in 2002 he signed for Premier League side Aston Villa however he would only feature in the UEFA Intertoto Cup and six months later had returned to Grimsby on a permanent deal.
Boulding was both a skilled footballer and tennis player as a schoolboy, but he was persuaded to pursue a career in the latter sport when he was talent spotted by coach Tony Pickard at the age of 13.
[6] He eventually finished his first season with six goals with Mansfield coming 17th but 17 points above Carlisle United, the only side to be relegated out of The Football League.
[9] His last goal came only two minutes after he had come on as a substitute during Mansfield's penultimate game of the season against Scunthorpe United, which helped the team to their fourth successive home victory and a final league position of 13th.
[1] His debut was as a second-half substitute in a 3–3 draw with Stockport County on 22 September 2001,[13] before he scored his first Grimsby goal a week later away at Bradford City.
[23] However, he did not make an appearance in the Premier League and in September 2002, he joined Sheffield United on a one-month loan with a view to a permanent move.
[22][24] The loan deal was extended for a second month,[25] but an ankle injury restricted his opportunities at Sheffield United and he returned to Aston Villa in November 2002.
[22] However, he was unable to add any more goals and due to injury he missed the run in to the end of the season and Grimsby were relegated from Division One in 24th place.
[32] However, manager Paul Groves was sacked in January 2004 following a run of poor results which culminated in a 6–0 defeat to Oldham Athletic, leaving Grimsby one point off the relegation places.
[35] Boulding, who said he had previously stayed because of Groves,[36] himself immediately left the club, moving to Barnsley in February 2004 for a fee of £50,000,[37] having scored a total of 17 goals from 42 games during his second spell with Grimsby.
Boulding played six games in total before the end of the season, which included an early return to Grimsby resulting in a 6–1 defeat for Barnsley, but he failed to score a goal.
[40] He ended up scoring 10 goals for Barnsley from 38 games but he fell out of favour and was sent out on loan to Cardiff City in March 2005 for the rest of the season.
[42] Boulding was tracked by Bradford City and Crewe Alexandra, with whom he was offered a contract after a successful trial,[43][44] but instead decided to retire from professional football after being asked to play on the left wing.
[47] In July 2006, Boulding returned to League Two side Mansfield Town, and after impressing manager Peter Shirtliff in pre-season training, he was offered a contract.
[49] At the end of September he was sidelined by a knee injury, which kept him out of the side for a month,[50] and in January 2007 he was angry after he was dropped to the substitutes' bench in favour of fellow strikers Barry Conlon and Martin Gritton for a game against Hereford United.
[52] Boulding's 2007–08 season started in better form, when he scored in a 1–1 draw with Brentford on the opening day of the campaign,[53] which was followed up with goals in each of Mansfield's next three league fixtures.
[67] Boulding and his brother were expected to sign for Cheltenham Town but had a change of heart and instead moved to League Two side Bradford City on a two-year contract in July 2008, joining the team on their tour of Scotland.
[71] Boulding finished the season with 13 goals, but admitted his performance had been "very average", and was one player who took a pay cut after the club missed out on promotion.
[12][78] However, Boulding continued to struggle to maintain a first-team place and was released early from his contract in March 2010, along with his brother under mutual consent, after failing to make a single start under new manager Peter Taylor.
[84] He failed to appear for the first-team and in February 2011, he was given a trial with another Championship club Derby County scoring in a reserve game against Walsall.