Michael Boulding

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Michael Boulding
Personal information
Full name Michael Thomas Boulding
Date of birth 8 February 1976 (1976-02-08) (age 32)
Place of birth    Sheffield, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position Forward / Winger
Club information
Current club Mansfield Town
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1998–1999
1999–2001
2001–2002
2002–2003
2002
2003–2004
2004–2005
2005
2006
2006–
Hallam
Mansfield Town
Grimsby Town
Aston Villa
Sheffield United (loan)
Grimsby Town
Barnsley
Cardiff City (loan)
Rotherham United
Mansfield Town

65 0(12)
35 0(11)
00 00(0)
06 00(0)
39 0(16)
35 0(10)
04 00(0)
00 00(0)
82 0(27)   

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 04:13, 4 May 2008 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

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 Mansfield Town.

Contents

[edit] 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]

[edit] 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]

During the close season, Boulding has been linked to moves to Scunthorpe United and Lincoln City. But he has been largely linked to a move to Rotherham United, who believe they will clinch his signature as they were the team that gave him a chance to get back into the game after retirement.

[edit] References

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

[edit] External links