Phil Boersma

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Phil Boersma
Personnel
Surname Philip Boersma
birthday September 24, 1949
place of birth Liverpool ,  England
position Midfield , storm
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1968-1975 Liverpool FC 82 (17)
1970 →  AFC Wrexham  (loan) 7 ( 00)
1975-1977 Middlesbrough FC 47 ( 03)
1977-1988 Luton Town 36 ( 08)
1978-1979 Swansea City 18 ( 01)
1 Only league games are given.

Philip "Phil" Boersma (born September 24, 1949 in Liverpool ) is a former English football player . The striker and midfielder was part of the then very successful Liverpool FC at the beginning of the 1970s , where he won the "double" of the English championship and the UEFA Cup in 1973 .

Athletic career

Liverpool FC (1968–1975)

Boersma, who had developed into a physically robust athlete at a young age, seemed ideal type to meet the demands of a classic striker . In this position he preferred, he combined a high level of physical presence with speed and technical skills on the ball and Liverpool FC signed him in September 1968. First he played the first season 1968/69 exclusively in the reserve team, before he came on his 20th birthday in the League Cup against Manchester City for his first use in the A-team. The game in which he replaced Alun Evans from the 69th minute onwards was lost 3-2 and three days later his first league game (and the first appearance from the start) against West Bromwich Albion ended without a win 2-2. In the weeks that followed, four more competitive appearances followed, but he was denied a goal of his own. He then returned to the squad of the reserve team and from March 1970 collected a little match practice at the loan club AFC Wrexham , before returning to Liverpool shortly before the end of the season to win the Central League championship with the B-Elf .

When he came on again for Evans in the second leg at Dinamo Bucharest in the trade fair cup on November 4, 1970 , he scored his first goal (final score 1: 1, first leg 3: 0) and a month later he also scored in the league against West Ham United (2-1) for the first time. Thanks to a longer period in the starting eleven, he had played a total of 21 competitive games at the end of the 1970/71 season. However, the yield of three goals was quite meager for a striker and so it was hardly surprising that he lost his regular place again when a new, promising talent strengthened the offensive of Liverpool FC with Kevin Keegan in the 1971/72 season. Since Keegan began to harmonize extremely well with strike partner John Toshack , Boersma's probation chances were reduced significantly. Only when Toshack had to sit out due to injury for much of the 1972/73 season, he returned to the team. He contributed four goals to win the UEFA Cup and was in the final second leg against Borussia Mönchengladbach (final score 0-2, first leg 3-0) from the 77th minute for Steve Heighway on the field. In addition, he won the English championship in 1973 and had a not inconsiderable part of it with seven goals from 19 missions.

However, he could not build on the good performance in the 1973/74 season. He suffered from form fluctuations and the only three league hits proved this. In the FA Cup , he came first in five games, but was then disregarded by coach Bill Shankly in the 3-0 final win against Newcastle United . The fact that he had not even been nominated as a substitute caused such anger at Boersma that he never wanted to play for Liverpool again. The differences could be resolved and under the new coach Bob Paisley he led in the Charity Shield with the goal to 1: 0 (final score 1: 1, victory after penalties) well into the following season 1974/75. He then benefited from a longer suspension for Kevin Keegan and was thus again often represented in the starting line-up. At the end of the season, he had played 29 competitive games and scored ten goals, including a hat trick against Tottenham Hotspur and two hits for the 11-0 record victory against Strømsgodset IF in the European Cup Winners' Cup , but none from October 1974. In Paisley's long-term plan, Boersma then played no longer a significant role. Keegan and Toshack were the "seeded" regular duo in the attack and until well into the second half of 1975 Boersma was only once in the starting lineup. Other young players - including David Fairclough - pushed to his position in the first team and so Paisley Boersma moved in December 1975 for a transfer fee of 72,000 pounds to first division rivals Middlesbrough FC .

From Middlesbrough to Swansea (1975–1979)

"Boros" coach Jack Charlton saw Boersma more of a midfielder than a striker and in this role the newcomer played 47 league games in two years. Successes were largely absent during this time and with three championship goals he did not excel. There, however, he met Graeme Souness , who later moved to Liverpool himself and had a long friendship with Boersma, which would have an impact on the following coaching activities.

In the summer of 1977, Boersma was hired by the second division Luton Town , but played there only a year as shortly afterwards at Swansea City , where his former Liverpool team-mate John Toshack had taken over the head coach role. In Swansea he suffered such a severe ankle injury that he ended his professional career in 1979 before his 30th birthday.

After the active career

Boersma switched to coaching and was available to Swansea City until 1983 as a cotrainer and physiotherapist. The club managed to move up from the third to the first English league. Next station was in 1983 an assistant position at Lincoln City FC and in 1986 he followed Souness to his first coaching for the Scottish first division club Glasgow Rangers . When he took over from the resigned Kenny Dalglish at the end of the 1990/91 season in Liverpool , Boersma was one of his coaching staff as he did in the 1995/96 season when Souness worked for Galatasaray Istanbul in Turkey . The constellation was repeated four times until 2006 at Southampton FC , Benfica Lisbon , Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United , before they parted ways.

During the 2007/08 season Boersma worked as a Kotrainer for Llangefni Town in the Welsh Premier League , but left the bottom of the table after just one month in January 2008.

Title / Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Information from Hugmans Players' Records 1946-1984 (page 45) and 1946-92 (page 66) show only five inserts that differ from the online sources.
  2. ↑ "Forgotten Hero: Phil Boersma" (thisisanfield.com)
personal data
SURNAME Boersma, Phil
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Boersma, Philip
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH September 24, 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH Liverpool