Boogaard was born on Texel in the village of Den Burg. He played in the youth of VV Texel ’94 and ended up in the youth academy of AZ in 2017. Eight years later he plays his first matches in the top team. This makes him only the second footballer from Texel to play in the Premier League.
Martin Koorn also came from the island and made waves at FC Utrecht, FC Zwolle, FC Volendam and Haarlem in the late 1980s and 1990s. Only at the age of 21 did he leave the island to play football for Utrecht. In 1994 he played his last Premier League match and 31 years later Boogaard was Texel’s next professional footballer in the Premier League.
Debut week
The central midfielder is undergoing a stormy development. With his two-leggedness he already makes a good impression and he also sees the game well according to his trainer Maarten Martens. He was considered a permanent fixture at Jong AZ and this was already rewarded on Thursday with a substitute appearance against Crystal Palace (3-1 loss). That meant his official debut in AZ 1.
After that match, Peer Koopmeiners turned out to be injured, which meant that Boogaard suddenly came into the picture as a starting player against PSV. Martens didn’t hesitate for a moment to throw him to the lions. “That was the best option. We wanted someone who is used to playing from control.”
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