Clint Brian Bolton (born 22 August 1975) is an Australian former
goalkeeper
In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...
. He was one of the most experienced goalkeepers in the history of the
National Soccer League
The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...
, which preceded the
A-League
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
. He played over 300 games for
Brisbane Strikers
Brisbane Strikers Football Club is an Australian semi-professional football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in 1991 as Brisbane United, the club competed in the National Soccer League until the 2003–04 season and was one of two ...
,
Sydney Olympic FC
Sydney Olympic Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club, based in Belmore, Sydney, New South Wales, that plays in the National Premier Leagues NSW. The Club was founded as Pan-Hellenic Soccer Club in 1957 by Greek immigrant ...
and
Parramatta Power
Parramatta Power Soccer Club were a professional association football club who were based in the Western Sydney city of Parramatta. They played in the National Soccer League from season 1999-00 until the league folded in 2004. The Power were ...
, and won two A-League championships with
Sydney FC
Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...
.
Club career
Brisbane Strikers
Clint Bolton began his career at the Brisbane Strikers in 1993 signing for the club after spending a year at the
Australian Institute of Sport
The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...
. He spent seven seasons at the club making 178 appearances for the Brisbane Strikers, keeping 51 clean sheets. He also won the
National Soccer League
The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...
final in 1997 with the club. In 2000, Bolton signed for Sydney Olympic FC.
Sydney Olympic FC
Sydney Olympic FC was Clint Bolton's second club and he spent three seasons at the club making 95 appearances for the club making 32 clean sheets. In the 2001/02 National Soccer League competition, Sydney Olympic FC won the NSL title. The club also made it to the NSL final in the 2002/03 season, but were defeated by
Perth Glory
Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues.
Founded in 19 ...
in the final. After three seasons at the club, Bolton signed for the Parramatta Power.
Parramatta Power
Parramatta signed Bolton in 2003 after Bolton had spent the previous three seasons at Sydney Olympic FC. He played one season for the club making 27 appearances and keeping 11 clean sheets. In the final National Soccer League competition in 2003/04, Parramatta made it to the NSL Grand Final against the Perth Glory. The winner would be the final winner of the National Soccer League competition which had been running since 1977. Clint Bolton was making his 300th NSL appearance and it was to be his last. The Parramatta Power lost the game in extra-time 1–0 to Perth Glory in the final game of the season and the final game of the NSL competition. After the NSL competition had folded, Bolton was looking for another club to keep his match practice and fitness. He opted to sign for firstly
Fraser Park FC
Fraser Park FC, is an Australian soccer club with teams competing at all grades of the National Premier Leagues NSW and in various divisions of the Canterbury District Soccer Football Association. The club also has teams participating in the Fo ...
where he made 10 appearances and afterwards he signed for
APIA Leichhardt
APIA Leichhardt Football Club, also known simply as APIA (Associazione Poli-sportiva Italo Australiana), is a semi-professional soccer club based in the suburb of Leichhardt, New South Wales, Leichhardt in Sydney, Australia. The club was formed ...
. He then went on to sign for Sydney FC for the inaugural A-League season.
Sydney FC
Clint Bolton signed for Sydney FC from APIA Leichhardt for the inaugural A-League season. He made his Sydney FC league debut against the
Melbourne Victory
Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory e ...
on 28 August 2005. He helped his side to the inaugural Hyundai A-League Grand Final against the
Central Coast Mariners
Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Ma ...
in which Sydney FC won by one goal to nil. He played every game throughout the season in the league (24 games) for Sydney FC making 5 clean sheets. He was voted as Sydney FC player of the year for the 2005–06 season ahead of the other nominees
Dwight Yorke
Dwight Eversley Yorke CM (born 3 November 1971) is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian former professional footballer and current manager of Australian A-League club Macarthur FC. Throughout his club career, he played for Aston Villa, Manchester Unit ...
,
Alvin Ceccoli
Alvin Ceccoli (; born 5 August 1974) is an Australian footballer who played for three A-League clubs (Sydney FC, Central Coast Mariners and Adelaide United) and was capped internationally for Australia.
Club career
Alvin Ceccoli is of Sammarine ...
and
David Carney
David Raymond Carney (born 30 November 1983) is an Australian former association football midfielder and who is incoming coach for 2023 season NPL NSW side Wollongong Wolves FC.
Born in Sydney, he began his playing career with the New South Wa ...
. On receiving the honour Bolton stated
"It is always an honour to win an award like this, especially when it is voted on by your team mates. It has been a great year for Sydney FC, winning the Championships and doing well at the Club World Championships, and to receive this award is very flattering. We have all worked incredibly hard over the last 13 months since we started training and to be singled out amongst the players we have is special."
On 1 January 2007 he achieved a record 5 consecutive clean sheets, beating Central Coast Stopper Danny Vukovic's record of 4. He again played every match of the A-League season in
2006–07 for Sydney, and is currently the club's highest capped player. Bolton was only the 2nd player to reach 100 competitive games for the Sky Blues when he played the first Pre-Season match against
Queensland Roar
Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional association football, soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record ...
. Clinton received a standing ovation and a guard of honour as he ran out. In a statement given after the 2–1 victory he said he was extremely happy to have reached the milestone and hopes he can continue his career with Sydney for another 3–5 years.
He will be remembered as long serving goalkeeper of Sydney FC. He will be remembered for the "Goalkeeper of the Year" in Season 2005–06 which Sydney won the Grand Final.
