Michael Boulding

Not often mentioned in the list of best players to play for Town but I just thought he was class.

At BP Tomorrow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVVcADzI9PI

Quick mick!

Always enjoyed watching him

Great balance, great pace but what a finisher. Superb.

Some cracking goals in there. More headers than i remember him scoring too.

Also funny to see the Burnley game where Gazza played at BP and there's a shot showing everyone wearing the red Conoco Stadium caps.

Probably a bit overlooked because of how he left us for Barnsley, at the time it stuck in the throat a little bit.

It was Aston Villa he left us for wasn't it? Although he did have a few spells with us if i remember rightly..

Loved Quick Mick. Maybe it'\s because i was younger and didn't read up on club news as much and it was pre social media, but it really felt like he came out of nowhere, no one had really heard of him, and in that first season he just seemed to hit the ground running as soon as he was given the chance.

Quoted from diehardmariner

Probably a bit overlooked because of how he left us for Barnsley, at the time it stuck in the throat a little bit.

Them bringing him on at 5-1 down 2 weeks after he left was pretty funny though.

Quoted from sam gy

It was Aston Villa he left us for wasn't it? Although he did have a few spells with us if i remember rightly..

Loved Quick Mick. Maybe it'\s because i was younger and didn't read up on club news as much and it was pre social media, but it really felt like he came out of nowhere, no one had really heard of him, and in that first season he just seemed to hit the ground running as soon as he was given the chance.

He didn't turn pro until his early 20's because he was also an excellent tennis player, and played part time until deciding on a football career. Probably why he was not that well known.

Left for Barnsley at the end of his second spell.  Town were getting dragged into a relegation scrap, despite hopes of a promotion push.  Just felt like bad timing when it happened and rumours that he had initiated the move.  How much truth was in that I don't know, probably important to remember that this was under a regime that had no hesitation in continually slamming Phil Jevons for not taking a pay-cut and then forcing him out in the cold until he did.  I remember reading something since that was along the lines of Boulding himself saying he only stayed because Paul Groves was here, as soon as he was sacked he wanted to leave.  He did, however, regret the decision to leave.

Boulding's goals were all that we had at the point he left, we were otherwise a very poor side.  Our only other brief hope came in the form of Alan Pouton if he could stay fit.  He was sold to Gillingham in the same week I think.  

Boulding's first spell he was on trial with us for ages having left Mansfield where he didn't exactly rip trees.  Lennie Lawrence loved bringing someone in on trial and eventually gave Boulding a short-term deal.  Mainly he was used on the left wing when he first came, the same position he usually adopted at Mansfield.  It was only towards the end of that season, with Groves now in charge, that Boulding got a sustained run up front and as a regular starter.  He and Bradley Allen became the preferred starting two and they just clicked.  Allen's know-how and intelligence was perfect for the raw yet pacy Boulding and survival was achieved.  

When he came back, initially on loan and then on a permanent deal, from Aston Villa he was a different player.  More clinical and efficient but lacked a yard of pace he had previously, in my eyes anyway.  Started really well but soon tailed off in a very poor side that went down with a bit of a whimper in the end.

Next season in what is now League One he was deadly in the early stages.  He'd get one chance a game and he'd score it.  The shame was the rest of the side was disjointed and could neither provide him more chances or keep clean sheets.  By the time he left for a second time, he looked a player beat by the atmosphere and gloom around the place.

He came back with Barnsley soon after his transfer, not surprisingly he got an absolute hammering from the crowd.