William Sam Douglas Harry Boyle (born 1 September 1995) is an English 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 lea ...

who plays as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for club

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

Early life and club career

Huddersfield Town

William Sam Douglas Harry Boyle was born on 1 September 1995 in

Garforth Garforth () is a town in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It sits in the Garforth and Swillington ward of Leeds City Council and the Leeds East parliamentary constituency. As of 2011, the population ...

, West Yorkshire. He attended Garforth Community College (now Garforth Academy) before joining

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

's academy at under-15 level from his local club Garforth Villa in October 2010. He was nearly ever-present for the under-18 team in the 2012–13 season. He made his first-team debut for Huddersfield as a late substitute in the 3–0 win against

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

on 24 February 2015. On 26 March 2015, he joined

Conference Premier The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National Leagues and step 1 of the National Le ...

(now

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

) club

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team competes in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system. Formed in ...

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

for the rest of the 2014–15 season, and made two appearances for the club. On 5 August, he joined National League club

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an association football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 and from 1891 played home games at Moss Rose. It competed in the short ...

on loan for two months. On 18 November 2015, Boyle joined League Two club

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

on a youth loan until 3 January 2016. He made his debut on 21 November 2015 when starting York's 3–2 away to

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

, in which he struggled to cope with the physicality of opponent striker Ollie Palmer. He struck up a partnership at centre-back with

Dave Winfield David Mark Winfield (born October 3, 1951) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) right fielder. He is the special assistant to the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. Over his 22-year career, he playe ...

, and despite York wanting to extend his loan Boyle returned to Huddersfield in January 2016. Having made only one appearance as a late substitute after returning to Huddersfield, he rejoined York on loan until the end of the 2015–16 season on 26 February 2016. In June 2016, Boyle joined

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

club

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

on a six-month loan. He scored on his debut, as Kilmarnock beat Clyde 2–1 in the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

on 16 July 2016. The goal came after he had earlier conceded a penalty, which was saved by Kilmarnock goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald. Boyle returned to Huddersfield in January 2017, having made 14 appearances and scored 1 goal for Kilmarnock.

Cheltenham Town

Boyle signed for League Two club

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...

on 9 January 2017 on a one-and-a-half-year contract. He made his debut in a 3–0 home victory over

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

on 14 January 2017. In April 2018, he signed a new contract to keep him at the club until June 2020. Boyle signed a new two-year contract at Cheltenham in May 2020. Following an impressive 2020–21 season, Boyle was named in the League Two Team of the Season and the

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 Football in England, En ...

for League Two.

Huddersfield Town return and Wrexham

On 6 June 2022, Boyle agreed to return to Championship club Huddersfield Town on a free transfer. He signed a two-year contract, effective from 1 July upon the expiration of his contract with Cheltenham. Boyle signed for newly promoted League Two club

on 13 July 2023 on a three-year contract. He made his debut on 12 August when starting Wrexham's 1–1 draw away to

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...

before scoring his first goal three days with a header in a 4–2 home win over

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

International career

Boyle's father is Scottish, and he attended a training camp for the Scotland national under-18 team in October 2012.

Career statistics

Honours

Cheltenham Town *

EFL League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Wrexham *

runner-up: 2023–24 *

EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

runner up:

2024-25 A coxless four, abbreviated as a 4- and also called a straight four, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars, without a coxswain. The crew consists of four ...

Individual * EFL League Two Team of the Season: 2020–21 *

: 2020–21 League Two

References

External links

Profile
at the Wrexham A.F.C. website {{DEFAULTSORT:Boyle, Will 1995 births Living people Sportspeople from Garforth Footballers from West Yorkshire English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players York City F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Scottish Professional Football League players English people of Scottish descent People educated at Garforth Academy 21st-century English sportsmen