Olejnik, Bobby

Birth Date

26th November 1986

Birthplace

Vienna, Austria

Occupation

Goalkeeper

Biographical Text

Austrian stopper Bobby Olejnik had a two-year spell with Exeter City during a 400-game career in English and Scottish football that saw him play for clubs such as Falkirk, Torquay and Peterborough. He later had several seasons with Mansfield Town. 

Bobby played at youth level with Austria Vienna before joining Aston Villa as a trainee in 2003 where he was unable to break into the first-team and, after a loan to Lincoln City, was subsequently released in May 2007. Joining Falkirk aged twenty, Bobby made 113 appearances in all competitions over the following four seasons prior to leaving the club at the end of the 2010/11 season. He then had a highly-successful season for Torquay United where he played all 46 league games and appeared in the play-off semi-finals against Cheltenham Town whilst being named in the PFA League 2 Team of the Year.

Attracting the attention of bigger clubs Bobby moved to Peterborough United for an undisclosed fee in June 2012 and, playing in the Championship, made 49 competitive appearances during his first campaign and another 57 when the Posh were back in League One in 2013/14. Although Bobby kept a club-record number of clean sheets in his second season, when he was player of the year and member of an EFL Trophy-winning team, he fell out-of-favour the following season and was loaned to Scunthorpe United and York City ahead of his release from London Road in May 2015.

Bobby, still only twenty-eight, signed for Exeter City in June 2015 and made his competitive debut in the season-opener against Yeovil Town. Keeping a clean sheet against York City two weeks later Bobby established himself as the undisputed number one and made 53 league and cup appearances during 2015/16 including the two FA Cup ties against Liverpool in January 2016. He was also named player of the year by both the East Devon and North Devon Grecians. 

Remaining at the club for a second season Bobby made 17 league starts to Christy Pym’s 28 (with James Hamon making the other) although he did appear in both play-off semi-finals against Carlisle United before Christy returned for the final against Blackpool. 

Leaving the Grecians at the end of 2016/17 Bobby joined Mansfield Town in June 2017 and, after featuring infrequently during his first season, became a regular before suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury in December 2018. Recovering to play fourteen league and cup matches before the onset of COVID-19 Bobby retired in July 2020 and later, living in the East Midlands, was working as a web developer alongside running a fitness business.

Appearances

Exeter City

League 65 (inc 2 play-off); Cups 11 (76)

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