John Bosman

For the former Belgian footballer who the Bosman ruling was named after, see Jean-Marc Bosman.

John Bosman

Bosman in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Johannes Jacobus Bosman
Date of birth	(1965-02-01) 1 February 1965
Place of birth	Bovenkerk, Netherlands
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
	Roda '23
	RKAVIC
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1983–1988	Ajax	125	(77)
1988–1990	Mechelen	61	(34)
1990–1991	PSV	30	(11)
1991–1996	Anderlecht	156	(70)
1996–1999	Twente	87	(34)
1999–2002	AZ	62	(24)
Total		521	(250)
International career
1986–1997	Netherlands	30	(17)
Medal record Representing Netherlands UEFA European Championship Winner 1988 West Germany
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Johannes "John" Jacobus Bosman (born 1 February 1965) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a striker.

A prolific goalscorer for both club and country, he played professionally for 19 years, most notably with Ajax (five seasons) and Anderlecht (five), surpassing the 100-goal mark with both clubs and winning a total of eight major titles combined.

Nicknamed Bossie, Bosman represented Netherlands at the 1994 World Cup and Euro 1988, helping the national team win the latter tournament.

Club career

Ajax

Born in Bovenkerk, Amstelveen, Bosman began his professional career at Ajax, making his Eredivisie debut on 20 November 1983 at the age of 18 in a 5–2 home win against Roda JC, scoring in the match. He finished his first season with four goals in 14 games.

From 1984 to 1987, Bosman and fellow youth graduate Marco van Basten scored an astonishing 138 league goals combined (48 for Bosman), as the Amsterdam club won the 1985 national championship and two cups. After van Basten left for A.C. Milan in the 1987 summer, he netted 25 goals in 32 games as the team finished second to PSV Eindhoven; he also helped it to the season's UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final, a 0–1 loss to Mechelen – the previous year, as Ajax won the competition, he was crowned top scorer with eight goals.

Mechelen

Bosman signed for the Belgian club in the 1988 off-season, reuniting with former Ajax manager Aad de Mos. He scored twice against PSV, in a 3–0 home win in the first leg of the 1988 European Super Cup (eventual 3–1 aggregate success).

Additionally, Bosman netted in double digits in both of his seasons with the Yellow Reds, notably scoring 18 in his first as the team won the national championship after a 41-year wait.

Anderlecht

After one year back in his country with PSV Eindhoven, as successor to Wim Kieft who signed with a team in France – he served mainly as a target player for Romário, but felt uncomfortable in that role, and was also under threat of losing his starting position to youngster Twan Scheepers – Bosman returned to Belgium and joined Anderlecht, reuniting with former Mechelen teammates Graeme Rutjes and Bruno Versavel (and eventually de Mos) and being dubbed "The Giraffe".

In 1996, new manager Johan Boskamp relegated Bosman to the bench, but he was overall a solid contributor in the conquest of three consecutive leagues and the 1993–94 Belgian Cup, his worst league output being six goals in 1994–95.

Later years

Aged 31, Bosman returned to the Netherlands and signed for Twente, scoring 20 goals in his first season as the Enschede side finished third and qualified to the UEFA Cup, and being regularly used for the remainder of his spell.

He played a further three years with fellow league club AZ – also signing as a free agent – and finished his professional career at 37 with league totals of 522 games and 241 goals. He retired from football for good after a very brief spell with amateurs Amsterdam FC, later going on to work with Ajax as a striker coach.

International career

Bosman played 30 times for the Netherlands, making his debut on 14 May 1986 in a 1–3 friendly loss in West Germany. He was selected by manager Rinus Michels for the UEFA Euro 1988 tournament, initially as starter, but lost his position after the 0–1 group stage loss against the Soviet Union, his position being taken by former Ajax teammate van Basten, who would be crowned the competition's top scorer as the national team emerged victorious.

Bosman was also picked for the squad that appeared at the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States, after Ruud Gullit refused to play for the national team in these World Cup, being an unused squad member.

Bomb incident

Bosman scored nine of his 17 international goals against the same opponent, Cyprus, in three different matches. In a Euro 1988 qualifier on 28 October 1987, in Rotterdam, a homemade bomb or firework exploded in the early stages of the contest close to Cypriot goalkeeper Andreas Charitou; Charitou was stretchered off and replaced, and the Cypriot players left the field in protest and refused to continue playing.

After much pressure from the Dutch side, Luxembourg referee Roger Philippi decided the game could continue. The match ended 8–0 with Bosman establishing a national-team record of five goals in one game, but it was never officially recognised, as UEFA decided that the match was invalid and Cyprus were awarded a 0–3 victory instead, giving Greece the opportunity to qualify; the Dutch made an appeal which carried the risk of exclusion, with Dr. Greep stating that Charitou was not actually injured, which resulted in a replay in Amsterdam.

