Today I’m taking a look back into West Ham’s forgotten players of recent years, and my focus is on a man who captivated the hearts of few, but brought one of the most threatening last names in the game to the pitch at Upton Park. That’s right, we’re going to take a look at forgotten West Ham winger Luis Boa Morte.
Boa Morte played for West Ham from January 2007 – August 2011, and although he spent a sizable chunk of his career playing for West Ham, the player will probably not be the first Hammer to have a tower block named after him once we head to the Olympic Stadium.
In fairness, the man wasn’t renowned for his flair. Or his pace. A kind way to describe him would be as a poor man’s Ricardo Vaz Te. Even given his lacking commitment towards being Hammer of the Year or even Man of the Match, I think back fondly towards Luis Boa Morte. I liked the guy. He seemed like a good team player, and is described in his West Ham bio as a “popular and bubbly character.”
Sure, he may not have had the crossing abilities of Matt Jarvis or Stewart Downing, or the pace of…Kevin Nolan, and I don’t remember him staying on his feet particularly well, but he gave the Hammers a few solid years of his career.
Scoring was not Boa Morte’s greatest strength. He only scored two goals total during his time at Upton Park, and his second was an important contribution to West Ham’s great escape in 2007. He was more prolific with his assists, and set up two goals in his first game and had 11 assists for West Ham during his stint there, as well as 30-plus shots on goal during each of his first two seasons for the Hammers.
He was injured prior to the start of the 2009-2010 season and sat out the entire season, bar one game. Technically, this season was his best season at Upton Park – he only made one appearance, but it was an appearance in which he scored a goal (against Manchester City, no less) giving him a very high goals per game rate. He also had a penchant for yellow cards, receiving eight in 27 appearances in 08-09.
After leaving the Hammers in August 2011, Boa Morte has continued to play football around the globe—with Larissa in Greece, Orlando Pirates in South Africa, and then Chesterfield and Four Marks FC back in Britain.
He also enjoyed an interesting career prior to his time at West Ham. He once made a guest appearance as himself on TV show Grange Hill, giving out prizes at a school sports day—a fact which raises more questions than answers. He was also one of Arsene Wenger’s first ever Arsenal signings and actually played in the 97-98 season in which they won the FA Cup and the League.
He was certainly one of West Ham’s more interesting players, and also one of the first to leave when Sam Allardyce became manager. Not much has changed in the three years since he left – we’re still dancing around the relegation zone and struggling to maintain consistency, but as he left the club he left his wishes for the club to be promoted—and that, at least they managed.
He may never have been my favourite player, but as he left he said that he “always tried to put my heart and head in for the team” (Daily Mail) and that is an attitude I can certainly appreciate, and would love to see replicated by some of our current players—and for that, I certainly wish him well in his future.
He was bloody awful haha
Don’t forget these players are on tens of thousands a week to do the business and some of them couldn’t hit a barn door from a yard,when I think of boa I just remember the misses from inside the box,he was a clown
Two words. Headless. Chicken. Let’s never speak of him again.
Jarvis and Downing are both as useless as Boa Morte was. Unfortunately for both of them, they don’t have the likeable charm of Boa. His mannerisms suggested he knew he was stealing a living, an endearing quality.
If you look at Boa morte for Fulham he was lightning quick.