Willy Boly

Willy Boly

Boly with Braga in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Willy-Arnaud Zobo Boly [1]
Date of birth	(1991-02-03) 3 February 1991 (age 33) [2]
Place of birth	Melun, France
Height	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) [3]
Position(s)	Centre-back
Team information
Current team	Nottingham Forest
Number	30
Youth career
2000–2002	Rosny-sous-Bois
2002–2006	CFF Paris
2004–2007	Clairefontaine
2007–2011	Auxerre
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–2014	Auxerre B	27	(2)
2011–2014	Auxerre	97	(3)
2014–2015	Braga B	16	(1)
2015–2016	Braga	25	(2)
2016–2018	Porto	10	(0)
2017–2018	→ Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan)	36	(3)
2018–2022	Wolverhampton Wanderers	89	(5)
2022–	Nottingham Forest	27	(1)
International career‡
2006	France U16	1	(0)
2007–2008	France U17	4	(0)
2010	France U19	1	(0)
2020–	Ivory Coast	21	(1)
Medal record Representing   Ivory Coast Men's football Africa Cup of Nations Winner 2023 Ivory Coast
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16 March 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23 March 2024 (UTC)

Willy-Arnaud Zobo Boly (born 3 February 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Nottingham Forest. Born in France, he represents the Ivory Coast national team.

Club career

Auxerre

Born in Melun, Seine-et-Marne, Boly played youth football for three clubs, also having a three-year spell at the INF Clairefontaine academy. ^[4] He made his senior debut with AJ Auxerre's reserves and, in February 2011, he signed his first professional contract after agreeing to a three-year deal with an option for a fourth. ^[5]

On 16 April 2011, Boly made his Ligue 1 debut by playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 away win against Toulouse. ^{[6] [7]} He scored his first goal in the competition the following matchday, in a 1–1 home draw to Lens. ^[8]

Boly was an undisputed starter in the 2011–12 season (33 games, one goal), ^[9] but the AJA were relegated to Ligue 2 after finishing last. ^[10]

Braga

On 1 September 2014, Boly moved to Portugal and joined Braga on a four-year deal. ^[11] He spent his first season with the B-team, in the Segunda Liga. ^[12]

Porto

On 31 August 2016, Boly signed a five-year contract with Porto with a €45 million buyout clause. ^[13] He played only eight competitive matches during his spell, ^[14] including the 1–0 away loss against Juventus F.C. for the last-16 stage of the UEFA Champions League where he featured the second half after coming on as a substitute for André Silva. ^[15]

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 8 July 2017, Boly joined EFL Championship club Wolverhampton Wanderers on a season-long loan, reuniting him with his former head coach Nuno Espírito Santo. ^[16] He made his competitive debut for Wolverhampton on the opening day of the 2017–18 season in a 1–0 home win against Middlesbrough, ^[17] and scored his first goal with them on 31 October to help Wolves win 2–0 away against Norwich City. ^[18]

After making 37 official appearances and helping them achieve promotion, Boly signed a permanent contract with Wolves. ^[19] He made his Premier League debut on 11 August 2018, in a 2–2 home draw against Everton. ^[20] He scored his first goal in the competition two weeks later in a 1–1 home draw to Manchester City, ^[21] but the goal proved controversial as television replays showed the ball was deflected into the goal by his forearm after glancing off his head. ^[22]

Boly scored his first ever goal in UEFA European competition in Wolves's 2019–20 UEFA Europa League Group Stage game against Beşiktaş in Istanbul on 3 October 2019, a game that Wolves won 1–0. ^[23]

Boly fractured his left fibula in training on 26 October 2019, necessitating surgery to insert a plate and screws on 30 October 2019. ^[24] Boly returned from this injury in Wolves's 0–0 draw away to Manchester United on 1 February 2020, ^[25] although he had been an unused substitute in Wolves's previous Premier League fixture at home to Liverpool on 23 January 2020. ^[26]

Boly scored his first goal of the 2020–21 season, and his first Premier League goal since the 2018–19 season, on 16 January 2021 against West Bromwich Albion in the Black Country derby. ^[27]

On 5 April 2021, after returning from playing with his national team in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifications, Wolves announced that Boly had caught COVID-19, and was self-isolating in line with government guidance. ^[28] Wolves's head coach, Nuno Espírito Santo, announced after Wolves's Premier League game with West Bromwich Albion on 3 May 2021 that Boly was suffering the effects of long covid, ruling him out from appearing for Wolves in the game that evening. ^[29] Boly would not feature for Wolves again until 19 May 2021, when he played the full 90 minutes of the away Premier League game at Everton. ^[30]

