Cian Bolger

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

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[2]
Place of birth	Celbridge, Ireland
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)[3]
Playing position(s)	Centre back
Club information
Current team	Lincoln City
Number	6
Youth career
	Celbridge Town
200?–2010	Leicester City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–2013	Leicester City	0	(0)
2011	→ Bristol Rovers (loan)	6	(0)
2011–2012	→ Bristol Rovers (loan)	39	(2)
2012–2013	→ Bristol Rovers (loan)	4	(0)
2013–2014	Bolton Wanderers	0	(0)
2013	→ Colchester United (loan)	4	(0)
2014	→ Southend United (loan)	1	(0)
2014–2016	Southend United	45	(1)
2016	→ Bury (loan)	9	(0)
2016–2019	Fleetwood Town	85	(9)
2019–	Lincoln City	45	(1)
National team
2010	Republic of Ireland U19	2	(0)
2013	Republic of Ireland U21	2	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:02, 22 February 2020 (UTC)

Club career

Leicester City

Bolger was born in Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland,[4] and was Leicester City's academy Player of the Year in 2009.[5]

Loans to Bristol Rovers

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.[6] 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.[7] On 11 July, Bolger returned to Bristol Rovers on a 6-month loan deal.[8] 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 cruciate ligament injury in a 2–2 draw against Aldershot Town, which prevented him from playing for over 3 months.[9] He made his comeback on Boxing Day, coincidentally in another 2–2 draw against Aldershot, playing the full 90 minutes.

Bolton Wanderers

On 31 January 2013, Bolger signed for Bolton Wanderers.[10][11] 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)

In October 2013 Bolger signed a one-month loan deal with Colchester United[12] and made 4 league appearances.

Southend United (loan)

On 21 February 2014, Bolger joined League Two side Southend United on a 28-day loan,[13] but his loan spell was cut short after just one appearance due to an ankle injury on 24 February 2014.[14]

Southend United

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

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

Lincoln City

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

Honours

Southend United

• Football League Two play-offs: 2015[18]

Lincoln City

• EFL League Two: 2018–19[19]

Career statistics

As of 26 March 2020

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
	Leicester total		0	0	0	0	0	0	-		0	0
Bristol Rovers (loan)	2010–11[20]	League One	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
Bristol Rovers (loan)	2011–12[21]	League Two	38	2	2	0	1	0	0	0	41	2
Bristol Rovers (loan)	2012–13[22]	League Two	4	0	0	0	0	0	1[lower-alpha 1]	0	5	0
Bolton Wanderers	2012–13[22]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Colchester United (loan)	2013–14[23]	League One	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
Southend United (loan)	2013–14[23]	League Two	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Southend United	2014–15[24]	League Two	23	1	0	0	0	0	3[lower-alpha 2]	0	26	1
	2015–16[25]	League One	22	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	25	0
	Southend total		45	1	1	0	1	0	4	0	51	1
Bury (loan)	2015–16[25]	League One	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
Fleetwood Town[26]	2016–17	League One	33	5	6	1	1	0	3[lower-alpha 3]	0	43	6
	2017-18	League One	41	3	5	2	1	0	2[lower-alpha 1]	1	49	6
	2018-19	League One	11	1	2	0	2	0	2[lower-alpha 1]	0	17	1
	Fleetwood total		85	9	13	3	4	0	8	0	110	12
Lincoln City[27]	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
	Lincoln total		45	1	1	0	2	0	2	0	50	1
Career total			237	13	17	3	8	0	14	1	276	17

1. Appearance in the Football League Trophy
2. Appearances in the League Two play-offs
3. Two appearances in the Football League Trophy and one in the League One play-offs

References

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 - Lincoln City". www.weareimps.com. Lincoln City F.C. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
4. "Player Details: Cian Bolger". English National Football Archive. Missing or empty |url= (help)
5. "Bristol Rovers sign Leicester defender Bolger on loan". BBC Sport. 17 January 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
6. "Walsall 6 – 1 Bristol Rovers". BBC Sport. 29 January 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
7. "Rochdale 3 – 1 Bristol Rovers". BBC Sport. 8 February 2011.
8. "Leicester City's Cian Bolger returns to Bristol Rovers". BBC Sport. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
9. "Bristol Rovers defender Cian Bolger ruled out for three months". BBC Sport. 11 September 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
10. "Bolton: Medo Kamara, Cian Bolger & Steve De Ridder sign". BBC Sport. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
11. "Bolger deal confirmed". Bolton Wanderers FC. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
12. "Colchester United sign Bolton's Cian Bolger". BBC Sport. 24 October 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
13. "News: Cian Bolger joins Southend United". Southend United FC. 21 February 2014.
14. "Bolton Wanderers: Cian Bolger's Southend United loan ends". BBC Sport. 24 February 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
15. "Cian Bolger: Fleetwood Town sign former Southend United centre-back". BBC Sport. 22 May 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
16. "Fleetwood 4–1 Southport". BBC Sport. 15 November 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
17. "Imps sign Irishman from The Cod Army". weareimps.com. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
18. Shepka, Phil (23 May 2015). "Southend United 1–1 Wycombe Wanderers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
19. "League Two: 2018/19: Current table". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
    "Lincoln: Squad details: 2018/19". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
20. "Games played by Cian Bolger in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
21. "Games played by Cian Bolger in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
22. "Games played by Cian Bolger in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
23. "Games played by Cian Bolger in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
24. "Games played by Cian Bolger in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
25. "Games played by Cian Bolger in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
26. Cian Bolger at Soccerway. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
27. "Republic of Ireland - C. Bolger - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 10 August 2019.

External links

• Cian Bolger at Soccerbase
• Republic of Ireland profile at Soccer Scene