Antoni Sarcevic

Antoni Charles Sarcevic (born 13 March 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Bolton Wanderers, whom he also captains.

Antoni Sarcevic

Sarcevic playing for Fleetwood Town in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Antoni Charles Sarcevic[1]
Date of birth	13 March 1992
Place of birth	Manchester, England
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Bolton Wanderers
Number	10
Youth career
2000–2008	Manchester City
2008–2009	Woodley Sports
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2010	Woodley Sports
2010–2011	Crewe Alexandra	12	(1)
2010	→ Chester (loan)	4	(0)
2011–2013	Chester	60	(15)
2013–2016	Fleetwood Town	118	(18)
2016	Shrewsbury Town	12	(0)
2017–2020	Plymouth Argyle	116	(18)
2020–	Bolton Wanderers	22	(4)
National team
2013	England C	1	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:38, 23 January 2021 (UTC)

After being released by Manchester City, Sarcevic began his senior career with Woodley Sports, where he spent only one season before joining Crewe Alexandra, but struggled to break into the first team and went on loan to Chester in 2010, before making a permanent transfer to them in the next year, but moved to League Two side Fleetwood Town in June 2013 for an undisclosed fee. He scored 15 league goals for Fleetwood in 2013–14, he also topped the Club's assist charts with nine, and was named in the League Two PFA Team of the Year after his performances for Fleetwood. In January 2017, Sarcevic joined Plymouth Argyle on a free transfer.

Club career

Born in Manchester,[2] Sarcevic was in the youth system of boyhood club Manchester City aged seven to 15,[3] before joining the youth system at Woodley Sports in 2008.[4] He made his first team debut for Woodley in August 2009 and was offered a trial with Premier League club Blackburn Rovers during the 2009–10 season.[4] Sarcevic was signed by League Two side Crewe Alexandra for an undisclosed fee in May 2010, on a one-year contract with an option to extend for a further year.[5]

Chester

He was loaned out to Northern Premier League Division One North club Chester in October 2010.[6] After two goals in seven appearances he was recalled to Crewe by Dario Gradi.[7] Impressive in his loan spell,[8] he scored on his Crewe debut on 1 February 2011, the last goal of a 6–2 defeat to Northampton Town.[9] On 23 November 2011 he returned to Chester as a permanent signing.[10] During his first two seasons with Chester, they were promoted twice to the Football Conference, in the process winning the Northern Premier League Premier Division, Peter Swales Shield, Conference North and Cheshire Senior Cup. After impressive performances for Chester Sarcevic reportedly attracted interest from football league clubs and won a call up to the England C.[11]

Fleetwood Town

On 26 June 2013 Fleetwood Town signed Antoni Sarcevic for an undisclosed fee.[12] He made his debut for the club as Fleetwood Town beat Dagenham & Redbridge 3–1. On 23 November Sarcevic scored his first Football League hat-trick in the 5–4 home victory against Mansfield Town 5–4.[13] His 15th goal of the season was a 75th-minute free-kick in the play-off final against Burton Albion on 26 May, which won promotion to League One.[14]

Shrewsbury Town

At the end of his contract at Fleetwood, Sarcevic joined fellow League One side Shrewsbury Town on a free transfer in May 2016, signing a two-year deal.[15] He left the club on 9 December 2016, by a mutual consent after agreeing to cancel his contract.[16]

Plymouth Argyle

On 26 January 2017, Sarcevic joined League 2 side Plymouth Argyle on a free transfer.[17] Sarcevic scored on his first start for Plymouth to earn them victory at Cambridge United on 4 February 2017.[18] Due to his passion and consistent performances in the side he has earned the nickname 'Manchester Messi' from the green army.