Nottingham Forest

On 1 September 2022, Boly signed with Premier League side Nottingham Forest on a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee. ^[31]

International career

Born to Ivorian parents, Boly represented France at under-16, under-17 and under-19 levels. ^[32]

Boly switched to represent the Ivory Coast national team in 2020. He debuted for the Ivory Coast in a 2–1 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification win over Madagascar on 12 November 2020. ^[33]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 16 March 2024 ^[34]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Auxerre	2010–11	Ligue 1	8	1	0	0	0	0	—		—		8	1
	2011–12		33	1	2	0	2	0	—		—		37	1
	2012–13	Ligue 2	25	1	0	0	2	0	—		—		27	1
	2013–14		30	0	4	1	4	0	—		—		38	1
	2014–15		1	0	0	0	2	0	—		—		3	0
	Total		97	3	6	1	10	0	—		—		113	4
Braga	2014–15	Primeira Liga	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	—		1	0
	2015–16		22	2	4	0	1	0	12 [lower-alpha 1]	0	—		39	2
	2016–17		3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1 [lower-alpha 2]	0	4	0
	Total		25	2	4	0	2	0	12	0	1	0	44	2
Porto	2016–17	Primeira Liga	4	0	0	0	2	0	1 [lower-alpha 3]	0	—		7	0
Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan)	2017–18 [35]	Championship	36	3	0	0	1	0	—		—		37	3
Wolverhampton Wanderers	2018–19 [36]	Premier League	36	4	5	0	0	0	—		—		41	4
	2019–20 [37]		22	0	0	0	0	0	13 [lower-alpha 1]	1	—		35	1
	2020–21 [38]		21	1	1	0	1	0	—		—		23	1
	2021–22 [39]		10	0	0	0	1	0	—		—		11	0
	Wolves total		125	8	6	0	3	0	13	1	—		147	9
Nottingham Forest	2022–23 [40]	Premier League	11	0	0	0	4	1	—		—		15	1
	2023–24 [41]		16	1	0	0	1	0	—		—		17	1
	Total		27	1	0	0	5	1	—		—		32	2
Career total			278	14	16	1	22	1	26	1	1	0	343	17

1. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
2. Appearance in Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira
3. Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League

International

As of match played 23 March 2024 ^[42]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Ivory Coast	2020	2	0
	2021	8	1
	2022	3	0
	2023	2	0
	2024	6	0
Total		21	1

Scores and results list Ivory Coast's goal tally first. Score column indicates score after each Boly goal. ^[42]

List of international goals scored by Willy Boly

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	30 March 2021	Stade National, Abidjan, Ivory Coast	Ethiopia	1–0	3–1	2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Honours

Braga

• Taça de Portugal: 2015–16

Wolverhampton Wanderers

• EFL Championship: 2017–18 ^[43]

Ivory Coast

• Africa Cup of Nations: 2023 ^[44]

Individual

• PFA Team of the Year: 2017–18 Championship ^[45]

