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Johannes "John" Jacobus Bosman (born 1 February 1965) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a forward.
A prolific goalscorer for both club and country, he played professionally for 19 years, most notably with AFC 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.
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 KNVB Cup. 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 1–0 loss to KV Mechelen – the previous year, as Ajax won the competition, he was crowned top scorer with eight goals. Cup Winners Cup Topscorers; at RSSSF
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.
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.
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 Amsterdamsche FC, later going on to work with Ajax as a striker coach. John Bosman op zijn plek als jeugdtrainer: 'Ik hoef geen eigen team' (John Bosman op zijn plek als jeugdtrainer: 'Ik hoef geen eigen team'); Het Parool, 30 April 2016 (in Dutch)
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.
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 3–0 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. Lucky Orange in 1988 ; Netherlands World Cup Blog, 18 May 2008 John Staal reageert op bomincident in 1988 (John Staal responds to bomb incident in 1988); Omroep Brabant, 1 June 2008 (in Dutch)
| + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition | |||
| AFC Ajax | 1983–84 | Eredivisie | 4 |
| 1984–85 | Eredivisie | 9 | |
| 1985–86 | Eredivisie | 19 | |
| 1986–87 | Eredivisie | 35 | |
| 1987–88 | Eredivisie | 26 | |
| Mechelen | 1988–89 | Belgian First Division | 21 |
| 1989–90 | Belgian First Division | 19 | |
| PSV Eindhoven | 1990–91 | Eredivisie | 14 |
| Anderlecht | 1991–92 | Belgian First Division | 17 |
| 1992–93 | Belgian First Division | 14 | |
| 1993–94 | Belgian First Division | 23 | |
| 1994–95 | Belgian First Division | 7 | |
| 1995–96 | Belgian First Division | 15 | |
| FC Twente | 1996–97 | Eredivisie | 27 |
| 1997–98 | Eredivisie | 8 | |
| 1998–99 | Eredivisie | 11 | |
| AZ Alkmaar | 1999–2000 | Eredivisie | 21 |
| 2000–01 | Eredivisie | 6 | |
| 2001–02 | Eredivisie | 2 | |
| + Appearances and goals by national team and year | |
| Netherlands | 1 |
| 8 | |
| 2 | |
| 2 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 3 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 1 | |
Individual
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