James Bolton (footballer)

James William Bolton (born 13 August 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for St Mirren.

James Bolton
Personal information
Full name James William Bolton[1]
Date of birth (1994-08-13) 13 August 1994[2]
Place of birth Stone, England[3]
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2]
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 St Mirren
Number 2
Youth career
Stoke City
Macclesfield Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2014 Macclesfield Town 10 (0)
2012 → Workington (loan) 13 (1)
2012–2013 → Stafford Rangers (loan) ? (1)
2013 → Halifax Town (loan) 7 (3)
2014 → Halifax Town (loan) 12 (1)
2014–2016 Halifax Town 79 (7)
2016–2017 Gateshead 39 (1)
2017–2019 Shrewsbury Town 64 (2)
2019–2021 Portsmouth 36 (2)
2021–2023 Plymouth Argyle 19 (1)
2023– St Mirren 0 (0)
International career
2015–2016 England C 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13:53, 10 May 2023 (UTC)

Career

Non-league

Born in Stone, Staffordshire, Bolton spent seven years as a youth player at Stoke City. He then joined Macclesfield Town at the age of sixteen.[4]

On 23 August 2012, Bolton and teammate André da Costa were loaned to Workington of the Conference North for a month.[5] The deal was extended until the new year, and he made 14 total appearances, scoring the equaliser in a 2–1 home win over Hinckley United on 29 September.

Bolton was sent out again in December 2012 to Stafford Rangers, signing for a month to the Northern Premier League Premier Division club.[6] He then joined F.C. Halifax Town on loan on 28 March, for the rest of the season.[7] He scored three goals in seven games for the Shaymen, all within seven days in mid-April.[8]

In 2013–14, Bolton made ten Conference National appearances for Macclesfield before being loaned back to Halifax in the same league on 30 January, for the second half of the season.[9] On 2 July 2014, the deal was made permanent for an undisclosed contract length.[10] After being part of the Halifax squad which won the FA Trophy but were also relegated from the National League, he joined Gateshead on a three-year deal in May 2016.[11]

Shrewsbury Town

After one season at Gateshead, Bolton joined League One side Shrewsbury Town in July 2017 for an undisclosed fee, signing a two-year deal.[12] He made his English Football League debut on 5 August in a 1−0 home victory over Northampton Town.[13]

On 29 August, Bolton was sent off for a foul on Jodi Jones as Shrewsbury won 3–2 at Coventry City in the EFL Trophy.[14] He scored his first goal for the Shrews on 27 January 2018, the only one of a win away to Portsmouth.[15] Bolton started in the EFL Trophy Final and League One play-off final, which his team lost to Lincoln City and Rotherham United respectively at Wembley Stadium.

In the 2018–19 FA Cup third round replay away to his childhood club Stoke, Bolton scored Shrewsbury's first goal as they overturned a 0–2 deficit in the last 19 minutes to win 3–2.[16] He was on target again in the next round's replay at Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers, albeit in a 3–2 loss on 5 February.[17]

Portsmouth

On 7 June 2019, Bolton signed for fellow League One team Portsmouth on a free transfer on a three-year deal after turning down an improved contract.[18] He made his debut on 3 August on his return to the New Meadow, as a 53rd-minute substitute for Anton Walkes in a 1–0 loss to Shrewsbury.[19]

Bolton scored his first goal for Pompey on 4 January 2020, opening a 2–1 win at Fleetwood Town in the third round of the FA Cup.[20] On 1 February, he recorded a first league goal in a 2–0 victory over Sunderland at Fratton Park.[21]

Plymouth Argyle

On 24 June 2021, Bolton signed for League One side Plymouth Argyle on a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee.[22]

He made just eight appearances in all competitions across the 2022–23 season as Argyle won promotion from League One as Champions, being released at the end of the season.[23]

St Mirren

Bolton signed for Scottish Premiership club St Mirren in July 2023.[24]

Personal life

On 21 March 2020, it was reported that Bolton and three Portsmouth teammates had tested positive for COVID-19 during the 2020 pandemic. None were reported to be seriously ill.[25]