Bolton Wanderers

On 15 July 2020, Sarcevic joined League Two side Bolton Wanderers, signing a two-year deal.[19][20] On 29 August, the club announced that Sarcevic has been named club captain for the forthcoming season.[21] He scored on his competitive debut on 5 September, scoring the equaliser in Bolton's first match of the season, a 1–2 home defeat against Bradford in the first round of the EFL Cup.[22]

International career

Antoni was called up to England C for the first to face Bermuda in a friendly on 5 May 2013. He scored the first goal in the game.[23]

Personal life

He is of Italian and Serbian descent.[3]

Career statistics

As of match played 29 December 2020

Club statistics

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Crewe Alexandra	2010–11[24]	League Two	6	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	1
	2011–12[25]		6	0	1	0	0	0	3[lower-alpha 1]	0	10	0
	Total		12	1	1	0	0	0	3	0	16	1
Chester (loan)	2010–11[26]	NPL Division One North	4	0	0	0	—		3[lower-alpha 2]	2	7	2
Chester	2011–12[27]	NPL Premier Division	23	3	0	0	—		3[lower-alpha 3]	1	26	4
	2012–13[28]	Conference North	37	12	4	1	—		6[lower-alpha 4]	4	47	17
	Total		60	15	4	1	—		9	5	73	21
Fleetwood Town	2013–14[29]	League Two	42	13	3	0	1	0	8[lower-alpha 5]	2	54	15
	2014–15[30]	League One	37	2	1	0	1	0	1[lower-alpha 6]	0	40	2
	2015–16[31]		39	3	1	0	1	0	3[lower-alpha 7]	0	44	3
	Total		118	18	5	0	3	0	12	2	138	20
Shrewsbury Town	2016–17[32]	League One	12	0	0	0	2	0	1[lower-alpha 8]	0	15	0
Plymouth Argyle	2016–17[32]	League Two	17	2	—		—		—		17	2
	2017–18[33]	League One	30	3	1	0	1	0	3[lower-alpha 9]	0	35	3
	2018–19[34]	League One	37	3	2	1	1	0	2[lower-alpha 10]	0	42	4
	2019–20[35]	League Two	32	10	3	1	—		3[lower-alpha 11]	0	38	11
Total			116	18	6	2	2	0	8	0	132	21
Bolton Wanderers	2020–21[36]	League Two	18	3	1	0	1	1	1[lower-alpha 12]	0	21	4
Career total			340	55	17	3	8	1	37	9	411	69

1. Appearances in Football League Trophy
2. Two appearances and two goals in NPL President's Cup, one appearance in Cheshire Senior Cup
3. Appearances in FA Trophy
4. Two appearances in FA Trophy, four appearances and four goals in Cheshire Senior Cup
5. Five appearances and one goal in Football League Trophy, three appearances and one goal in League Two play-offs
6. Appearances in Football League Trophy
7. Appearances in Football League Trophy
8. Appearances in Football League Trophy
9. Appearances in EFL Trophy
10. Appearances in EFL Trophy
11. Appearances in EFL Trophy
12. Appearances in EFL Trophy

Honours

Chester

• Northern Premier League: 2011–12[37][27]
• Conference North: 2012–13[38][28]
• Cheshire Senior Cup: 2012–13[39]

Fleetwood Town

• EFL League Two play-offs: 2014[40][41]

Plymouth Argyle

• EFL League Two runner-up (promotion): 2016–17;[42][32][41] third-place (promotion): 2019–20[43][35][41]

Individual

• PFA Team of the Year: 2013–14 League Two[44]
• Plymouth Argyle Player of the Year: 2019–20[45][46][41]

