Roger Zokou Boli (born 26 September 1965) is a former 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 le ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for clubs in the French and British leagues. Born in Ivory Coast, he represented France at youth level. He is currently a sports agent.

Career

Roger Boli started his career with AJ Auxerre, where he spent four seasons. A season at

Lille OSC Lille Olympique Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as LOSC, LOSC Lille or simply Lille, is a French professional football club based in Lille, Hauts-de-France that competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French football. Lille has played its ...

followed, before a long spell with RC Lens. During his seven seasons with the club, Boli won promotion to

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

, 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, and within three months a £100,000 move saw him head to

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

. 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 Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached Spanish club Real Madrid and is one of the most ...

, Marcel Desailly, Patrick Vieira, Eric Cantona,

Jean-Pierre Papin Jean-Pierre Roger Guillaume Papin (born 5 November 1963) is a French football manager and former professional player who played as a forward. He was named the Ballon d'Or and IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer of the Year in 1991. Papin was known for ...

, etc.). Lens won 7–2, with the match proceeds going to the Raoul-Follereau association.

Personal life

Boli holds Ivorian and French nationalities. He is the brother of the French former footballer Basile Boli, and uncle of the Ivorian footballer

Yannick Boli Yannick Toapri Boli (born 13 January 1988) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football)#Striker, forward. His previous clubs include Paris Saint-Germain F.C., Paris Saint-Germain, Le Ha ...

. His sons,

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

, Yohan, and Kevin are also professional footballers.

Honours

Individual *

Golden Boot: 1993–94 *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

: 1997–98 Second Division

References

External links

Interview
(''Translated from French'')

(''Translated from French'') * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boli, Roger 1965 births Living people Footballers from Abidjan Men's association football forwards Ivorian men's footballers French men's footballers France men's under-21 international footballers Ivorian emigrants to France Dundee United F.C. players Walsall F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Lille OSC players AJ Auxerre players Le Havre AC players RC Lens players Ligue 1 players Scottish Premier League players French expatriate men's footballers Ivorian expatriate men's footballers Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Scotland French expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in England Boli family

Career

Personal life

Honours

See also

References

External links