Career statistics
As of end of 2022–23 season
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Macclesfield Town 2013–14[26] Conference National 10000–1[lower-alpha 1]0110
Workington (loan) 2012–13[26] Conference North 13110–00141
Halifax Town (loan) 2012–13[26] Conference North 7300–0073
Halifax Town (loan) 2013–14[26] Conference National 12100–2[lower-alpha 2]0141
Halifax Town 2014–15[26] Conference National 34400–2[lower-alpha 1]0364
2015–16[26] 45331–7[lower-alpha 1]0554
Total 797310090918
Gateshead 2016–17[26] National League 39100–2[lower-alpha 1]0411
Shrewsbury Town 2017–18[27] League One 33130107[lower-alpha 3]0441
2018–19[28] 28162103[lower-alpha 4]0383
Total 6129220100824
Portsmouth 2019–20 League One 231311060332
2020–21 131002050201
Total 3623131110533
Plymouth Argyle 2021–22 League One 130100000140
2022–23 6100002081
Total 191100020221
Career total 276181745037033522
  1. Appearances in the FA Trophy
  2. Appearances in the Conference play-offs
  3. Four appearances in the EFL Trophy, three appearances in the EFL League One play-offs
  4. Appearances in the EFL Trophy

Honours

Shrewsbury Town

Portsmouth

Plymouth Argyle

References
  1. "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2019" (PDF). English Football League. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  2. "James Bolton player Football Stats". Soccerbase. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  3. "Stone footballer James Bolton called up for England C". Staffordshire Newsletter. 9 March 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  4. "Bolton out to give Silkmen boss the best gift of all". Macclesfield Express. 21 August 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  5. "Macclesfield sign Preston striker Chris Holroyd on loan". BBC Sport. 25 August 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  6. Watters, David (21 December 2012). "Rangers Take Silkmen Defender On Loan". Northern Premier League. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  7. "Three Added To FC Halifax Town Squad". The Non-League Paper. 28 March 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  8. "Guiseley want to make a point at The Shay". The Telegraph & Argus. 18 April 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  9. Gilchrist, Kelly (30 January 2014). "James Bolton returns to The Shay". F.C. Halifax Town. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  10. "FC Halifax Town sign defender James Bolton". BBC Sport. 2 July 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  11. "James Bolton : Gateshead sign FC Halifax Town full back on three-year deal". BBC Sport. 27 May 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  12. "James Bolton: Shrewsbury sign Gateshead defender on two-year contract". BBC Sport. 20 July 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  13. "Shrewsbury Town 1-0 Northampton Town". BBC Sport. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  14. Cox, Lewis (29 August 2017). "Coventry City 2 Shrewsbury Town 3 - Report and pictures". Shropshire Star. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  15. "Portsmouth 0–1 Shrewsbury Town". BBC Sport. 27 January 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  16. "Two Shrewsbury Town goals scored with James Bolton's boots against Stoke City". BBC Sport. 16 January 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  17. Mann, Mantej (5 February 2019). "Wolverhampton Wanderers 3–2 Shrewsbury Town". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  18. "James Bolton: Portsmouth sign Shrewsbury defender on free transfer". BBC Sport. 7 June 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  19. Cox, Lewis (3 August 2019). "Shrewsbury Town 1 Portsmouth 0 - Report and pictures". Shropshire Star. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  20. "Fleetwood Town 1–2 Portsmouth". BBC Sport. 4 January 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  21. "Portsmouth 2–0 Sunderland". BBC Sport. 1 February 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  22. "Pilgrims Bag Bolton". www.pafc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  23. "Retained List". www.pafc.co.uk. 10 May 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  24. "St Mirren: Declan Gallagher sold to Dundee United and replaced with James Bolton". BBC Sport. 26 July 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  25. "Coronavirus: Portsmouth's James Bolton, Andy Cannon & Sean Raggett test positive". BBC Sport. 21 March 2020.
  26. James Bolton at Soccerway. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  27. "Games played by James Bolton in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  28. "Games played by James Bolton in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  29. Scott, Ged (8 April 2018). "Lincoln City 1–0 Shrewsbury Town". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  30. Williams, Adam (13 March 2021). "Portsmouth 0–0 Salford City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  31. "Plymouth beat Port Vale to win League One title". BBC Sport. 7 May 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  32. Pilnick, Brent (2 April 2023). "Bolton crush Plymouth to win Papa Johns Trophy". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
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