Perhaps the only person who can challenge William Prunier for most ridiculed forgotten Premier League footballer is Marco Boogers. A regular in worst footballers polls, he ticks all the boxes: – barely played a Premier League game, a moment of infamy and he has a funny foreign surname. After trying to snap Gary Neville in half he had some form of meltdown and was found hiding in a caravan in Holland. Well… wasn’t he? Let’s look at the career of Dutch forward Marco Boogers and the real story behind what happened at West Ham.
Dordrecht
Boogers (pronounced more like Bogers) was born in the Dutch city of Dordrecht, which sits on the Thule river in the southern Netherlands. As a youth Boogers would play for Feyenoord where, upon release, he would go on to play for amateur Dordrecht side EBOH. At that time Dordrecht boasted two professional football teams who both played in the Eerste Divisie (Second Division) – DS’79 (later re-named FC Dordrecht) and the confusingly-named SV SVV. The two teams would later merge to form one club – ‘Dordrecht’90’ – in 1991. In the summer of 1986, aged nineteen, Boogers would make the transition to professional football with DS’79, going straight into their starting line-up.
In his debut professional season Boogers would make a good impression with 13 goals in 31 league games. DS’79 would finish 10th out of 19 clubs with a record of 13 wins, 12 draws and 11 losses. However, in a complicated league promotion system, which apparently separates different stages of the season into mini leagues, they remarkably made the play-offs and were promoted to the top-flight Eredivisie. It would turn out to be a chastening experience for the club as they finished bottom of the league, winning only 2 of their 34 games and conceding 100 goals for a goal difference of -59. This character-building season was to be Booger’s last at DS’79, as he scored 5 goals in 29 appearances. Perhaps hinting at a temperamental side to Boogers, he was also sent off in the 90th minute in a 1-1 draw with Groningen.
Utrecht
Boogers clearly did something right in his maiden season in the Eredivisie as FC Utrecht, who had finished 10th but had in recently competed in Europe, brought him into their squad. Perhaps Utrecht’s best-known players were defender Johan de Kock, who – despite playing professionally – would curiously go on to represent Holland at Euro 96 whilst working as a part-time road engineer and defender/midfielder Luc Nijholt, who would go on to play in the Premier League with Swindon Town and with Motherwell in Scotland. In 88/89 Boogers would go on to play more games than any other player – 33 – and contribute with 11 goals. There was no real hint of ill-discipline as he only picked up 4 yellow cards during the season as Utrecht finished 13th and avoided relegation.
In 89/90 Utrecht would once again defy relegation with a 14th placed finish. Boogers scored 4 goals in 27 appearances and picked up 5 yellow cards. Boogers would again prove to be a thorn in the side of Feyenoord, scoring a 75th minute penalty in a 3-0 win in the opening game of the season. Unfortunately for Utrecht, it was largely downhill from there as they lost 15 of their 34 games. Boogers had hardly set the Eredivisie alight, but in 90/91 he managed to attract the attention of RKC Waalwijk, who had finished a respectable 8th and had participated in the 1989 Inter-Toto Cup.
RKC Waalwijk, Fortuna Sittard and back again
The move to RKC would prove a fruitful one for Boogers, as it sparked the most prolific period of his career. In 90/91 he would top-score for RKC with 14 goals in 33 appearances. Boogers was clearly RKC’s most dangerous attacker, with decent pace and finishing making him a handful for most Eredivisie defences. He also had a very competitive edge. His performance in a 3-1 loss to PSV would evidence two of these three qualities; he wasted a great chance one-on-one with the ‘keeper after racing clear of the last defender, and later injured the goalkeeper with his studs going for a 50/50 ball.
After just one season at RKC, Boogers moved to established mid-table side Fortuna Sittard for 91/92. He easily led their scoring charts in only season at the club with 13 goals in 29 appearances. Boogers was the only bright spark in an otherwise dreadful season for Fortuna, as they won only 7 out of 34 games and escaped relegation by just 3 points.
In 92/93 Boogers would move back to RKC (Wikipedia would have you believe he went to Sparta Rotterdam, but this is incorrect) and help them to a 9th place finish, scoring 17 league goals. This included a hat-trick against Den Bosch and impressively scoring all 4 goals in a 4-2 drubbing of Go Ahead Eagles on the final day of the season. The only red flag regarding Boogers’ temperament would be a 55th minute red card as RKC were utterly dominated by an Ajax team featuring the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Edgar Davids, Frank de Boer and Marc Overmars. Ajax were already 3-0 ahead at the time and Boogers inexplicably reacted to de Boer by spitting in his face and flicking a headbutt in his direction, right in front of the referee. The ten men of RKC would eventually go on to lose 5-0.
