22: Mark Bosnich, Aston VIlla, Merlin's Premier League Kick Off Collection

In January 2019 Crystal Palace beat Grimsby Town in the third round of the FA Cup. After Grimsby’s Andrew Fox was sent off in the third minute for attempting to rearrange Andros Townsend’s ankle, Palace created a range of chances but, due to the ineptitude of Alexander Sorloth and some determined defending, didn’t manage to score until the 86^th minute when Jordan Ayew bundled in from a corner. I can honestly say it was an honour and a privilege to have been there.

To celebrate this monumental victory the Crystal Palace players went out for dinner. So far, so innocuous. That was until pictures emerged the following week of the Palace goalkeeper, Wayne Hennessey, with his right arm extended and his left hand over his top lip behind his German teammate Max Meyer. Hennessey was called before an FA tribunal to explain his actions where he effectively confessed to never having been in Year 9 by claiming he had no idea what a Nazi salute was. Amazingly this defence stood up and all Hennessey was condemned for was his “lamentable degree of ignorance”. Palace manager Roy Hodgson promised to step in and educate his Welsh keeper on the Second World War, a podcast we all need in our lives.

Back in 1996 another goalkeeper was far less creative, and arguably more honest, in explaining a similar gesture during a game against Tottenham Hotspur. Aston Villa’s goalkeeper, Mark Bosnich, responded to Spurs’ fans chant of “Klinsmann” (referring to an incident in 1995 when Bosnich flattened Spurs’ German striker) by straightening his arm and covering his top lip. Bosnich received a yellow card for this act of stupidity and his manager, Brian Little, was interviewed by the Metropolitan Police straight after the game. Bosnich received an £1000 fine for his actions but kept his place in an Aston Villa side which finished fifth in the Premier League.

Bosnich apologised for his actions straight after the game stating that he believed the Spurs’ fans were “laughing with” him before acknowledging that he had been ignorant in forgetting that “Spurs’ fans have lost people in the war”. Considering Tottenham’s considerable Jewish community it’s fair to say Bosnich’s ignorance crossed the line into insensitivity and his apology, which acknowledged that he had “also lost people in the war”, seemed a little hollow.

Mark Bosnich continued to appear regularly for Aston Villa before securing a move back to Manchester United, as the heir apparent to Peter Schmeichel, in 1999. Despite rotating Bosnich, Raimond van der Gouw and Massimo Taibi in one of the worst games of goalkeeper roulette, United managed to retain the league title with Bosnich making 23 appearances. However, the arrival of French international Fabien Barthez at United saw Bosnich relegated to third choice and led him to seek employment at Chelsea. After barely playing in South West London due to injury he failed a drug test in 2002 and descended into a cocaine laden five-year exile before resurrecting his career, and personal life, in his native Australia with the Central Coast Mariners.

This choice of sticker is perhaps an unfair way of telling this story. Having played in goal a fair bit myself the leaning against a post and waving your arms around pose is one that always made you feel like you had contributed to the game. However, this obviously was not what Bosnich was doing when he turned on the Spurs’ fans in 1996. So, even if Wayne Hennessey hasn’t brushed up on his German interwar history, he can now learn from the mistakes of fellow goalkeeper Mark Bosnich.