Cian Thomas Bolger (born 12 March 1992) is an Irish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a defender for

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight Roll-on/ro ...

Club career

Leicester City

Bolger was born in

Celbridge Celbridge (; ) is a town and townland on the River Liffey in County Kildare, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is west of Dublin. Both a local centre and a commuter town within the Greater Dublin Area, it is located at the intersection of the ...

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

, Ireland, and was Leicester City's academy Player of the Year in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Loans to Bristol Rovers

He made his debut in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

while on loan at

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

, when he came on as a 78th-minute substitute for Carl Regan in a 6–1 defeat to

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

on 29 January 2011. 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 Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

player

Chris O'Grady Christopher James O'Grady (born 25 January 1986) is an English footballer striker who plays for Grantham Town. O'Grady notably played professionally for Leicester City, Rotherham United, Oldham Athletic, Rochdale, Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsl ...

. On 11 July, Bolger returned to Bristol Rovers on a 6-month loan deal. 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 Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area i ...

, which prevented him from playing for over 3 months. 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 Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

. 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 Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

and made 4 league appearances.

Southend United (loan)

On 21 February 2014, Bolger joined

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

on a 28-day loan, but his loan spell was cut short after just one appearance due to an ankle injury on 24 February 2014.

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. He scored his first goal for Fleetwood in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

tie against

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

on 15 November 2016.

Lincoln City

Bolger signed for Lincoln City on 17 January 2019.

Northampton Town

Bolger signed a one-year contract at Northampton Town on 21 August 2020 ahead of the 2020/21 campaign.

Larne

After a single season at Northampton, Bolger signed for

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and colloquially as the Irish League or Irish Premiership, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northe ...

club Larne on 5 July 2021.

Honours

Southend United *

Football League Two play-offs The EFL League Two play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from fourth to seventh in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are part of the annual Engli ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Lincoln City *

EFL League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

: 2018–19 Larne *

County Antrim Shield The County Antrim & District Football Association Senior Shield (more commonly known as the County Antrim Shield) is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster Foo ...

: 2021-22

Career statistics

References

External links

*
Republic of Ireland profile
at Soccer Scene {{DEFAULTSORT:Bolger, Cian 1992 births Living people People from Celbridge Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers Association football defenders Leicester City F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Bury F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Larne F.C. players English Football League players