Sparta Rotterdam
In 93/94 Boogers would be the top-scorer at his club for the 4th season in-a-row, with 11 league goals. RKC would finish a lowly 16th and were relegated to the Eerste Divisie. With 45 league goals in the last 4 seasons Boogers had built up a reputation as a reliable goal scorer for relegation-threatened teams in top-flight Dutch football. Clearly, this had not gone unnoticed as Sparta Rotterdam, who had qualified for the Inter-Toto Cup, snapped him up for just under £400k. Sparta would not make a mark in Europe, but finished a reasonable 9th in the league.
In the 94/95 season, for the 5th season in-a-row, Boogers once again top-scored for his club in an erratic year, including scoring a hat-trick against his old club RKC and playing in a 8-0 heavy loss to Ajax. Sparta would struggle to 14th place in the league.
Across eight seasons of professional football, Boogers had chalked up 88 league goals. Clearly, Boogers was not a particularly special player, but he was an experienced campaigner and a reliable – if not spectacular – goalscorer for cash-strapped teams. So it was quite the surprise move then when West Ham United were successful with a £650k bid for Boogers and he would make the move to the English Premier League.
“I could have gone to Napoli or Everton, and Borussia Dortmund wanted me as well, but suddenly West Ham came in. That was a beautiful club to me, with the famous colours alone,” he stated, “So, I chose West Ham.” I seriously doubt the likes of these clubs were looking at Boogers. And who would choose West Ham over Dortmund? The 94/95 season had not even been his best and none of his goals had come against top sides. None of the clubs he had played for had finished higher than 8th in the league and he had not exactly caught anyone’s eye in Europe. Boogers would have been far down the pecking order of Eredivisie talents vying for moves to bigger clubs, which makes the leap to the Premier League all the more baffling. Boogers was probably a Division One quality player.
West Ham
In the mid-90’s the Premier League was changing the face of English football. In the early years of the rebranded league there had been a very small contingent of non-British Isles players. But, by 1995, the league would start to see the likes of Tony Yeboah, Savo Milosevic, David Ginola, Ruud Gullit and Dennis Bergkamp. They tore up the league and dazzled Premier League crowds up and down the country. They were a world away from the earlier foreign imports (such as Bontcho Guentchev) and were very much in vogue. After a tough first few months adjusting to the physicality of English football, Bergkamp on particular would go on to be the standard-bearer for foreign players in England.
West Ham manager Harry Redknapp had a not-undeserved reputation as somewhat of a wheeler-dealer for signing bargain basement players. In 94/95 West Ham had scored the joint-lowest goals of any side not relegated. The one thing they needed was clear: firepower. West Ham were not exactly flush with money and required value from their players in order to compete at the highest level. Redknapp wasted no time in transforming the squad and shipped out several first team players and brought in a wave of new signings: Marc Rieper, Dani, Stan Lazaridis, Ilie Dumitrescu, Robbie Slater, Michael Hughes (for a second loan spell), Slaven Bilic, John Harkes and a 45 year-old Peter Shilton, in addition to Boogers. Redknapp insists he chanced his arm with Boogers; a cheap signing based on a VHS highlights tape alone. Boogers claims that West Ham scouts had been watching him for several games, although this claim seems a little dubious as Boogers had only scored 3 goals in the last 14 league games of the season, including an 8-game goal drought. Surely, that would not have impressed visiting scouts? I would also question how good that highlights reel actually was, as Boogers never looked anything special in the footage I have seen.
Redknapp wanted a slice of the classy Dutch forward pie, but West Ham had experimented with buying such a player before – Jeroen Boere – although he was signed by previous manager Billy Bonds. It had not turned out well as Boere struggled to score goals in England and after several loan spells, Redknapp moved him on to Southend United where he seemed to find his level. Boere and Boogers were briefly in the same squad together. Boere would tragically die in 2004, amongst conflicting reports regarding the cause of death. He was just 39 years old.
Boogers would start on the bench against Leeds. The match is mainly remembered for Tony Yeboah’s second goal – a stunning left-foot volley into the top corner on 57 minutes. As West Ham were 2-1 down Redknapp threw Boogers on for his debut, however the game petered out and Leeds hung on for the win. Boogers second appearance, however, would spark a turn of events in his life that would come to define him to Premier League football fans.
