Liam Boyce

Liam Boyce (born 8 April 1991) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Scottish Championship club Heart of Midlothian.

Liam Boyce
Liam Boyce playing for the Northern Ireland national team in 2019.
Personal information
Full name Liam Boyce[1]
Date of birth (1991-04-08) 8 April 1991
Place of birth Belfast, Northern Ireland
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Striker
Club information
Current team
 Heart of Midlothian
Number 10
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2010 Cliftonville 52 (18)
2010–2011 Werder Bremen II 3 (0)
2012–2014 Cliftonville 85 (51)
2014–2017 Ross County 99 (48)
2017–2020 Burton Albion 78 (22)
2020– Heart of Midlothian 20 (11)
National team‡
2008–2009 Northern Ireland U19 6 (1)
2010–2012 Northern Ireland U21 9 (0)
2011– Northern Ireland 27 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10:58, 6 February 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18 November 2020 (UTC)

Boyce began his career at Cliftonville and returned to the club following a short spell at Werder Bremen II. He has since played for Ross County, Burton Albion and joined Heart of Midlothian in January 2020. Boyce has also represented the Northern Ireland national football team.

Club career

Cliftonville

Boyce began his career at Cliftonville, scoring 19 goals in his debut season.[3] He won the IFA Premiership Player of the Month Award for April 2010,[4] and was named the Northern Ireland Football Writers' Player of the Year for the 2009–10 season.[3] Boyce is from the Lower Falls in Belfast. He played for Immaculata for most of his youth years, during this time he attended St Joseph's Primary School Slate Street and St Mary's Grammar School, located on the Glen Road in Belfast, he spent all his secondary school years there and went on to study A Levels.

As his ability and skills in his football career developed he was spotted by Cliftonville, and they signed him. He spent his first year there playing in the reserves but in the 2009–10 season, Boyce became a first team regular.

Boyce went on trial with Scottish club Celtic in July 2010,[3] and then held discussions in mid-August 2010 about a move to German club SpVgg Greuther Fürth.[5] However, the move collapsed a few days later.[6]

Werder Bremen

Boyce eventually signed for another German club, Werder Bremen, on 31 August 2010.[7] He was released by the German club in October 2011, having only made three appearances for the club's reserves side.

Return to Cliftonville

Boyce rejoined Cliftonville in January 2012.[8] In the 2012–13 season, he helped Cliftonville win the league title for the first time since 1998, finishing as the league's top scorer with 29 league goals. He was also named as the 2012–13 Ulster Footballer of the Year[9] and Northern Ireland Football Writers' Player of the Year.[10] He won a second league title with the north Belfast club in 2013–14, scoring another 21 league goals before, in July 2014, the club announced that it had withdrawn its offer of a new contract to Boyce.[11]

Ross County

On 13 June 2014, it was announced Boyce had signed a pre-contract with Ross County.[12] On 13 April 2015, Boyce scored County's first ever top-flight hat-trick in a 3–0 win at St Mirren.[13] He then enjoyed a prolific season in 2015–16, scoring 17 goals in 24 games.[14] Boyce signed a new contract with County in February 2016.[14] He was the top goalscorer in the 2016–17 Scottish Premiership, with 23 goals.[15][16]

Burton Albion

On 20 June 2017, Boyce became a club record signing for EFL Championship side Burton Albion, agreeing a three-year contract with the club.[17] Just weeks later, in a pre-season friendly match against Shrewsbury Town, Boyce suffered a serious knee injury that would keep him out of action for most of the 2017–18 season.[18] He returned to action on 3 February 2018, scoring as Burton lost 3–2 to Aston Villa. On 21 April, Boyce scored an injury-time winner that relegated Sunderland.[19]

Heart of Midlothian

Boyce signed for Heart of Midlothian in January 2020 on a three-and-a-half year deal[20] and scored the winning goal in the 83rd minute of his debut against Rangers.[21]

International career

Boyce was selected to play for the Northern Ireland national under-21 football team. On 31 January 2011, Liam Boyce received his first senior call-up to the Northern Ireland squad to appear in the Nations Cup.[22] This call-up came after his move to German club Werder Bremen in September 2010. On 9 February 2011, Boyce made his debut against Scotland in which he came on as a 72nd-minute substitute for Niall McGinn. He received his second call-up for Northern Ireland's Group C clash with Serbia in Belgrade on 25 March 2011.