References

1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Bolton Wanderers" (PDF). English Football League. p. 10. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
2. "Crewe Alex: Sarcevic aiming to prove to boss he's no long-shot selection". The Sentinel. Stoke. 22 August 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
3. Badcock, Matt (11 June 2013). "Taste Of The Caribbean? Paradise For Me Is Chester!". The Non-League Football Paper. London. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
4. "Alex snap up Sarcevic". Manchester Evening News. 19 May 2010. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
5. "Crewe Alexandra sign Woodley Sports' Antoni Sarcevic". BBC Sport. 13 May 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
6. "Chester FC swoop for Antoni Sarcevic and Steve Beck". Liverpool Echo. 23 October 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
7. "Crewe recall Antoni Sarcevic from Chester loan". BBC Sport. 2 December 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
8. "Antoni Sarcevic poised for Crewe Alexandra call-up". BBC Sport. 8 December 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
9. "Northampton 6 – 2 Crewe". BBC Sport. 1 February 2011. Archived from the original on 8 February 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2011.
10. "CCrewe Alex: Antoni Sarcevic happy to move on". Crewe Chronicle. 23 November 2011. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
11. "England C news: squad selected for Bermuda Trip". England C. 14 May 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
12. "Fleetwood Town sign Chester midfielder". Chester FC. 26 June 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
13. "Fleetwood's Antoni Sarcevic scored a stoppage-time penalty after Mansfield had equalised in the 89th minute". Fleetwood. 23 November 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
14. "Sky Bet League Two play-off final: Fleetwood beat Burton 1–0 to earn promotion". Sky Sports News. 26 May 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
15. "Antoni Sarcevic: Shrewsbury Town sign Fleetwood Town midfielder". BBC Sport. 28 May 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
16. "Antoni Sarcevic: Shrewsbury Town midfielder leaves club by mutual consent". BBC Sport. 9 December 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
17. "Plymouth Argyle: Midfielder Antoni Sarcevic becomes third January signing". BBC Sport. 26 January 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
18. "Cambridge United 0–1 Plymouth Argyle". BBC Sport. 4 February 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
19. "Sarcevic: I'm proud to be associated with Bolton Wanderers". Bolton Wanderers FC official site. 15 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
20. "Antoni Sarcevic: Bolton sign former Plymouth midfielder". BBC Sport. 15 July 2020.
21. Bolton Wanderers @OfficialBWFC "Your Bolton Wanderers captain for the 2020/21 season: @ASarcevic #BWFC" Twitter, August 29, 2020. 7:00AM.
22. BWFC.co.uk: "Report: Bolton Wanderers 1–2 Bradford City"
23. Norris, Tom (6 June 2013). "Three Lions pride for Chester FC hero Sarcevic". The Leader. Wrexham. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
24. "Games played by Antoni Sarcevic in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
25. "Games played by Antoni Sarcevic in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
26. "Statistics 2010/11". Chester F.C. Archived from the original on 22 November 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
27. "Statistics 2011/12". Chester F.C. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
28. "Statistics 2012/13". Chester F.C. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
29. "Games played by Antoni Sarcevic in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
30. "Games played by Antoni Sarcevic in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
31. "Games played by Antoni Sarcevic in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
32. "Games played by Antoni Sarcevic in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
33. "Games played by Antoni Sarcevic in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
34. "Games played by Antoni Sarcevic in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
35. "Games played by Antoni Sarcevic in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
36. "Games played by Antoni Sarcevic in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
37. chester-city.co.uk "STATISTICS 2011/12 EVO-STOCK LEAGUE NORTHERN PREMIER"
38. chester-city.co.uk "STATISTICS 2012/13 CONFERENCE NORTH"
39. https://www.leaderlive.co.uk/ "Cheshire Senior Cup final: Chester 2 Stalybridge Celtic 1"
40. "BBC Sport: "Burton Albion 0–1 Fleetwood Town"
41. "BWFC.co.uk "Getting to know: Antoni Sarcevic"
42. "Soccerbase: "League Two 2016/17"
43. Soccerbase: "League Two 2019/20"
44. "Luis Suarez: Liverpool striker wins PFA Player of the Year award". BBC Sport. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
45. "plymouthherald.co.uk "Plymouth Argyle player-of-the-year Antoni Sarcevic leaving newly-promoted Pilgrims"
46. Plymouth Argyle: "Player of the Season 2019–20 | Antoni Sarcevic"

External links

• Antoni Sarcevic at Soccerbase