Just four days later West Ham were to face Manchester United at Old Trafford, which was being heavily renovated at the time. Following Blackburn’s 94/95 League title they had a point to prove. Alex Ferguson had sold proven winners Kanchelskis, Hughes and Ince, and their talisman Eric Cantona was banned from football, and so it fell on the ‘Class of ‘92’, mixed with other experienced players, to fill the void. Boogers again warmed the bench and as West Ham went 2-1 down Redknapp once again threw him into the mix on the left-wing on 72 minutes. Fifteen minutes later, with the game heading towards a routine United victory, Steve Bruce played the ball wide-right for Gary Neville. It was a nothing ball. Having anticipated the pass, Boogers was already sprinting towards the right-back as fast as his legs would carry him. As soon as Neville had controlled the ball Boogers hopped, skipped and jumped into a crazy sliding challenge from six feet away. Assisted by the wet grass, Boogers went straight through Neville’s standing leg, sending him violently to the ground. Bruce was incensed and immediately squared up to Boogers, grabbing him by the chest. A ruck of United players quickly surrounded Boogers and Julian Dicks – of all people – acted as peacemaker. An angry Bruce shoved Martin Allen in the chest before order was restored and Boogers got his marching orders. Fortunately for Neville he was not seriously injured and was able to finish the game.
“Marco Boogers, frustrated on the substitutes’ bench for most of the evening, and then finding Manchester United’s possession play in the closing stages a little too much to take,” mused commentator Clive Tyldesley.
Redknapp would defend his new signing in the post-match interview, “that’s not in the boy’s nature, he’s not that type of lad at all” but also lamented, “He got what he deserved, he got sent off.” Redknapp would later admit, “Pretty soon after he arrived I realised he wasn’t quite right… [he didn’t] speak a word of English and after a month Marco’s wife was crying, she’s missing her mother and we can’t understand any of it.” Boogers would be all over the back pages of the newspapers, The Sun leading with ‘Sickening horror tackle’. The press even ludicrously suggested Boogers was hired to deliberately injure United’s players. Boogers was suspended for four games and under the pressure of the British sports media spot-light, asked for permission to return to serve the suspension in Holland with his pregnant wife. In a 2003 interview with FourFourTwo, Redknapp would later reflect on his treatment of Boogers, “It’s not right because we expect them to arrive and settle in just like that. There’s no after-care. It’s not on, but that’s how it was at West Ham. Now it’s different at the top clubs who employ people to look after foreigners. It’s something we need to look at.” Boogers was loaned out to FC Groningen in order to train and rehabilitate with them.
The press got wind of Booger’s ‘disappearance’ and a reporter, desperate for the latest on Boogers, called West Ham’s press office. Bill Prosser, the PA announcer at Upton Park, answered the phone. Asked if Boogers had gone back to Holland Prosser fatefully replied, “He’s probably gone by car again.” The reporter misheard the sentence and The Sun produced the notorious back page headline ‘BARMY BOOGERS LIVING IN A CARAVAN’. They claimed that boogers had a mental break-down and was found hiding in a mobile home in the Netherlands. In an era when footballers – and society – were simply not allowed to have mental health problems, this spelled the end for Boogers. In 2019 Redknapp would tell The Sun, “Right from the word go Boogers’ attitude stank. He was among the stragglers at the back whenever we went for a run, he didn’t want to work, he was lazy and the players all took an instant dislike to him. I suppose you could say he could play a bit, but certainly he was nowhere near as impressive as the video had made him out to be.” Redknapp’s comments to the same paper in 1995 would echo those he made in 2019, “The player who has caused me more problems in football than anyone else” he would decry. “It seems that every player who can tie his own bootlaces is worth £1million. I’ve got one who can’t even do that!”, he complained. The public humiliation continued, “He’s coming back on Tuesday but I wouldn’t put money on him still being here Wednesday. He doesn’t like the way we train and he doesn’t like being tackled in training. Now I can only hope to sell him back to a club in Holland. Bloody Boogers! I was having a good day until someone mentioned his name!”
The mental health character assassination continued in the press with rumours about Boogers producing a fit note from a doctor stating he was ‘psychologically unwell to play football’, when in reality he had suffered a serious knee cartilage injury. Incredibly, after the treatment he had received from the press and public lack of support from his manager, Boogers came back to England to continue playing. He made his return on 4th November 1995, once again coming on as a substitute as the Hammers fell 0-3 behind. Boogers would come agonisingly close to scoring, heading on to the post off a corner. West Ham would go on to lose 4-1.
