Jeroen Willem Boere (18 November 1967 – 16 August 2007) was a Dutch professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a striker. He was the younger brother of Remco Boere, who played for clubs including Den Haag and Zwolle. He started his professional career at

SBV Excelsior Excelsior Rotterdam, commonly known as Excelsior, is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of the Dutch football league system, following promotion from the Eerste D ...

and went on to play for several teams, mostly at Holland's second level.

England

A tall striker, Jeroen Boere went abroad in summer 1993 when he was signed by

Billy Bonds William Arthur Bonds (born 17 September 1946) is a former professional footballer and manager, who is most often associated with West Ham United with whom he spent 27 years as player and manager. He played 799 first-team games for West Ham in a ...

for £250,000 to play for newly promoted

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. Jeroen, or 'Yosser' as he was known to his teammates, made his debut for West Ham on 25 September 1993 in a 2–0 defeat to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

but was sent off for a clash with Kevin Scott. Although he struggled to gain a regular place in the West Ham first team, he memorably scored twice for them in a Premier League game at

Elland Road Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...

on 10 December 1994 to secure a 2–2 draw against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

. His stay with West Ham lasted two seasons and he was loaned out to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

and

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

. He was recalled back to West Ham because of their striker shortage when they were near the foot of the table; he formed a partnership with

Tony Cottee Antony Richard Cottee (born 11 July 1965) is an English former professional footballer and manager who now works as a television football commentator. As a player, he was a striker from 1982 until 2001, notably playing in the top flight of En ...

which helped West Ham to avoid relegation that season. He eventually moved to

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

in 1995 as part of the deal that took

Iain Dowie Iain Dowie (born 9 January 1965) is a football manager, former professional footballer and sports television pundit. He played as a striker from 1983 until 2001, notably in the Premier League for Southampton, Crystal Palace and West Ham Unit ...

back to the

Boleyn Ground Boleyn Ground, often referred to as Upton Park, was a football stadium in Upton Park, London, Upton Park, east London, England. It was the home of West Ham United F.C., West Ham United from 1904 to 2016, and was briefly used by Charlton Athletic ...

. His spell at Palace was short-lived, however, and he moved on to

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

at the end of the season.

Japan

Boere moved to Japan in 1998 to play for the newly formed professional club

Omiya Ardija is a Japanese professional association football club based in Ōmiya-ku, Saitama, Ōmiya, Saitama Prefecture. Its "hometown" (as designated by the league) is shared with neighbours Urawa Red Diamonds. The team currently play in J2 League, the ...

, formerly known as NTT Kantō, in the

Japan Football League The , also known as simply the JFL, is the 4th tier of the Japanese association football league system, positioned beneath the three divisions of the J.League. The league features fully professional teams that hold J.League 100 Year Plan club sta ...

. He played 15 matches and scored 9 goals in his first season in Japan. In the 1999 season, Omiya joined the newly formed

J2 League The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Yasud ...

and he started the season very well, scoring 9 in 11 games. In May 1999, after dinner with his wife at a restaurant in

Roppongi Roppongi (, , 'six trees') is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous for the affluent Roppongi Hills development area and popular night club scene. A few foreign embassies are located near Roppongi, and the night life is popu ...

district of Tokyo, he was stabbed in his left eye and arm by two unknown men who reportedly appeared to be of

Middle Eastern The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

origin. His attacker was later reported to be an

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i criminal who was later found shot through the head in a

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

river. Boere lost his eye in the incident, which forced his retirement from football at the age of 31.

Retirement

After his retirement, Boere owned the Half Moon

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

in Epping High Street from 1999 until 2004. During an interview in his pub with a Dutch sports magazine in 2001, Boere joked about his artificial eye and said he had no regrets about his career having played, at the peak of his career, for West Ham United. And, as he said, at least he was still alive. After his pub ownership ended, Boere moved to Spain, in September 2004, to work as a

real estate agent Real estate agents and real estate brokers are people who represent sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and age ...

Death

He died on 16 August 2007 at the age of 39. There are conflicting reports about the cause of death and place of death. Some media reported that Boere died in a car crash, possibly on

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

, while other media reported that he was found dead in his home in

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the re ...

. English newspaper ''

Ilford Recorder Archant Limited is a newspaper and magazine publishing company with headquarters in Norwich, England. The group publishes four daily newspapers, around 50 weekly newspapers, and 80 consumer and contract magazines. The company is a subsidiary of ...

'' stated that Boere had committed suicide. Boere left his wife and child as well as two sons from a previous marriage.

and

players wore black armbands in memory of Boere in their home games in August 2007., 大宮アルディージャ

Career statistics

References

External links

Profile at RODA JC SPELERS
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boere, Jeroen 1967 births 2007 deaths Footballers from Arnhem Men's association football forwards Dutch men's footballers Excelsior Rotterdam players De Graafschap players VVV-Venlo players Roda JC Kerkrade players Go Ahead Eagles players West Ham United F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Southend United F.C. players RB Omiya Ardija players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Premier League players English Football League players J2 League players Japan Football League (1992–1998) players Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Japan Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Spain Stabbing survivors 20th-century Dutch sportsmen