Football League World
·15 décembre 2024
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·15 décembre 2024
Bobby Zamora scored play-off final goals for both West Ham and QPR to take the two clubs into the Premier League.
Bobby Zamora has been very successful in front of goal over the years.
The legendary striker enjoyed an illustrious career, as he made over 250 appearances in the Premier League, where he contributed to 84 goals. His spells in the EFL were just as successful, as he enjoyed a number of memorable moments with the clubs that he played for.
Zamora first made a name for himself with Brighton and Hove Albion, where he earned back-to-back promotions from the fourth tier to the second tier.
However, he gained further success as he moved away and played for a number of clubs in the Premier League and the Championship.
His spells with QPR and West Ham were rather similar as he played in the Championship and the Premier League with both clubs, and enjoyed success despite his goal record not being fantastic.
Not only that, but the way he earned promotion to the top flight with both clubs was almost identical.
The 2004/05 campaign was his first full season with West Ham after joining in the January prior from Tottenham, where he struggled for goals.
He did not have a spectacular Championship campaign as he scored just seven league goals and assisted four, but when the play-offs came around, Zamora really upped his game.
In the semi-finals, he scored one in the first leg and two in the second leg against Ipswich Town to set up a final clash with Preston North End at the Millennium Stadium.
The scoreline was 0-0 until the 57th minute when Zamora tapped in a first-time effort with his left foot to put West Ham in front. Eventually, the game finished 1-0 and the striker's goal was the deciding factor in whether West Ham would be playing in the Premier League the following season.
Zamora's goal scoring record at West Ham was far from spectacular, but he will always go down as a memorable figure for his play-off final back in 2005, which ultimately led to Irons' return to the top flight.
Fast-forward to 2012, and Zamora had signed for QPR after a successful spell with Fulham, where he finished as a runner-up in the Europa League under Roy Hodgson.
His first two seasons for the Hoops were spent in the Premier League, but his second saw the club suffer relegation into the Championship.
Similar to his spell with West Ham, his time in the Championship was not full of goals, but when the club reached the play-offs he popped up in the big moments to help QPR over the line.
The Hoops met Derby County in the 2014 Championship play-off final, and just like West Ham's play-off final back in 2005, the score was 0-0 at the break.
This time around, Zamora left it rather late to get QPR in front, as in the final minute of regular time, the striker fired first-time with his left foot to send the QPR end into pandemonium.
This moment went down as one of the most memorable play-off goals of all time and cemented Zamora's legacy as a modern-day legend at Loftus Road.
West Ham and QPR both boast a shared memory of Zamora scoring a second-half left-footed strike in the Championship play-off final to earn a 1-0 victory and ultimately promotion to the Premier League.