Nigel Boogaard ( ; born 14 August 1986) is a former Australian 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 ...

who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

in the A-League. Boogaard currently plays for Charlestown Azzurri in the Northern NSW Football

National Premier Leagues The National Premier Leagues (NPL) is a national association football competition in Australia which acts as the second tier of the sport in the country below the A-League. The NPL consists of the highest level state league in each state-based ...

competition.

Club career

Central Coast Mariners

Coming from the Weston Workers Bears, Boogaard has had a rollercoaster career. He scored his first A-League goal for the Mariners in a match against bitter rivals

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australian ...

on 14 August 2009 (also his 23rd birthday). It was a miscued header off the shoulder after poor defending and the keeper dropped it over the line.

Adelaide United

Boogaard signed with

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was founded in 2003 to fil ...

on 6 November 2009 and joined them for their upcoming AFC Champions League campaign. On 8 May 2012, it was announced that Boogaard had signed for a further two years with Adelaide United. On 20 July 2013, Boogaard started for the A-League All Stars in the inaugural A-League All Stars Game against Manchester United, a match in which the A-League All Stars were thrashed 5-1, courtesy of goals from

Danny Welbeck Daniel Nii Tackie Mensah Welbeck (born 26 November 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Brighton & Hove Albion. Welbeck made his way through the youth teams at Manchester United before making his senio ...

Jesse Lingard Jesse Ellis Lingard (born 15 December 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for club Nottingham Forest and the England national team. He has won the UEFA Europa League, FA Cup, FA Communi ...

and

Robin van Persie Robin van Persie (; born 6 August 1983) is a Dutch football coach and former professional footballer who played as a striker. Regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation, Van Persie was known for his excellent technique and ball c ...

. Boogaard, along with

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat. Brisba ...

forward

Besart Berisha Besart Berisha (born 29 July 1985) is a Kosovan retired professional footballer who played as a striker. Club career Youth and Hamburger SV Berisha began his youth career at German side Berliner VB 49 academies at age of 9. He then moved to var ...

, were the only players to play out the full match.

Newcastle Jets

Boogaard signed a three-year deal with his hometown club, the

, on 16 February 2015.

Retirement

On the 11th of June, 2021, Boogaard announced that he would retire, ending his sixteen-year playing career. As of this date, Boogaard is currently completing "his coaching badges", stating his plans to "give back to the game in some way".

Charlestown Azzurri

Nigel joined Charlestown Azzurri FC for the 2022

National Premier Leagues Northern NSW The National Premier Leagues Northern NSW is a regional Australian Professional association football league comprising teams from Northern New South Wales. As a subdivision of the National Premier Leagues, the league sits at Level 1 on the Nort ...

season, alongside another former

A-League Men 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 competit ...

's player in Jacob Melling. Fellow former

player,

Taylor Regan Taylor Francis George Regan (born 16 November 1988) is an Australian football (soccer) player who plays as a defender for Charlestown Azzurri. Career Newcastle Jets Regan joined the Jets as part of the youth system in 2008 from state league ...

, joined Nigel halfway through the season.

Career statistics

₁Includes

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 Austral ...

A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup The A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup competition was an annual soccer tournament held for all A-League clubs in July and August in the lead up to the start of the A-League season. The competition featured a group stage and a knockout stage. ...

Honours

Club

;

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

International

;

Australia national football team Australia national soccer team may refer to: * Australia men's national soccer team ** Australia men's national under-23 soccer team ** Australia men's national under-20 soccer team ** Australia men's national under-17 soccer team ** Australia men' ...

OFC U-17 Championship The OFC U-16 Championship is a biennial football tournament for players under the age of 16. The tournament decides the only two qualification spots for the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and its representatives at the FIFA U-17 World Cup, w ...

: 2003 Individual * A-League All Stars: 2013

References

External links

Adelaide United profile

FFA – Olyroo profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boogaard, Nigel 1986 births Living people Soccer players from Sydney Australian people of Dutch descent Australia men's youth international soccer players A-League Men players National Soccer League (Australia) players Central Coast Mariners FC players Adelaide United FC players Newcastle Jets FC players Men's association football defenders Australian men's soccer players Newcastle Breakers FC players