Player #958 for Aston Villa, Lamare Bogarde has played as a centre back for the club since the 2020-21 season.

Lamare was born on 5 January 2004 in Rotterdam, Holland and signed with Villa from Feyenoord as a 16 year old in September 2020.

Bogarde was appointed to Sean Verity’s Under 18 squad on arrival before Mark Delaney promoted Bogarde to the first team squad and giving him his first team debut in the 2020-21 season aged 17 in the 1-4 FA Cup defeat to Liverpool on Friday, 8 January 2021.

Since joining the club in September 2020, and in a curtailed campaign, Bogarde scored twice and assisted once in five matches for Sean Verity’s under-18s before making the step up to Mark Delaney’s under-23s where he’s played at centre-back and in central midfield.

Bogarde was part of the youngest ever team to ever take the field for Villa in a professional game - aged 18.8 years on average - after the first team squad was forced into isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic which had seen a raft of players and staff testing positive for the virus in the week preceding the game.

Bogarde was also one of 16 debutants in the game - the most in a single game in Villa’s history and was also part of the starting XI made up of 11 debutants, the first time this had happened since Villa’s first professional fixture - also in the FA Cup - on Saturday, 13 December 1879 against Stafford Road. Bogarde made his debut appearance under caretaker manager Mark Delaney following Dean Smith having to join the first team in isolation. Fellow Dutch midfielder Liverpool’s Georginio Wijnaldum called Bogarde a ‘young king’ on Instagram following his performance on debut.

The Birmingham Mail described Bogarde’s debut thus:

“The 16-year-old has been making waves for Villa’s academy after his summer arrival from Feyenoord, so much so that he’s already been fast-tracked from the 18s to the 23s. Did well in the middle today up against Henderson and Curtis Jones. Stuck to his task well before being brought off for Hayden Lindley with 25 to go. Bogarde has got a huge future, make no mistake about that.”

Bogarde is the nephew of Netherlands International footballer Winston Bogarde.

Bogarde signed professional forms with Villa just days after his debut in January 2021 with Villa’s Academy manager Mark Harrison saying:

“Lamare joined us in the summer and since then we have been pleased with his development, which has seen him play a number of times for our Under-23s at the age of 16.

“He has now settled into a central midfield role and acquitted himself very well.”