Stuart Boardley (born 14 February 1985) is an English former professional footballer. He played professionally for

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

and is currently manager of Felixstowe & Walton United.

Personal life

Boardley was born in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

and is the younger brother of the four time

Hot Rods (oval racing) Hot Rods refers to a number of British oval racing formula (not to be confused with hot rods, which are generally road-going modified vintage cars). Hot Rod racing was introduced at Hednesford Hills Raceway in the early 1960s as a British counterp ...

World Champion Carl Boardley. Boardley attended Northgate High School in Ipswich and left school with GCSEs and A-Levels to pursue a career in football. He recently married his childhood sweetheart Gemma Smith.

Playing career

Boardley, a midfielder, began his career as a trainee with

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn professio ...

. His traineeship was extended due to injuries received in a car crash, but he was released in May 2004 without playing in the first team. Leroy Rosenior took him to

in August 2004 and he signed a contract the following month. He made his Torquay debut on 28 September in the 4–3 win at home to Yeovil Town in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

. and shortly afterwards signed a contract. His league debut came on 2 October, in a 1–1 draw away to

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standin ...

. He played many more times in the league for Torquay, and once in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

(a 2–0 defeat away to non-league Hinckley United), before being released in May 2005 following Torquay's relegation. In the 2005 close-season he joined non-League side

Long Melford Long Melford, colloquially and historically also referred to as Melford, is a large village and civil parish in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is on Suffolk's border with Essex, which is marked by the River Stour, ...

, but chose to leave in November 2005, moving to

Leiston Leiston ( ) is an English town in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk non-metropolitan district of Suffolk, near Saxmundham and Aldeburgh, about from the North Sea coast, north-east of Ipswich and north-east of London. The town had a po ...

, managed by former

and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

player Jason Dozzell, later the same month. In June 2007, a fee was agreed which saw Boardley move to

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

promotion chasers AFC Sudbury. Following the managerial resignation of Mark Morsley he rejoined Leiston for a second spell in June 2008. In October 2008, Boardley scored twice as Leiston beat

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

side

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre ...

in the Fourth Qualifying Round of the

, ensuring a place in the First Round proper for Leiston for the first time in their history. At that time he was reported to be working as a

quantity surveyor A quantity surveyor (QS) is a construction industry professional with expert knowledge on construction costs and contracts. Qualified professional quantity surveyors are known as Chartered Surveyors (Members and Fellows of RICS) in the UK and Cer ...

for Brooks and Wood Ltd. He joined Felixstowe & Walton United in 2017.

Managerial career

In October 2018 Boardley announced his retirement from playing football. Later in the same week he was appointed manager of

, having previously been assistant to Richard Wilkins at the club during his second playing spell at the club. He left Leiston in September 2019, and was appointed manager of Felixstowe & Walton United in October.Former Leiston boss takes over at Felixstowe & Walton as the new manager
East Anglian Daily Times, 6 October 2019

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boardley, Stuart 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Ipswich English footballers Association football midfielders Ipswich Town F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Long Melford F.C. players Leiston F.C. players A.F.C. Sudbury players Felixstowe & Walton United F.C. players English football managers Leiston F.C. managers Felixstowe & Walton United F.C. managers