References

1. "Updated squad lists for 2022/23 Premier League". Premier League. 4 February 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
2. "Willy Boly: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
3. "Willy Boly". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. Archived from the original on 31 July 2022. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
4. "Willy Boly: "Je me sens prêt"" [Willy Boly: "I feel ready"] (in French). AJA Mag. 16 April 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
5. "W. Boly passe pro" [W. Boly turns pro] (in French). Mercato 365. 19 February 2011. Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
6. "Toulouse FC 0–1 AJ Auxerre" (in French). Eurosport. 16 April 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
7. "TFC 0–1 Auxerre: Un hold-up qui fait très mal" [TFC 0–1 Auxerre: Quite harmful hold-up] (in French). Les Violets. 17 April 2011. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
8. "Auxerre-Lens: Score final (1–1)" [Auxerre-Lens: Final score (1–1)] (in French). RC Lensois. 24 April 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
9. "Auxerre s'écroule en fin de match" [Auxerre collapse towards the end of the match]. Le Figaro (in French). 11 February 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
10. "Auxerre: Boly vers la Roma?" [Auxerre: Boly to Roma?] (in French). Les Transferts. 22 April 2012. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
11. "Boly à Braga" [Boly to Braga]. L'Équipe (in French). 1 September 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
12. "Boly (Sp. Braga): "Estamos a caminhar para o que Fonseca quer"" [Boly (Sp. Braga): "We are going in the direction of Fonseca's wishes"] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
13. "Oficial: Willy Boly é reforço dos dragões" [Official: Willy Boly bolsters dragons]. Record (in Portuguese). 31 August 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
14. Gouveia, Carlos (27 December 2017). "Boly: um caso de sucesso que pode ser jackpot de verão" [Boly: a case of success who might be a summer jackpot]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 7 June 2018.
15. Murray, Scott (14 March 2017). "Juventus 1–0 Porto (agg 3–0): Champions League last 16, second leg – as it happened". The Guardian . Retrieved 7 June 2018.
16. "Willy Boly!". Wolverhampton Wanderers. 8 July 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
17. "Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–0 Middlesbrough". BBC Sport. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
18. "Norwich City 0–2 Wolverhampton Wanderers". BBC Sport. 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
19. "Benik Afobe and Willy Boly join Premier League new boys on permanent deals". Talksport. 1 June 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
20. Hafez, Shamoon (11 August 2018). "Wolverhampton Wanderers 2–2 Everton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
21. James, Stuart (25 August 2018). "Manchester City rely on Aymeric Laporte to share spoils with Wolves". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
22. Watson, Jack (26 August 2018). "Pep Guardiola refuses to criticise referee after Willy Boly's handball in Manchester City draw". The Independent . Retrieved 28 August 2018.
23. "Beşiktaş 0–1 Wolverhampton: Willy Boly strikes late to give Wolves victory". BBC Sport. 3 October 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
24. Edwards, Joe (30 October 2019). "Wolves defender Willy Boly out for months after operation". Express & Star . Retrieved 2 November 2019.
25. Stone, Simon (1 February 2020). "Manchester United 0–0 Wolverhampton Wanderers". BBC Sport . Retrieved 9 February 2020.
26. McNulty, Phil (23 January 2020). "Wolves 1–2 Liverp-daool: Robert Firmino scores late winner for leaders". BBC Sport . Retrieved 9 February 2020.
27. Stone, Simon (16 January 2021). "Wolves 2–3 West Brom: Matheus Pereira's double secures Baggies win in Black Country derby". BBC Sport .
28. "Trio to miss West Ham clash". Wolves. 5 April 2021.
29. "Sam Allardyce on West Brom future; Willy Boly has long Covid, says Nuno Espirito Santo". Sky Sports . 3 May 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
30. Rose, Gary (19 May 2021). "Everton 1–0 Wolverhampton Wanderers: Richarlison header keeps alive Toffees' European hopes". BBC Sport .
31. "Reds sign defender Willy Boly". Nottingham Forest F.C. 1 September 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
32. "Football / Willy Boly (International Franco-ivoirien de l'AJ Auxerre en France) Tout sur ce défenseur central qui peut aider les Eléphants!" [Football / Willy Boly (French-Ivorian international of France's AJ Auxerre) Everything about this central defender who might help the Elephants!] (in French). News Abidjan. 6 June 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
33. "Haller fait souffler la Côte d'Ivoire pour sa première". SOFOOT.com.
34. Willy Boly at Soccerway. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
35. "Games played by Willy Boly in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
36. "Games played by Willy Boly in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
37. "Games played by Willy Boly in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
38. "Games played by Willy Boly in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
39. "Games played by Willy Boly in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
40. "Games played by Willy Boly in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
41. "Games played by Willy Boly in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
42. "Willy Boly". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
43. Anderson, John, ed. (2018). Football Yearbook 2018–2019. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 386–387. ISBN   978-1-4722-6106-9.
44. Stevens, Rob (11 February 2024). "Nigeria 1–2 Ivory Coast". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
45. "PFA Championship Team of the Year: Wolves & Fulham trios named in line-up". BBC Sport. 18 April 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2018.

External links

• Profile at the Nottingham Forest F.C. website
• Willy Boly at the French Football Federation (in French)
• Willy Boly at the French Football Federation (archived) (in French)
• Willy Boly – French league stats at LFP – also available in French (archived)
• Willy Boly at L'Équipe Football (in French)
• Willy Boly at ForaDeJogo (archived)
• Willy Boly at Soccerbase
• Willy Boly – UEFA competition record ( archive )