Artur Boruc

Artur Boruc (; born 20 February 1980) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

He began his career in the Polish third division with hometown club Pogoń Siedlce. He joined Ekstraklasa team Legia Warsaw in 1999 and, whilst still a reserve, had a spell on loan at Dolcan Ząbki in 2000. Boruc broke through to the Legia first team in 2002 and by 2003 had become the club's first choice goalkeeper. In the summer of 2005, he joined Scottish Premier League side Celtic. In his five years in Glasgow, Boruc made 221 appearances for the club, winning the league three times, the Scottish Cup twice. Celtic fans nicknamed Boruc 'The Holy Goalie' for his devout Catholicism. He moved to Italy in 2010 to join Fiorentina, spending two years at the Serie A club before returning to Britain in 2012 to sign for Premier League side Southampton, moving to Bournemouth in 2015 after a season on loan. In June 2022, Boruc retired from professional football.

Boruc made his international debut against the Republic of Ireland in April 2004 and became a regular in the Polish international squad, earning 65 caps. He represented the nation at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2008 and UEFA Euro 2016. In November 2017, Boruc retired from international football.

Club career

Pogoń Siedlce

Born in Siedlce, Boruc began his career in 1998 at Pogoń Siedlce, in his hometown.

Legia Warsaw

The next season Boruc joined Legia Warsaw, initially playing for the reserve team, as well as being loaned out in 2000 for half a season to Dolcan Ząbki.

On 8 March 2002, Boruc played his first league match for Legia when he came on as a substitute during a 2–2 draw against Pogoń Szczecin. This unexpected debut was due to an injury sustained by Bulgarian goalkeeper, Radostin Stanev, during the game. Boruc played in Legia's next four league matches and kept clean sheets against Wisła Kraków and Odra Wodzisław, although Stanev regained his place in the side upon his return from injury for the remaining league and cup fixtures. Legia went on to win the Ekstraklasa title that season for the first time in seven years.

In the second half of the following season, 2002–03, Boruc established himself as the club's first choice goalkeeper where he played in 11 of the club's last 15 league fixtures. Legia lost only 1 of these 11 matches and Boruc kept 5 clean sheets, although Legia only managed to finish fourth.

By the 2003–04 season, Boruc was very much a first-pick for Legia and played in all 26 of their league fixtures. In June 2004, Boruc scored his only goal for the club, converting a penalty kick in a home game against Widzew Łódź (final score: 6–0) and then celebrated by waving the corner flag. Legia finished second in the league and qualified for the following season's UEFA Cup. Boruc also made his first appearance for Poland in April 2004, playing in a scoreless draw against the Republic of Ireland.

The 2004–05 season saw Boruc remain Legia's key player and a fan-favourite, again playing in all of the club's league fixtures. Boruc's performances for Legia saw the club extend his contract up to 2012. In March 2005, Boruc was made captain of the side. However, it was another disappointing league campaign for Legia, as they came a distant third behind Wisła Kraków who finished as champions for the third year in a row. Legia's UEFA Cup run was also relatively brief, disposing of FC Tbilisi 7–0 on aggregate in a relatively easy qualifying tie before going out 1–4 on aggregate in the first-round proper to Austria Wien. Despite the lack of silverware, Boruc's form was attracting attention from abroad by the summer of 2005.

Celtic

On 20 July 2005, Boruc signed with Scottish club Celtic. The deal was initially a year's loan, with an option to make it permanent. The move was later made permanent, with Boruc penning a three-and-a-half-year contract on 17 October until 2009. On 5 January 2008, it was reported that Boruc had signed a new contract with Celtic set to keep him at the club until 2011.

Boruc made his debut for Celtic on 2 August 2005 when he replaced David Marshall for the second leg of their UEFA Champions League qualifier tie against Slovakian side Artmedia Bratislava. Celtic won 4–0, but having lost the first leg 5–0 still went out on aggregate. Boruc quickly established himself as first-choice keeper at Celtic, displaying a combination of outstanding shot-stopping, immense self-belief and, at times, outright arrogance. Indeed, gestures allegedly made by Boruc towards Rangers fans at Ibrox Stadium on 12 February 2006 later resulted in the player being cautioned by the police. In his first season, he made 40 appearances and kept 17 clean sheets. Boruc also added to his winner's medals collection as Celtic won the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish League Cup, the latter after beating Dunfermline Athletic 3–0.

Boruc continued his fine form for Celtic the following season. On 21 November 2006, in a UEFA Champions League match against Manchester United at Celtic Park, Boruc helped Celtic through to the knockout stage of the competition by saving Louis Saha's 89th-minute penalty. Indeed, Boruc succeeded in keeping a clean sheet in each of Celtic's three home Champions League group stages games (Copenhagen 1–0, Benfica 3–0 and Manchester United 1–0). He was named player of the month for December 2006 in the Scottish Premier League, a very uncommon event for a goalkeeper. His form was also recognised with a nomination for the Scottish PFA Players' Player of the Year award for 2007. The season culminated in more silverware for Boruc as Celtic retained their Scottish Premier League title and defeated Dunfermline 1–0 on 26 May 2007 to win the Scottish Cup