On 9 December 1987, Netherlands won 4–0 and Bosman netted a hat-trick to see his team through to the final stages in West Germany. Greece were extremely unhappy with the decision, accusing UEFA's West German chairman of preferring a Dutch team in the finals, bringing a larger crowd of supporters to the stadia; after the protests, the Hellenic Football Federation decided to move the last group match to a small stadium in Rhodes and field a sub-standard team – Netherlands also won that game (3–0).

The bomb was hidden in a tennis ball. The thrower was 21-year-old John Staal from Oss, who was immediately arrested.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Ajax	1983–84	Eredivisie	14	4	0	0	0	0	—		14	4
	1984–85	Eredivisie	23	6	0	0	4	3	—		27	9
	1985–86	Eredivisie	23	19	0	0	0	0	—		23	19
	1986–87	Eredivisie	33	23	4	4	7	8	—		44	35
	1987–88	Eredivisie	32	25	1	0	9	1	1	0	43	26
	Total		125	77	5	4	20	12	1	0	151	93
Mechelen	1988–89	Belgian First Division	30	18			7	3	—		37	21
	1989–90	Belgian First Division	31	16			6	3	—		37	19
	Total		61	34			13	6	—		74	40
PSV	1990–91	Eredivisie	30	11	4	3	2	0	—		36	14
Anderlecht	1991–92	Belgian First Division	32	16			6	1	—		38	17
	1992–93	Belgian First Division	30	13			1	1	—		31	14
	1993–94	Belgian First Division	33	20			10	3	—		43	23
	1994–95	Belgian First Division	31	6			6	1	—		37	7
	1995–96	Belgian First Division	30	15			1	0	—		31	15
	Total		156	70			24	6	—		180	76
Twente	1996–97	Eredivisie	33	20	4	7	—		—		37	27
	1997–98	Eredivisie	24	6	5	2	4	0	—		33	8
	1998–99	Eredivisie	30	8	4	2	4	1	—		38	11
	Total		87	34	13	11	8	1	—		108	46
AZ	1999–2000	Eredivisie	31	18	6	3	—		—		37	21
	2000–01	Eredivisie	21	4	4	2	—		—		25	6
	2001–02	Eredivisie	10	2	2	0	—		—		12	2
	Total		62	24	12	5	—		—		74	29
Career total			521	250	34	23	67	25	1	0	623	298

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Netherlands	1986	4	1
	1987	5	8
	1988	6	2
	1989	5	2
	1990	2	0
	1991	0	0
	1992	0	0
	1993	3	3
	1994	3	0
	1995	0	0
	1996	0	0
	1997	2	1
Total		30	17

International goals

Scores and results list The Netherlands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bosman goal.

List of international goals scored by John Bosman

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	21 December 1986	Tsirion Stadium, Limassol, Cyprus	Cyprus	2–0	2–2	UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying
2	28 October 1987	De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands	Cyprus	1–0	8–0	UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying
3				3–0
4				6–0
5				7–0
6				8–0
7	9 December 1987	De Meer, Amsterdam, Netherlands	Cyprus	1–0	4–0	UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying
8				2–0
9				4–0
10	23 March 1988	Wembley, London, England	England	1–2	2–2	Friendly
11	1 June 1988	Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam, Netherlands	Romania	1–0	2–0	Friendly
12	11 October 1989	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham, Wales	Wales	2–0	2–1	1990 FIFA World Cup qualification
13	15 November 1989	De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands	Finland	1–0	3–0	1990 FIFA World Cup qualification
14	22 September 1993	Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna, Italy	San Marino	1–0	7–0	FIFA 1994 World Cup qualification
15				5–0
16				6–0
17	30 April 1997	San Marino Stadium, Serravalle, San Marino	San Marino	5–0	6–0	FIFA 1998 World Cup qualification

Personal life

In October 2001, Bosman's five-year-old son Devin died in a traffic accident.

Honours

Ajax

Bosman (above trophy) with Ajax teammates celebrating victory in the 1986–87 KNVB Cup.

• Eredivisie: 1984–85
• KNVB Cup: 1985–86, 1986–87
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1986–87; runner-up 1987–88

Mechelen

• Belgian First Division A: 1988–89
• UEFA Super Cup: 1988

PSV

• Eredivisie: 1990–91

Anderlecht

• Belgian First Division A: 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95
• Belgian Cup: 1993–94
• Belgian Super Cup: 1993, 1995

Netherlands

• UEFA European Championship: 1988

Individual

• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: Top Scorer 1986–87 (eight goals)

External links

• Beijen profile (in Dutch)
• John Bosman at Wereld van Oranje (archived) (in Dutch)
• John Bosman at National-Football-Teams.com
• John Bosman – FIFA competition record (archived)