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Mark Bosnich (born January 13, 1972 in Fairfield,
New South Wales), is Australia's best ever
football (soccer)|association football (soccer)
goalkeeper, representing his country on many
occasions and playing for English Premier League
clubs Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa, Manchester
United F.C.|Manchester United, and Chelsea
F.C.|Chelsea.

Growing up in a suburb of Sydney, Bosnich played
briefly for Sydney Croatia (a team in the
Australian National Soccer League), before moving,
at age 16, to join Manchester United.  After two
seasons there, he left to join Aston Villa, where
he made his reputation as one of the best
goalkeepers in the Premier League.  

His appearances with the Australia national
football team|Australian national team were quite
rare (as indeed they are for most Australian
players, as a full-strength Australian side is
only assembled for Football World Cup|World Cup
qualification playoffs), but memorable, keeping
Australia in the away leg of its home-and-away
playoff with Iran national football team|Iran to
enter the Football World Cup 1998|1998 World Cup.
His heroics were wasted after midfield defensive
errors and missed opportunities allowed Iran a 2-2
draw in the home leg and thus let them through on
away goals.

In 1999 he transferred back to Manchester United,
where he immediately established himself as Peter
Schmeichel's successor as the first team keeper.
However, the next season he was soon relegated to
third-choice keeper. He chose to stay at United
and try to regain his spot rather than accept
being loaned to Scottish club Celtic F.C.|Celtic. 
He transferred to Chelsea in 2001, but again
failed to gain a place in the first team.  

Bosnich went through an apparently bitter marriage
breakup around this period, and in mid-2002 his
football career reached rock-bottom when he tested
positive for cocaine.  When a second sample tested
positive some time later he was suspended from
playing for 9 months and also sacked by Chelsea.

start box
succession box|title=Oceania Footballer of the
Year|Oceania Player of the Year|before=Paul Okon
|after=Christian Karembeu|years=1997
end box