Nigel Alan Bolton (born 14 January 1975) is an English former

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 lea ...

who played as a forward 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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

. Bolton was born in

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham, England, Durham. M ...

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

. He began his football career with Northern League club

Shildon Shildon is a town and civil parish in County Durham (district), County Durham, in England. The population taken at the 2011 Census was 9,976. The town has the Locomotion Museum, due to it having the first , built in 1825, and locomotive works on ...

, where his goalscoring attracted the attention of

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 Football League, 1920–21 and again from 1958–59 Football League, 1958 until 1991–92 Football League, 1992. When the FA Premier League ...

club

, for whom he made two league appearances in the 1994–95 season. He then returned to

non-league football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

, playing for West Auckland Town and Tow Law Town before rejoining Shildon in June 2001. Bolton, by then working as a postman and playing in midfield, helped Shildon reach the first round proper of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

for the first time in more than 40 years. They were drawn to play Division Two club

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

; Bolton played the first half and Shildon lost 7–2. He left Shildon in 2004 for Darlington Railway Athletic, and also played for Esh Winning, for whom he scored twice in his first two games.

References

1975 births Living people Footballers from Bishop Auckland English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Shildon A.F.C. players Darlington F.C. players West Auckland Town F.C. players Tow Law Town F.C. players Darlington Railway Athletic F.C. players Esh Winning F.C. players Northern Football League players English Football League players {{England-footy-forward-1970s-stub