 Hasselbaink was signed by Boavista for a € 300,000 fee in summer 1996. The 1996 – 97 season was chaotic for the club, as the chairman sacked two managers, Zoran Filipović and João Resende Alves, before ending the campaign with Rui Casaca. As a result, the "Panthers" only managed a seventh-place finish, but ended the campaign on a high note by winning the Taça de Portugal. Hasselbaink had a good season individually, finishing as the league's second highest scorer behind Porto's Mário Jardel. He scored his first professional hat-trick at the club, in a 3 – 1 victory over Marítimo at the Estádio do Bessa; he later scored a hat-trick in a 7 – 0 win over Gil Vicente, as did teammate Nuno Gomes. Though head coach Casaca left Hasselbaink on the bench due to his arranged transfer to Leeds, Hasselbaink entered the final of the Taça de Portugal as a late substitute for Erwin Sánchez as Boavista held on to a 3 – 1 win over Benfica.
