ "Grimsby sack Groves as boss". BBC Sport. 2004-02-09. Retrieved 2008-05-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ "Furneaux blasts Boulding". BBC Sport. 2004-02-16. Retrieved 2008-05-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ "Barnsley seal Boulding deal". BBC Sport. 2004-02-12. Retrieved 2008-05-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ "Boulding begins Cardiff loan deal". BBC Sport. 2005-03-23. Retrieved 2008-05-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ "Trio released by Barnsley manager". BBC Sport. 2005-05-16. Retrieved 2008-05-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. ^ "Boulding offered Crewe contract". BBC Sport. 2005-07-16. Retrieved 2008-05-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  23. ^ "Boulding to retire from football". BBC Sport. 2005-08-02. Retrieved 2008-05-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  24. ^ "'Retired' Boulding joins Millers". BBC Sport. 2006-03-24. Retrieved 2008-05-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  25. ^ a b c "Boulding brothers will join Stags". BBC Sport. 2006-07-26. Retrieved 2008-05-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  26. ^ "Seven players to leave Mansfield". BBC Sport. 2008-05-16. Retrieved 2008-05-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links


Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Boulding&oldid=224389675"