Born: Barking, London, 16 January 1981
Position: Centre forward
International caps: 2
International goals: 0
Signed: 15 July 2008 from West Ham United (£4.8m)
Fulham debut: Hull City 2-1 Fulham, 16 August 2008
Fulham appearances: 134
Fulham goals: 37
Honours: UEFA Europa League (2009-10).
Sold: 31 January 2012 to Queens Park Rangers (£4m)
Bobby Zamora overcome a slow start at Craven Cottage to become unstoppable in Fulham’s run to the Europa League final in 2010. The former West Ham striker scored only two league goals in 35 appearances in his first campaign under Roy Hodgson with many fans failing to see how integral his hold-up play was to Fulham’s seventh place finish. Zamora almost joined Hull City for £5m that summer, but he turned down the move to play European football and the rest is history.
Zamora scored one and made another in Fulham’s first Europa League fixture against Vetra and opened his league account by diverting in a Clint Dempsey shot at Portsmouth on the opening day. When he scored the winner against Sunderland in December, Zamora had doubled his league tally from the previous season and he pointedly shushed the Fulham fans who had jeered him the previous season. He scored twice in Basel to help Hodgson’s side progress to the knockout stages of the Europa League, where he scored a wondergoal to knock out the holders Shakhtar Donetsk.
The talimsanic forward scored a last-minute free kick to beat Birmingham City and then helped Fulham famously turn around a 4-1 aggregate deficit against Juventus, scoring once and causing Fabio Cannavaro to get sent off. Zamora scored in both legs of the quarter final against German champions Wolfsburg – his crucial away goal in Germany coming after just 22 seconds – and he formed a telepathic partnership with Zoltan Gera in the absence of Andy Johnson. The outcome of the final against Atletico Madrid might have been different if Zamora was fully fit rather than carrying an injury suffered against Stoke City a week or so earlier.
Zamora opted against going to the World Cup with England despite catching the eye of Fabio Capello and made his international debut against Hungary at Wembley after the disappointing tournament in South Africa. He signed a new four-year contract with the Whites but soon had his leg broken by a dreadful challenge from Wolves’ Karl Henry. He scored seven goals in sixteen appearances after returning from a prolonged lay-off and managed seven more the following season despite falling out with Martin Jol. His final Fulham goal before departing for Queens Park Rangers was a late winner against Arsenal in January 2012.
