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 le ...

who played as a striker. He was the younger brother of

Remco Boere Remco Boere (born 29 October 1961) is a Dutch former professional Association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. Playing career A much-travelled forward, Boere played club football for Roda JC and ADO ...

, 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 football club based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football from the 2022–23 season following promotion. The club was found ...

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 an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

. 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 an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

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 is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The g ...

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 in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

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

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

and

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

. 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 building ...

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 The Boleyn Ground, often referred to as Upton Park, was a football stadium located in Upton Park, east London. It was the home of West Ham United from 1904 to 2016, and was briefly used by Charlton Athletic in the early 1990s during their years ...

. 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. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

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 professional association football club based in Ōmiya in Saitama, Japan. Its "hometown" as designated by the league is the whole of Saitama city, which is shared with neighbours Urawa Red Diamonds. Omiya competed in the J1 League follow ...

, 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 associate membership am ...

. 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 Yas ...

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 is a district of 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 popular with locals and foreigners alike. It is ...

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 ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (European ...

origin. His attacker was later reported to be an

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

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 estima ...

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 a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

Epping Epping may refer to: Places Australia * Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Epping railway station, Sydney * Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Epping Forest, Kearns, a he ...

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 A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents 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 agen ...

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 (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...

, 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 r ...

. English newspaper ''

Ilford Recorder Archant Limited is a newspaper and magazine publishing company headquartered in Norwich, England. The group publishes four daily newspapers, around 50 weekly newspapers, and 80 consumer and contract magazines. Archant employs around 1,250 empl ...

'' 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 Association football forwards Dutch 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 Omiya Ardija players Dutch expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate 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