Mark Bosnich

Manchester United (1988–1991)

Bosnich was born and raised in Liverpool, southwestern Sydney. His Croatian immigrant father was born in Blato, Korčula, Croatia, and migrated to Sydney in 1959 and his mother is Australian-born to Croatian immigrants. He attended Casula Primary School and later Liverpool Boys High School. Bosnich played for Sydney Croatia youth team before moving to England. In 1989, at the age of 17, he joined Manchester United on a non-contract basis and made his debut for them in a First Division fixture against Wimbledon on 30 April 1990. He only played two more games for Manchester United before his registration with the club was cancelled on 30 June 1991. Bosnich had been in England using a student visa and when this expired in July 1991, he then returned to Sydney Croatia briefly in the 1991–92 season. He returned to England signing for Aston Villa on a free transfer on 28 February 1992.

Aston Villa (1992–1999)

Bosnich did not claim a regular place in the Aston Villa first team until the 1993–94 season. In the League Cup semi-final against Tranmere Rovers that season, he dramatically stopped three shots in a penalty shoot-out. Villa won the final, against his former club, Manchester United. In March 1994 Bosnich saved two penalties against Tottenham Hotspur, one from Darren Anderton and one from Nick Barmby, to help secure a 1–1 draw. These were his fourth and fifth penalty saves from open play that season. 1994–95 was Bosnich's first…

His first appearance with the Australia national team came in 1990 against touring USSR club side Torpedo, followed by a number of further appearances in 'unofficial' Socceroos matches in the next few years. His first full international appearance came in 1993 against New Zealand in a qualifying match for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Bosnich also appeared for the Socceroos at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup. Although his international appearances with the Socceroos were rare, they were memorable occasions. Keeping for Australia in the away leg of its home-and-away qualifier with Iran in a failed attempt to qualify for the 1998 World Cup, Australia lost on away goals in what Bosnich described as "the lowest moment in Australian football". Bosnich also scored a late penalty for his national team in a 13–0 win over the Solomon Islands. In November 1997 he admitted that he was hopeful of selection for Australia to make up for the times he shunned it in favour of his club commitments. "If I ever get the chance to play for Australia again, I will never make the mistake of saying 'no'."

Club

International

Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bosnich goal.

Bosnich married for the first time in 1992, to an English woman named Lisa Hall. The wedding took place in Sydney, New South Wales, in February. It was rumoured that he married Hall to be able to return to Britain, after problems with his working visa. After two years of marriage, Home Office officials were satisfied it was not a wedding of convenience and Bosnich was allowed to remain indefinitely in Britain. However, the marriage ended just three months later. According to him, "We were in love but our marriage just didn't work out." His second marriage was to Sarah Jarrett, in 1999. He almost failed to reach the altar, having only been released on bail hours before the wedding following an incident at a strip club during his stag night celebrations. The marriage lasted only 14 months. Jarrett was pregnant at the time of the divorce, but she lost the baby soon afterwards, in the third month of pregnancy. Bosnich said that much of his cocaine problem was due to his relationship with British model Sophie Anderton, claiming that for every line of cocaine she had, he had to have one too. He does not regret his actions however, crediting them with being able to help someone in need. His addiction worsened and he later said, "There was a stage where I got up to 10 grams a day when I was really down in the dumps." On 16 July 2008, he was made bankrupt at the High Court in London on the petition of a creditor. Bosnich provided special comments for the Socceroos' friendly with…