Boogers would not feature again for nearly a month, again being used as a wildcard late substitute when the game was already lost. This time West Ham were 4-0 down to champions Blackburn Rovers after little more than an hour, thanks to an Alan Shearer hat-trick. West Ham pulled one back with a Julian Dicks penalty and in the dying moments of the game, Boogers notched an assist by laying up Robbie Slater for an excellent curled finish in the top corner. This was the last appearance Boogers would make in a West Ham shirt as his knee injury worsened. All-in-all, in 97 minutes of substitute appearances in the Premier League, Boogers would experience mixed fortunes in hitting the post, grabbing an assist and get infamously get sent off. Other foreign signings such as Dani and the higher-profile Ilie Dumitrescu would fare no better, making 8 and 3 appearances, respectively.
Years later, in his autobiography, Redknapp would finally admit, “For the first time in my life I signed a player purely on video evidence. Someone sent me a tape of Boogers in action and urged me to watch it. I was very impressed. I took the risk and signed him. He could play a bit but certainly he was nowhere near as impressive as the video made out. Not like it said in the brochure, if you like.” Does anyone really believe that this is the first and only time Redknapp – essentially Del Boy in a tracksuit – has ever signed a player on video evidence alone?
Many years later Boogers would have his say during an interview with FCDordrecht.net, “I had a strong intention to prove myself at West Ham, but I started worrying with my knee, the pain was getting worse. A scan was made. In mid-December 1995 I came to the club in the morning and heard that I would be operated on in the afternoon, At that time my wife had to give birth. I any case, she wanted that to happen in the Netherlands, to be present at the birth and to rehabilitate there. Only reports appeared in the English sewer press that the club would not know where I was, that I was missing. Bullshit! West Ham knew exactly how it was, and I also thought it was good that I would regain strength at FC Groningen.”
Groningen, RKC and Volendam
After seeing out the rest of the year at Groningen, Boogers moved to RKC Waalwijk for a third time in the second half of the 96/97 season. Boogers, still no doubt recovering from his injury and having not played for almost 18 months, made only 9 appearances and did not score any goals. Boogers would later claim that his knee was never quite right for the rest of his career. He moved on to Eredivisie relegation strugglers FC Volendam.
In 97/98 Boogers did not start playing until late October, but managed to net a decent 9 goals in 20 appearances in a struggling team that finished bottom of the league, winning only 5 out of 34 games, conceding 102 goals and embarrassingly losing 10-0 to PSV (although Boogers did not play in that game). His 9 goals would make him the top scorer for the club that season. In his seventh game of the season Boogers would again get sent off in a 1-1 draw with FC Twente. He would not play again for over two months.
Boogers, now 31, had not played in the Eerste Divisie since his debut professional season for DS’79 in 1986. In 98/99 Boogers would have a prolific season and score 16 goals in 31 games. He would be sent off for a second bookable offence in a 1-0 win against Helmond Sport in the 90th minute. Despite his goal-scoring heroics Volendam would finish outside the promotion play-off places in 8th. For 99/00 Boogers then moved to Dordrecht’90, his old hometown club, where he would see the only stability in his career.
Return to Dordrecht and becoming Technical Director
In his first season back at Dordrecht Boogers would score an impressive 20 league goals as his team finished second from bottom, and pick up two red cards, both against little-known RBC Roosendaal and both were in the 90th minute. In 00/01 Boogers would grab a 19-goal haul and get sent off in the 90th minute in a 4-0 loss to Oss. Perhaps all these 90th minute red cards were to do with built up frustration? Almost all Booger’s red cards were in games his team were losing badly or drawing, and often late in the game. From 2001 Boogers would combine his playing duties with a Technical Director role at the club. The 01/02 season would see Boogers score 16 goals in 34 games. Not bad for a thirty-five year-old with a dodgy knee. It also would be the first season since 1996 (his half a season with RKC) where he did not pick up a red card. In 02/03 Boogers would still go on to make 30 league appearances and chalk up 11 goals as Dordrecht finished bottom of the league. By now his knee injury was causing him real problems and he would only make 5 more appearances in 03/04 before retiring. And in an instant, all Dutch league players felt just that little bit safer in the 90th minute of their games.
