.jpg) Boyce playing for Northern Ireland in 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Liam Boyce[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1991-04-08)8 April 1991 (age 34) | ||
| Place of birth | Belfast, Northern Ireland | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[2] | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Derry City | ||
| Number | 27 | ||
| 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) |
| 2020–2025 | Heart of Midlothian | 93 | (28) |
| 2025– | Derry City | 24 | (8) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2008–2009 | Northern Ireland U19 | 6 | (1) |
| 2010–2012 | Northern Ireland U21 | 9 | (0) |
| 2011–2021 | Northern Ireland | 28 | (2) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 28 August 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 31 May 2021 (UTC) | |||
Liam Boyce (born 8 April 1991) is a Northern Irish professionalfootballer who plays as aforward forLeague of Ireland Premier Division clubDerry City and theNorthern Ireland national team.
Boyce began his career atCliftonville and returned to the club following a short spell atWerder Bremen II. He has since played forRoss County,Burton Albion and joined Heart of Midlothian in January 2020. Boyce made his debut for the Northern Ireland national team in February 2011.
Boyce began his career atCliftonville, 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 theLower Falls in Belfast. He played forImmaculata 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.
He was spotted byCliftonville, 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 clubCeltic in July 2010,[3] and then held discussions in mid-August 2010 about a move to German clubGreuther Fürth,[5] but the move collapsed a few days later.[6]
Boyce scored his first European goal againstPFC CSKA Sofia in the2010–11 UEFA Europa League[7]
Boyce eventually signed for German clubWerder Bremen on 31 August 2010.[8] He was released by the German club in October 2011, having only made three appearances for the club's reserves side.
Boyce rejoined Cliftonville in January 2012.[9] 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 2012–13Ulster Footballer of the Year[10] andNorthern Ireland Football Writers' Player of the Year.[11] 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.[12]During this spell at the Reds, Boyce made eight appearances in European football, scoring once againstKalmar FF in the qualifiers of the2012–13 UEFA Europa League.[13]
On 13 June 2014, it was announced Boyce had signed a pre-contract withRoss County.[14] On 13 April 2015, Boyce scored County's first ever top-flight hat-trick in a 3–0 win atSt Mirren.[15] He then enjoyed a prolific season in 2015–16, scoring 17 goals in 24 games.[16] Boyce signed a new contract with County in February 2016.[16] He was the top goalscorer in the2016–17 Scottish Premiership, with 23 goals.[17][18]
On 20 June 2017, Boyce became a club record signing forEFL Championship sideBurton Albion, agreeing a three-year contract with the club.[19] 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.[20] He returned to action on 3 February 2018, scoring as Burton lost 3–2 toAston Villa. On 21 April, Boyce scored an injury-time winner that relegatedSunderland.[21]
Boyce signed forHeart of Midlothian in January 2020 on a three-and-a-half-year deal.[22] He scored the winning goal in the 83rd minute of his debut againstRangers.[23]
On 11 January 2025, Boyce signed forLeague of Ireland Premier Division clubDerry City on a two-year contract.[24] Boyce scored 11 goals in 26 appearances in all competitions, before his first season with the club was ended three months prematurely on 16 August 2025, following a hamstring injury in his side'sFAI Cup exit at home toDrogheda United.[25]
On 31 January 2011, Boyce received his debut call-up to theNorthern Ireland national team for theNations Cup.[26] This call-up came after his move to German clubWerder Bremen in September 2010. On 9 February 2011, Boyce made his debut againstScotland, when he came on as a 72nd-minute substitute forNiall McGinn. He received his second call-up for Northern Ireland's Group C match against 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 overNew Zealand atWindsor Park.[27]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Cliftonville | 2008–09 | NIFL Premiership | 15 | 1 | – | 15 | 1 | |||||||
| 2009–10[2] | 34 | 16 | – | 34 | 16 | |||||||||
| 2010–11[2] | 3 | 1 | — | — | 4[c] | 1 | – | 7 | 2 | |||||
| Total | 52 | 18 | 4 | 1 | – | 56 | 19 | |||||||
| Werder Bremen II | 2010–11 | 3. Liga | 3 | 0 | — | – | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Cliftonville | 2011–12[2] | NIFL Premiership | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 4[d] | 1 | 18 | 2 | |
| 2012–13[2] | 36 | 29 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 2[c] | 1 | 2[d] | 1 | 48 | 34 | ||
| 2013–14[2] | 36 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2[e] | 0 | — | 42 | 23 | |||
| Total | 85 | 51 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 108 | 59 | ||
| Ross County | 2014–15[2] | Scottish Premiership | 30 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 33 | 11 | ||
| 2015–16[2] | 35 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | — | — | 42 | 20 | ||||
| 2016–17[2] | 34 | 23 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 40 | 24 | ||||
| Total | 99 | 48 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 5 | — | — | 115 | 55 | ||||
| Burton Albion | 2017–18[2] | Championship | 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 3 | ||
| 2018–19[2] | League One | 37 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | — | 1[f] | 0 | 45 | 14 | ||
| 2019–20[2] | 25 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | — | 1[f] | 0 | 33 | 14 | |||
| Total | 78 | 22 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 7 | — | 2 | 0 | 94 | 31 | |||
| Heart of Midlothian | 2019–20[2] | Scottish Premiership | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 2 | ||
| 2020–21[2] | Scottish Championship | 25 | 14 | 2[g] | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 28 | 16 | ||
| 2021–22[2] | Scottish Premiership | 31 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 4 | — | — | 41 | 16 | |||
| 2022–23[2] | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | — | 7 | 1 | |||
| 2023–24[2] | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4[h] | 0 | — | 21 | 1 | |||
| 2024–25[2] | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4[i] | 0 | — | 15 | 0 | |||
| Total | 93 | 28 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 10 | 0 | — | 121 | 36 | |||
| Derry City | 2025[2] | LOI Premier Division | 24 | 8 | 2 | 3 | — | — | — | 26 | 11 | |||
| Career total | 434 | 175 | 24 | 11 | 38 | 20 | 18 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 522 | 211 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Ireland | 2011 | 4 | 0 |
| 2015 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 2 | 1 | |
| 2018 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 28 | 2 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 June 2017 | Windsor Park,Belfast, Northern Ireland | 9 |  New Zealand | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 2 | 18 November 2020 | Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland | 27 |  Romania | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2020–21 UEFA Nations League B |
Cliftonville
Ross County
Hearts
Individual