Melbourne Heart
On 16 February 2010, it was announced that Bolton had signed for the new
A-League
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
club
Melbourne Heart
Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the south–eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, that plays in the A-League, the top level of Australian soccer, under licence from Australian Profession ...
as the team's inaugural goalkeeper. He played in every minute of the Heart's thirty matches in its first season in the A-League, and earned seven
clean sheet
In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball.
Shutouts are usuall ...
s along the way.
He was accoladed for his efforts at the end of the season by receiving the club's 'player of the year' award.
As a result of the Heart finishing second-to-last on the A-League ladder, their worst finish in an A-League season, Bolton, along with teammates
Simon Colosimo
Simon Colosimo (born 8 January 1979) is an Australian former soccer player who played as a centre back and defensive midfielder.
He spent two years playing in Europe with spells in the Premier League with Manchester City and in the Belgian Fir ...
,
Matt Thompson and
Fred
Fred may refer to:
People
* Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name
Mononym
* Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French
* Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Frederico Ro ...
, were released by the Heart at the conclusion of the
2012–13 A-League season. Bolton joined Melbourne Heart as Strategic Projects Manager in July 2013.
Club career statistics
Source: worldfootball.net
football-lineups.com
/small>
A. Includes the Pre-Season Challenge Cup (2005–2008) and the
FFA Cup
The Australia Cup, formerly known as the FFA Cup until the 2021 season, is the national football knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia, formerly known as Football Federation Australia ...
.
B. For the purposes of this table, "Asia" also includes the
Oceania Club Championship (OFC).
C. "Other" matches include OFC Club Championship Australian Qualifying Tournament,
Club World Cup
The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...
and the
Pan-Pacific Championships
International career
Bolton was part of the
Australian Under-20 squad for the
1995 FIFA World Youth Championship
The 1995 FIFA World Youth Championship, known as the 1995 FIFA/Coca-Cola World Youth Championship for sponsorship purposes, was the 10th edition of the FIFA World Youth Championship. It was held in Qatar from 13 to 28 April 1995. The tournament too ...
in Qatar. He also appeared for the
Olyroos
The Australia national under-23 soccer team represents Australia in international under-23 soccer and at the Olympic Games. The team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia (FA), which is currently a membe ...
in qualifiers for the
1996 Olympic Games
The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
, but was not included in the squad for the final tournament. He made his senior international debut for
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
against
Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
in 2000, and was a squad member when Australia won the
2000 OFC Nations Cup
The 2000 OFC Nations Cup was held in Papeete, Tahiti. The six participating teams were Australia and New Zealand who qualified as of right, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu who qualified from the Melanesia Cup, the Cook Islands and Tahiti who qua ...
. He subsequently represented Australia against
Tonga
Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...
and
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
in 2001, keeping clean sheets in all of his three international appearances.
On 16 August 2006, Bolton was recalled to the Socceroos side, after 20 appearances on the bench over the years, in a second-string Australian line-up for an
Asian Cup qualifier against
Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
. He kept a clean sheet and helped Australia to a 2–0 win.
National team statistics
Honours
Club
;
Brisbane Strikers
Brisbane Strikers Football Club is an Australian semi-professional football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in 1991 as Brisbane United, the club competed in the National Soccer League until the 2003–04 season and was one of two ...
*
NSL Championship:
1996–97
;
Sydney Olympic
Sydney Olympic Football Club is an Australian semi-professional association football, soccer club, based in Belmore, New South Wales, Belmore, Sydney, New South Wales, that plays in the National Premier Leagues NSW. The Club was founded as Pan- ...
*
NSL Championship:
2001–02
;
Sydney FC
Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...
*
A-League Championship
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professionalism in association football, professional men's association football, soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Austral ...
:
2005–06,
2009–10
*
A-League Premiership:
2009–10
*
Oceania Club Championship
The OFC Champions League, also known as the O-League, is the premier men's club soccer competition in Oceania. It is organised by the OFC, Oceania's football governing body. Beginning as the Oceania Club Championship (1987–2006), it has been ...
:
2004–05
Country
;
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
*
OFC Nations Cup
The OFC Nations Cup is an international association football tournament held among the OFC member nations. It was held every two years from 1996 to 2004; before 1996 there were two other tournaments held at irregular intervals, under the name ...
:
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
*
OFC U-20 Championship
The OFC U-19 Championship is a tournament held once every two years to decide the under-19 champions of Oceania and also decides who will represent Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) at the biennial FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Between 1974 and 2012, ...
:
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
Individual
*
A-League Goalkeeper of the Year
The A-League Men Goalkeeper of the Year is an annual soccer award presented to the best goalkeeper in the A-League Men. The award is determined by a panel of experts.
The A-League was founded in 2005 to replace the semi-professional National Socc ...
:
2005–06
*
Sydney FC
Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...
Player of the Year:
2005–06
*
Melbourne Heart
Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the south–eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, that plays in the A-League, the top level of Australian soccer, under licence from Australian Profession ...
Player of the Year:
2010–11, 2011-12
*
PFA A-League Team of the Season:
2011–12
*
Sydney FC Hall of Fame: 2015
*
Sydney FC Team of the Decade: 2006-2015
References
External links
Oz Football profileClint Bolton Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolton, Clint
1975 births
Living people
People from Bundaberg
Australian soccer players
Australia international soccer players
Australia youth international soccer players
Brisbane Strikers FC players
Sydney Olympic FC players
Parramatta Power players
Sydney FC players
Melbourne City FC players
A-League Men players
Association football goalkeepers
National Soccer League (Australia) players
APIA Leichhardt FC players
Australian Institute of Sport soccer players
Melbourne City FC non-playing staff
Fraser Park FC players
2000 OFC Nations Cup players
2001 FIFA Confederations Cup players
Australian expatriate sportspeople in England