After a brief stint as caretaker manager in 2005, as Technical Director Boogers was partly responsible for guiding Dordrecht to the top-flight for the first time in 20 years, with automatic promotion in 2013/14. Dordrecht finished bottom of the Eredivisie and struggled upon their return to the Eerste Divisie. Boogers publically clashed with coach Jan Everse after a 1-0 loss to FC Emmen after Boogers spoke to the players in the dressing room after the match. Everse was the one who took the disagreement public complaining, “I find that unacceptable. I went against it. I thought I should protect my players. We are still early in the season, this team has to grow. The trainer speaks angrily to his players, not the technical director. You have to give a group of players confidence and not scold them.”
Boogers hit back, “I always come into the locker room after matches, then I give everyone a hand and we talk about the match and sometimes I give my opinion, but it is really not the case that I scold people rotten. Jan Everse says that we cannot play as we want with this selection. But I have told him that we really don’t need to become champions this season. We are building a new team and we want to reap the benefits of that later. But then the footballers must have already learned our playing style. That does not happen if the trainer wants to keep adjusting things.” Everse was sacked and Dordrecht went on to finish 14th in the league. 2016/17 was even worse with an embarrassing 19th place finish, just avoiding relegation. At the end of the season Boogers was let go from his role after serving the club for a total of 20 years overall. Dordrecht, however, recognised his passion and negotiating skills with this statement:
“From 2001, Marco Boogers was technically responsible at FC Dordrecht. Throughout that period he devoted himself with enormous enthusiasm to “his” FC Dordrecht. The absolute highlight and crowning achievement of his work was of course the promotion to the premier league. A promotion that was realized with an extremely modest (and actually impossible) budget. Through his network, commitment, creativity, eye for talent and negotiation skills, he has always managed to make up for a chronic lack of money. The season 2016/2017 was also very disappointing for him personally. Once more he wanted to pay for his sporting revenge. He did that with the composition of the new selection. He is convinced that Dordrecht will surprise positively again this season. Marco Boogers has decided that this is the right time to take a step back. It seems very unlikely that he will disappear from professional football.”He says: “Of course I’m going on vacation first, but then I’m open to a new challenge. And I am happy with the business cards for life, which I received as a token of appreciation from my club FC Dordrecht. Because it will remain that way”.
So where is Boogers today?
Boogers never returned to football, despite offers from various European clubs. His wife, Patricia, started a logistics company in 2010 which has become the family business. They have branches in four locations in Holland, 140 employees and are looking to expand. They currently hold a big multi-year contract with DHL and seem to be doing pretty well.
What does Boogers think of his football infamy?
“I don’t miss football for a second. I don’t have time for that anymore. I had a great time, getting to know a lot of people, making friends, but also meeting people I’d rather have avoided. But it has been beautiful. I have taken a new direction in business, and I am really enjoying myself. A completely different discipline, which I have mastered myself, but where I also rely on my own method and instinct. I went to FC Dordrecht one last time and after that I have never been there again. No more need because a new period has started in my life. I still have a lot of contact with supporters and former players, who are still grateful for the development they have been through. Will I ever return to the football world? I don’t think that chance is nil. “
Boogers was a reliable forward, with decent place and finishing skills, who could score goals whilst playing for relegation-candidate teams. A valuable commodity for lower-level Dutch teams with a strict budget. From 1990 until 2002 he top-scored for every Dutch team he played for, bar the half a season with RKC post knee operation. He was a competitive player and was prone to the odd rush of blood to the head, picking up several pointless 90th minute red cards. Then again, at other times he would go years without being sent off. If he was a defender, would anyone bat an eyelid at his sendings off? The likes of Sergio Ramos wear their discipline record almost as a badge of honour and this is lauded by fans worldwide. The move to West Ham should probably never have happened. Boogers should have stayed at a level he was comfortable with, but who would turn down Premier League money in his position? You cannot blame him. It is just a shame it coincided with one of his moments of madness. And speaking of madness, Boogers was treated shamefully by a press unconcerned with personal welfare and using a phrase such as ‘mental health’ at that time would have been met with puzzled looks from journalists. Imagine the treatment of Boogers today with the mental health supporting revolution on social media? Boogers had a career in the Netherlands he can be proud of and seems to be enjoying life helping to run his family business.
So, Marco Boogers. Not a madman. And was never in a caravan.
Thanks for reading.
Forgotten Premier League Footballers
Fancy reading about another Premier League legend? Then why not check out our story about William Prunier by clicking the link below.
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