Ten great Luis Boa Morte goals from his days wearing the black and white
Everyone’s got a Luis Boa Morte memory. There was the way he seamlessly slotted into a sensational forward line to fire Fulham to promised land of the Premiership under Jean Tigana, the goals he scored that established the Whites in the top flight and even secured our first taste of European football after lifting the InterToto Cup. Nobody can forget that he was a regular scourge of the other side in SW6, scoring a sensational equaliser at Stamford Bridge after sending Marcel Desailly for a hotdog in 2003 before going one better and netting the winner in the famous win at Craven Cottage masterminded by Chris Coleman a couple of years later.
Boa Morte’s bond with the Fulham fans was special. We appreciated that he fought for every ball – sometimes literally – and gave absolutely everything for the cause. He clearly loved his time as a player down the banks of the Thames and the opportunity to prove that his first experience in England, winning the double with Arsenal under Arsene Wenger, wasn’t a fluke. The longevity of his Craven Cottage career was extraordinary in retrospect and, the fact that he turned down offers from leading Premier League sides, to sign a new contract with the Whites – becoming Coleman’s captain in the process – is particularly pertinent given the summer transfer window we are suffering through.
The encore to Boa Morte’s Fulham story is just as endearing. He took his first steps as a coach by taking charge of some of the youth sides at Motspur Park, nurturing the talent produced by the club’s category one academy. His return, as Marco Silva’s assistant, after the flat football served up by Scott Parker was endearing and exhilarating at the same time. Plenty of Fulham lifers will chuckle at the idea that Boa Morte has matured into the more mellow of a magnificent managerial partnership and Boa Morte’s role in all aspects of the club’s recent revival – not just the wonderful wing play we’ve witnessed over the past two seasons – should be understated.
It was interesting to hear the current Portuguese contingent in the Premier League hail Boa Morte as a trailblazer in a recent Premier League Stories short feature (which you can watch above). Now, it is taken as read that Portugal provides some of football’s most technically gifted and dependable exports, but certainly wasn’t the case at the turn of the millennium when Boa Morte became part of Fulham’s French revolution.
We’re very grateful he did and want to wish Luis a very happy 46th birthday!
