Mark Bosnich

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.

Mark John Bosnich (born 13 January 1972) is an Australian former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper, and sports pundit.

He played in England for Premier League clubs Aston Villa, Manchester United and Chelsea.

He also played in Australia for Sydney United, Central Coast Mariners and Sydney Olympic, as well as representing Australia 17 times during his career, scoring one goal for his nation.

He was a co-host of Bill & Boz on Fox Sports News.

Manchester United brought Bosnich to England in 1989, but a lack of first-team opportunities and a failed attempt to secure a work visa, saw him return to Australia.

A year later, Aston Villa brought him back to England and he established himself as one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League during the 1990s.

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.

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 full season as Villa's first-choice goalkeeper, but it was a disappointing season for the club as they narrowly avoided relegation.

Bosnich was one of the few players to be retained by new manager Brian Little following Atkinson's dismissal in November 1994, as the bulk of Atkinson's team was sold off to make way for a new side.

1995–96 was perhaps the best season of Bosnich's career.

He was now widely acclaimed as one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League, as he helped Villa finish fourth in the league and win the Football League Cup final at Wembley with a 3–0 triumph over Leeds United.

In 1996, Bosnich was fined £1,000 and censured by the FA after he was found guilty of misconduct by upsetting fans of Tottenham Hotspur (a club with a large Jewish following) with a Nazi salute.

Bosnich spent three more seasons at Villa Park before his contract expired and he joined Manchester United on a free transfer.

He had played 207 times in seven-and-a-half years with Villa.

Manchester United re-signed him in 1999 as a replacement for the departing Peter Schmeichel, but injuries and a lack of first-team opportunities led to a decline in form.

Bosnich was signed for Manchester United in the 1999 close season as successor to Peter Schmeichel, signing on a free transfer after his contract at Villa Park expired.

During the season, he picked up a Premier League title medal as United were crowned champions by an 18-point margin.

That season Bosnich started 23 league games, Raimond van der Gouw started 11 and Massimo Taibi started 4.

Highlights of this season were saving two penalties in January 2000; one from Necaxa's Álex Aguinaga in the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship to secure a 1–1 draw, and the other from Middlesbrough's Juninho to help secure a 1–0 win.

He also played a key role in Manchester United becoming the first English team to win the Intercontinental Cup in keeping a clean sheet against Palmeiras of Brazil, in Tokyo.

He had one season as United's regular goalkeeper, but then they signed the French World Cup-winning goalkeeper Fabien Barthez in June 2000.

Soon after, Bosnich found himself as third-choice goalkeeper.

Newly appointed Celtic manager Martin O'Neill made an offer to loan Bosnich for the 2000–01 season, but he decided against the move and decided that he would try to regain his place in the Manchester United first team.

He had also fallen out of favour with the national side, losing his spot to Mark Schwarzer.

With hopes of a first-team return fading, Bosnich was linked with Chelsea.

He left Manchester United for Chelsea in 2001, where he again struggled to find a regular place in the starting line-up and continued to battle with injuries.

In September 2002, he was released by Chelsea and banned from football for nine months after testing positive for cocaine.

Bosnich subsequently developed an addiction to the drug and spent the next six years of his life in exile, before training for a comeback in 2007 and eventually making a return to the professional game in his native Australia the following year, before retiring in 2009.

Bosnich was born and raised in Liverpool, New South Wales.