Product Code Database
Hamer Bouazza (; born 22 February 1985) is a former professional footballer who played as a left winger.
Bouazza spent most of his football career in England, having also played in Turkey, France, Cyprus, Spain, Algeria and Tunisia.
An Algerian international between 2007 and 2013, Bouazza played for his country in two editions of the Africa Cup of Nations: 2010 in Angola and 2013 in South Africa.
He made his first team debut as an 88th-minute substitute on 7 February 2004 in a 2–2 with Sunderland at Vicarage Road. A week later, he scored on his full debut, a 2–0 home win over Preston North End. He made a total of nine appearances in the 2003–04 season. The following season, he made 28 league and eight cup appearances, scoring three goals. During the 2005–06 season, Bouazza was overshadowed by Darius Henderson, Marlon King, and Ashley Young and missed a lengthy spell with a broken metatarsal but still tallied three goals in nineteen games, one of which was the fourth in Watford's 4–1 win over EFL Championship runners-up Sheffield United.
On 6 October 2005, Bouazza was loaned out to League One club Swindon Town, initially for one month, but later extended to the end of the year. He scored three goals in 15 games for Swindon.
Bouazza broke his metatarsal during a Watford home game against Derby County on 4 March 2006, and had the bone pinned in an operation. On 21 May 2006, he played in Watford's 3–0 win over Leeds United in the Championship play-off final at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, coming on as a 72nd-minute substitute.
Throughout the 2006–07 season, with Watford in the Premier League, Bouazza started most league games, principally as a left-sided winger, scoring five goals and winning the club's "Young Player of the Season award".
On 9 August 2008, he signed for Championship club Charlton Athletic on a season-long loan, making his debut later that day as an 83rd-minute substitute in a 3–0 win over Swansea City at The Valley. He scored his first goal for the Addicks on 23 August in a 4–2 home win over Reading.
On 8 January 2009, after a total of 27 appearances and four goals at Charlton, Fulham activated a recall clause in the loan agreement and immediately loaned him to another Championship side, Birmingham City, for the remainder of the season. Bouazza made his Birmingham debut in their next league game, a 1–1 draw at home to Cardiff City on 17 January, and scored his first goal, a clever finish after a defensive error, in a 2–0 win over Doncaster Rovers at the Keepmoat Stadium on 14 March. He made a total of 16 appearances for Birmingham, helping them win promotion to the Premier League as Championship runners-up.
On 23 August, he left Sivasspor, stating that he did not wish to remain in Turkey, and agreeing a mutual termination of his contract. Sivasspor head-coach Bulent Uygun said they had to release Bouazza as they didn't want him to damage the morale of the team.
In January 2010, Bouazza's goal against Peterborough was voted by Blackpool supporters the best goal of 2009, and so became the club's nominated goal for the Goal of the Year at the annual Football League Awards to be held on 14 March. He missed the whole of January, while he was away in the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola. However, on his return to Blackpool in early February it was discovered that he had picked up an injury in the tournament, believed to be a hernia. His return to action came on 16 February as an 81st-minute substitute in the 2–0 home win over Middlesbrough, when he set up D. J. Campbell to score Blackpool's second goal in injury time. He was released at the end of the season.
Bouazza made his debut for Algeria against Libya on 7 February 2007 and scored his first goal in a 3–2 victory over Mali on 20 November 2007.
On 13 November, as the Algerian squad arrived in Cairo for their vital World Cup qualifier against Egypt the following day, their team bus was attacked by stone-throwers. Three players were injured by flying glass, although Bouazza himself was not. Speaking later about the attack, Bouazza said: "I had a very bad feeling when we landed at the airport because there was no security. And when our coach was attacked on the road from the airport to the city, it was the most terrifying experience of my life. People threw rocks at us, and there was nobody to stop them. Some of the players were hit by flying glass and I only escaped because I was lying on the floor. That is no way to prepare for a World Cup match."
He was a second-half substitute in Algeria's first two Group A matches at the Estádio 11 de Novembro in Luanda, a 0–3 defeat to Malawi on 11 January, and a 1–0 victory over Mali, three days later. His first start in the tournament came in Algeria's final group game, a 0–0 draw with Angola on 18 January at the same venue; a result which saw Algeria qualify for the quarter-finals.
On 24 January Bouazza scored the winning goal against Ivory Coast, to ensure Algeria qualified for the semi-finals. Just two minutes after coming on as a substitute at the start of extra time, with the scores level at 2–2, Bouazza's headed goal gave Algeria the lead and with it a 3–2 victory. Four days later he was an unused substitute as Algeria lost their semi-final 0–4 to North African rivals Egypt, but started the 3rd place play-off on 30 January, which they lost 0–1 to Nigeria at the Ombaka National Stadium in Benguela. He made a total of five appearances in the tournament in Angola, three of them as a substitute.
| + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition | |||
| Watford | 2003–04 | 1 | |
| 2004–05 | 3 | ||
| 2005–06 | 2 | ||
| 2006–07 | 7 | ||
| Swindon Town (loan) | 2005–06 | 3 | |
| Fulham | 2007–08 | 1 | |
| 2008–09 | 0 | ||
| Charlton Athletic (loan) | 2008–09 | 4 | |
| Birmingham City (loan) | 2008–09 | 1 | |
| Sivasspor | 2009–10 | 0 | |
| Blackpool | 2009–10 | Championship | 1 |
| AC Arles-Avignon | 2010–11 | 1 | |
| Millwall (loan) | 2010–11 | Championship | 1 |
| Millwall | 2011–12 | Championship | 3 |
| Racing Santander | 2012–13 | 1 | |
| ES Sétif | 2013–14 | 0 | |
| Red Star | 2014–15 | 10 | |
| 2015–16 | 10 | ||
| 2016–17 | 3 | ||
| Étoile du Sahel | 2016–17 | 4 | |
| Tours FC | 2017–18 | 2 | |
| Tours FC | 2017–18 | 0 | |
| FC Fleury 91 | 2017–18 | 0 | |
| + Appearances and goals by national team and year | |
| Algeria | 1 |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 1 | |
| 1 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| + List of international goals scored by Hamer Bouazza |
| [2] |
| [3] |
| [4] |
Birmingham City
|
|
