Roger Boli
French footballer (born 1965)
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Roger Zokou Boli (born 26 September 1965) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward for clubs in the French and British leagues. Born in Ivory Coast, he represented France at youth level. He is currently a sports agent.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Roger Zokou Boli[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 26 September 1965 | ||
| Place of birth | Adjamé, Ivory Coast | ||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1984–1988 | Auxerre | 55 | (5) |
| 1988–1989 | Lille | 25 | (5) |
| 1989–1996 | Lens | 229 | (67) |
| 1996–1997 | Le Havre | 26 | (4) |
| 1997–1998 | Walsall | 41 | (12) |
| 1998 | Dundee United | 3 | (0) |
| 1998–1999 | AFC Bournemouth | 6 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| France U21 | 1 | (0) | |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Career
Roger Boli started his career with Auxerre, where he spent four seasons. A season at Lille followed, before a long spell with Lens. During his seven seasons with the club, Boli won promotion to Ligue 1, and finished joint-top scorer in the 1993–94 season. A season was spent with Le Havre, before moving to England with Walsall in 1997. Boli's twelve league goals with the Saddlers drew attention from Scottish side Dundee United and Boli moved north in a £150,000 deal in 1998. Injuries restricted him to just three league appearances, although he did score once in the Scottish League Cup against Stirling Albion,[2] and within three months a £100,000 move saw him head to AFC Bournemouth. Boli's seven appearances would be his last before retiring in the summer of 1999.
In May 2001, Boli arranged a benefit match – Le Jubilé de Roger Boli – which saw past and present Lens players play against a team of French superstars (Zinedine Zidane, Marcel Desailly, Patrick Vieira, Eric Cantona, Jean-Pierre Papin, etc.). Lens won 7–2, with the match proceeds going to the Raoul-Follereau association.
Personal life
Boli holds Ivorian and French nationalities.[3]
He is the brother of the French former footballer Basile Boli, and uncle of the Ivorian footballer Yannick Boli. His sons, Charles, Yohan, and Kevin are also professional footballers.[4]
Career statistics
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Auxerre | 1984–85 | Division 1 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 1 | ||
| 1985–86 | Division 1 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | 2[a] | 0 | 20 | 3 | ||
| 1986–87 | Division 1 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 3 | — | — | 15 | 4 | |||
| 1987–88 | Division 1 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 1[a] | 0 | 19 | 0 | ||
| Total | 55 | 4 | 6 | 3 | — | 3 | 0 | 64 | 7 | |||
| Lille | 1988–89 | Division 1 | 25 | 5 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 28 | 6 | ||
| Lens | 1989–90 | Division 2B | 33 | 16 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 16 | ||
| 1990–91 | Division 2B | 31 | 11 | 1 | 0 | — | 5[b] | 4 | 37 | 15 | ||
| 1991–92 | Division 1 | 33 | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 35 | 4 | |||
| 1992–93 | Division 1 | 31 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 33 | 3 | |||
| 1993–94 | Division 1 | 35 | 20 | 4 | 2 | — | — | 39 | 22 | |||
| 1994–95 | Division 1 | 38 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 42 | 9 | ||
| 1995–96 | Division 1 | 28 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4[a] | 2 | 34 | 6 | |
| Total | 229 | 67 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 254 | 75 | ||
| Le Havre | 1996–97 | Division 1 | 26 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 28 | 4 | |
| Walsall | 1997–98[5] | Division Two | 41 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 6[c] | 6 | 57 | 24 |
| Dundee United | 1998–99[6] | Premier League | 3 | 0 | — | 2 | 1 | — | 5 | 1 | ||
| AFC Bournemouth | 1998–99[6] | Division Two | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[c] | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Career total | 385 | 92 | 26 | 10 | 13 | 3 | 19 | 12 | 443 | 117 | ||
- Appearance(s) in Division 2 promotion play-offs
- Appearance(s) in the Football League Trophy
Honours
Individual
- Ligue 1 Golden Boot: 1993–94
- PFA Team of the Year: 1997–98 Second Division[7]