On 2 June 2017, Boyce scored his first goal for Northern Ireland in a 1–0 friendly victory over New Zealand at Windsor Park.[23]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 6 February 2021
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Cliftonville 2008–09 NIFL Premiership 151151
2009–10[2] NIFL Premiership 34163416
2010–11[2] NIFL Premiership 31——4[lower-alpha 1]172
Total 5218415619
Werder Bremen II 2010–11 3. Liga 30———30
Cliftonville 2011–12[2] NIFL Premiership 13110004[lower-alpha 2]1182
2012–13[2] NIFL Premiership 362940434[lower-alpha 3]24834
2013–14[2] NIFL Premiership 362100422[lower-alpha 4]04223
Total 8551508510310859
Ross County 2014–15[2] Scottish Premiership 30101021—3311
2015–16[2] 35152154—4220
2016–17[2] 34232140—4024
Total 994852115—11555
Burton Albion 2017–18[2] EFL Championship 1630000—163
2018–19[2] EFL League One 371111621[lower-alpha 5]04514
2019–20[2] 25821451[lower-alpha 5]03314
Total 782232107209431
Heart of Midlothian 2019–20[2] Scottish Premiership 72420000114
2020–21[2] Scottish Championship 139001000149
Total 20114210002513
Career total 3371501763016164400177
  1. Appearances in the Europa League
  2. Appearances in Setanta Sports Cup
  3. Two appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League, two appearances and one goal in Setanta Sports Cup
  4. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  5. Appearances in EFL Trophy

International
As of match played 18 November 2020[24]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Northern Ireland 201140
201530
201610
201721
201870
201940
202061
Total272

International goals
Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first.[2]
International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 2 June 2017Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland9 New Zealand1–01–0Friendly
2 18 November 2020Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland27 Romania1–01–12020–21 UEFA Nations League B

Honours

Club

Cliftonville

Ross County

References
  1. "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2018: Burton Albion" (PDF). English Football League. p. 11. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  2. Liam Boyce at Soccerway. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  3. "Cliftonville striker Liam Boyce on trial at Celtic". BBC Sport. 8 July 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  4. "Cliftonville striker Liam Boyce named player of month". BBC Sport. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  5. "Liam Boyce could be bound for German Bundesliga". BBC Sport. 16 August 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  6. "Liam Boyce's proposed transfer appears to be doomed". BBC Sport. 26 August 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  7. "Liam Boyce agrees transfer to Werder Bremen". BBC Sport. 31 August 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  8. "Cliftonville set to beat Glentoran in battle to sign Liam Boyce". BBC Sport. 12 January 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  9. "Cliftonville Football Club". cliftonvillefc.net. Archived from the original on 6 May 2013.
  10. "BBC Sport – Liam Boyce wins Football Writers Player of the Year award". BBC Sport.
  11. "BBC Sport – Cliftonville withdraw Liam Boyce contract offer". BBC Sport.
  12. "Cliftonville striker Liam Boyce agrees move to Ross County". BBC Sport. 13 June 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  13. "Boyce hat-trick in Ross County win at St Mirren". BBC Sport. BBC. 13 April 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  14. "Liam Boyce extends contract with Ross County until 2018". BBC Sport. BBC. 10 February 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  15. "Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership: Inverness relegated". Sporting Life. 20 May 2017. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
  16. "Ross County have no interest in selling Liam Boyce – Jim McIntyre". BBC Sport. BBC. 21 May 2017. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
  17. "BREWERS SIGN STRIKER IN RECORD-BREAKING DEAL". Burton Albion Official Site. 20 June 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  18. Fullteron, Gareth (1 August 2017). "Belfast Live". Liam Boyce ruled out for majority of season after rupturing anterior cruciate ligament. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  19. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/43762308
  20. "Hearts close to Liam Boyce deal as Toby Sibbick joins on loan". Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  21. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51165289
  22. "NI SQUAD NAMED FOR SCOTLAND GAME". The Irish Football Association. 31 January 2011. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  23. "International friendly: Northern Ireland 1–0 New Zealand – BBC Sport". BBC Sport. 2 June 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  24. "Liam Boyce". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  25. Wilson, Richard (13 March 2016). "Scottish League Cup Final: Hibernian 1 Ross County 2". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
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