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(s) | Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1984–1988 | Auxerre | 55 | (5) |
| 1988–1989 | Lille | 24 | (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 | 7 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| France U21 | 1 | (0) | |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Career
editRoger Boli started his career with AJ Auxerre, where he spent four seasons. A season at Lille OSC followed, before a long spell with RC 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 AC 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
editBoli 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]
Honours
editIndividual
- Ligue 1 Golden Boot: 1993–94
- PFA Team of the Year: 1997–98 Second Division[5]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Roger Boli". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
- ^ "This Week in History Archive". DundeeUnitedFC.co.uk. 8 August 1998. Archived from the original on 10 October 2007. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
- ^ https://www.ligue1.fr/joueur?id=roger-boli [bare URL]
- ^ Lemaître, Clément (20 October 2017). "Roger Boli : " Je n'oublierai jamais les supporters de Lens " | Foot d'avant".
- ^ Hugman, Barry J., ed. (1998). The 1998–99 Official PFA Footballers Factfile. Harpenden: Queen Anne Press. p. 352. ISBN 978-1-85291-588-9.
External links
edit- Interview (Translated from French)
- Roger Boli information (Translated from French)
- Roger Boli at Soccerbase
