Mark Bosnich

395

Years	Team	Apps	Goals	Cards	Stckrs	Progm	Other	TmCSP
1989-91	Manchester United	3	0	0	0	0	0	2
1991-92	Sydney Croatia	5	0	0	0	0	0	0
1992-99	Aston VIlla	179	0	41	14	8	2	2
1999-01	Manchester United	23	0	14	14	1	0	2
2001-03	Chelsea	5	0	2	1	1	0	5
2008	Central Coast Mariners	4	0	0	0	0	1	2
2009	Sydney Olympic	8	0	0	0	0	1	2

1991	Australia U-20	6	0	0	0	0	0	0
1992-92	Australia U-23	6	0	0	0	0	0	2
1993-00	Australia	17	1	1	0	2	0	10

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Is Mark the best goalkeeper to ever come from Australia? There is no doubt that the greatest Socceroo goalkeeper is Mark Schwarzer but it is arguable that for a brief period time Mark Bosnich was the best keeper in the world. The back of the 1994 Futera Houston Convention card (featured right) states “Some experts have suggested that he is one of the five best goal keepers in the world.”

Mark began his professional career at Manchester United. The back of the Mark Bosnich Squad card (shown below) from the 2000 Futera Manchester United Fans Selection series states the “Mark made his debut in 1989 during his first spell with the Club when he was still a student at Manchester Polytechnic.” The collection includes the official match day programme from his debut on the 30th April 1989 against Wimbledon.

In 1991-92 Mark returned and played in Australia as he could not get a U.K. work permit. The collection does not have any items from his brief period with Sydney Croatia in the National Soccer League where he played five games. After marrying his English girlfriend and obtaining the right to work he was quickly snapped up by Aston Villa even before returning to England.

Within six months he was at the Barcelona Olympics playing in four of the five matches. The Olyroos just missed out on a medal finishing 4th. The collection includes a card and programme from the Olympics. In June 1993 he made his full international debut for the Socceroos in a World Cup Qualifier against New Zealand for USA’94. The collection includes programmes from his debut and his next two World Cup Qualifiers and an AC Milan B International friendly. There are also two Upper Deck World Cup Preview cards one in German & English and the other in Spanish & English.

In 1994 Mark Bosnich played in the first of two successful League (Coca-Cola) Cup Final victories at Wembley. The collection includes the Official Programme as well as a post match celebration card. In 1994 Futera released a Coca Cola National Soccer League which included the 92 Barcelona Olyroos and limited edition cards. The set had both sample cards and numbered cards. There are five Bosnich cards from this set in the collection including the card that was produced for the 1994 Houston Card Collection Convention, a w Wild Card and in addition a starting line-up card. In the following season Mark is on the cover of the first of three Socceroo programmes with a cartoon illustration alongside fellow players vying their trade overseas including Carl Veart, Graham Arnold, Frank Farina and Aurelio Vidmar for a match series against Ghana. However he did not play in the series and has always been quite open that playing for the Socceroos was not a priority compared to his club career. Like other international players they would often have to fight their back into the first team as a result of their absence on national duty.

In 94-95 Mark appeared on the first of eight Aston Villa programmes and the first of two POD/MiniCaps. The highlights from the 95-96 season is again relates to another League cup victory, this time over Leeds. There is a match day programme, a Nikolai celebration card and a Villa match day programme where is celebrating holding the cup. The nineties were also popular for collectors of football figurines. The 95-96 season collection also has a Prostar figurine card.

The 96-97 collection includes a Merlin Sticker, two Premier Gold cards, one of which is a large card. On the back of all three items references are made to his brief military service in Croatia. It appears this was at the time between his 1st stint at Manchester United and before joining Aston Villa. The collection also includes the programme from the infamous and unsuccessful final world cup qualification match against Iran. According to Bosnich’s cousin, a fellow card collector, this match is “off limits” for discussion with Mark.

Of interest in 1998, is the 14th January Villa Programme from the FA cup tie against Portsmouth that not only features Mark on the front but also has articles of his Socceroo teammates and Portsmouth players John Aloisi and Craig Foster. Futera also released a Aston Villa Fans Selection and the collection includes six cards, a similar set was also released in 1999 where there are another six cards. Probably what is most unusual from 98 and 99 are two small Mark Bosnich Iranian cards .

For the 1999-00 season he made a free a Bosman (free) transfer to Manchester United. Uniquely his first game (the second time around) was in a two match series against the Socceroos! The collection features the programme and a cover card from that tour of Australia. Cards in the collection from 1999-00 are similar to Aston Villa with eight Futera Fans Selections and another Iranian card. There is also an Inter-Continental Cup Futera issue that has 11 Mark Bosnich Stickers. In 2001 he transferred to Chelsea with the collection including two cards, one sticker and a match day programme issued prior to his contract termination in 2003.

Following his return to Australia, Mark made a few guest appearances for Central Coast Mariners in 2008 and with Sydney Olympic in 2009. The collection has two items from these matches. Issued in 2005 the collection also features a One of One unique autographed Futera card. The final two items in the collection are a 2009 Fantasy Football card and 2010 Winning Moves card, both of which acknowledge Mark’s legendary status at Aston Villa. There is no doubt there will be more cards issued recognising Mark status as one of the great Australian footballers and a much loved and respected football commentator!

Mark Bosnich

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