Ľubomír Michalík

Early career

Michalík was born in Čadca. He played for Čadca's youth teams before making his first team debut aged 17. He later had a spell at Žiar nad Hronom before joining Slovak Superliga club Senec in 2006.

Bolton Wanderers

He signed for Bolton Wanderers in January 2007 on a three-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed transfer fee. On 28 April 2007, Michalík scored his first and only goal for Bolton, in a 2–2 away draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Leeds United

In March 2007, Michalík made a loan switch to Leeds United on a one-month loan deal. The defender's performances earned a great deal of credit from the Leeds faithful, particularly due to his match-winning goal on 7 April in a 2–1 victory over Plymouth Argyle. As a result of his strong performances, then Leeds manager Dennis Wise extended the Slovakian's loan deal until the end of the season, although Bolton recalled Michalik back due to a spate of injuries to their first choice centre-backs. Michalik played the rest of the season with Bolton and even managed to score against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. During his spell back at Bolton, Leeds were relegated to League 1. Wise continued to reiterate his liking for the player, and attempted to re-sign the defender in the January 2008 transfer window. A deal was reported to be closed, believed to be involving a £500,000 fee, when Wise left the manager's post to head for Newcastle United. However, upon the appointment of Gary…

Michalík's international debut came on 10 December 2006 in the second half of the Slovakia versus United Arab Emirates friendly game. His first international goal came in the same game. He played his second match against Republic of Ireland on 28 March 2007. On 1 October 2009, Michalík received an international recall for the World Cup qualifiers against Slovenia and Poland. Michalik was an unused substitute in the World Cup Qualifier against Poland. On 11 May 2010, Michalík was named in Slovakia's 29-man provisional squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. He was, however, left out of the final 23-man Slovakia World Cup Squad when it was announced on 3 June. On 11 October 2011, Michalík became the first Carlisle United player to play in a competitive international match since Eric Welsh who represented Northern Ireland team in 1967 (although teammate Peter Murphy did play in a friendly match for the Republic of Ireland in 2007). Michalík then played the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 draw with Macedonia in a Euro 2012 qualifier, Michalík was denied an 89th-minute winner by a Martin Bogatinov save.

Club

a. ^ Includes other competitive competitions, including the Football League Trophy, UEFA Cup and Europa League.

International goals

Slovakia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Michalík goal

His first son, Adamko, was born in 2014.