Melbourne Heart goalkeeper Clint Bolton will continue to break records if he features against Perth Glory on Saturday.
Melbourne Heart goalkeeper Clint Bolton will continue to break records if he features against Perth Glory on Saturday.
The 36-year-old is set to make his 448th national league appearance at nib Stadium and in doing so he will become be third highest for games played in Australian history.
He recently overtook Adelaide City’s Sergio Melta (445) and is set to move ahead of journeyman striker Damian Mori (447) this weekend.
That would put him just behind Qantas Socceroo Paul Trimboli (452), which is another record Bolton is likely to break this season.
But it will be some time – perhaps never – before he will surpass former Australian captain Alex Tobin (522).
Born in Bundaberg, Bolton’s national league career started in 1993.
He spent seven years at Brisbane Strikers and was part of the side that won the National Soccer League title in 1996-1997.
Bolton then signed for Sydney Olympic for three seasons, before a brief stint at the Parramatta Power in the final year of the now defunct NSL.
He played in the last-ever NSL grand final as the Power were beaten by Perth Glory, 1-0, thanks to Nik Mrdja’s extra-time strike.
Bolton spent brief stints at Fraser Park FC and APIA Leichhardt before the Hyundai A-League started, prompting his switch to Sydney FC.
The shot-stopper became a hero at Sydney, helping them to two Hyundai A-League titles and making more than 100 appearances for the club.
The next stop in Bolton’s career was Melbourne and he immediately impressed at the Heart, winning the club’s Player of the Year award in their first season.
He has also made four Socceroos appearances and has been unlucky that he played in the same era as Mark Bosnich, Mark Schwarzer and Zeljko Kalac, restricting his involvement with the national team.
Given Bolton’s form and the level of success the sides he has played in have enjoyed, it would not be surprising if Heart were involved at the deep end of this current Hyundai A-League campaign.
