Jean-Marc Bosman Former Belgian footballer, midfielder. Date of Birth: 30.10.1964 Country: Belgium

Biography of Jean-Marc Bosman

Jean-Marc Bosman is a former Belgian footballer who gained fame not for his football achievements, but for his legal battles that completely changed the transfer system in European football. He began his career at the club "Standard" in Liege, where he spent five seasons, playing in 86 matches and scoring 3 goals. In the 1985/86 season, Bosman helped the club secure third place in the Belgian championship, and in the 1983/84 and 1987/88 seasons, they reached the final of the Belgian Cup. At the same time, he played for the Belgian youth national team and was the team captain.

In 1988, Bosman transferred to the club "Liege" for a fee of 66,000 pounds. He signed a two-year contract with a salary of 120,000 Belgian francs. After the contract expired, he wanted to move to "Dunkirk," which offered him a one-year contract with a salary of 100,000 Belgian francs. However, "Liege," according to the legislation in European football at that time, offered to extend the contract with a 60% salary reduction, and later a 75% reduction (30,000 French francs), which was the minimum for the Belgian championship. When the midfielder refused, "Liege" put him up for transfer and demanded a transfer fee of 11,743 million Belgian francs (about 1 million dollars).

In August 1990, Bosman, through his lawyer Jean-Louis Dupont, took the case to court. He wanted to change the legislation that allowed clubs to receive money for a player's transfer even after their contract had ended. Later, changes were demanded for the entire club football, including quotas that allowed any UEFA club to have only 3 non-European Union players. On December 15, 1995, the case was finally decided in Bosman's favor. The footballer received compensation for the forced break in his career amounting to 500,000 dollars, with an additional 70,000 raised by other players.

Despite winning the case, Bosman's career did not go well. He played for small teams in the lower divisions of French and Belgian football, including "Olympic" (Saint-Quentin) in the second French division, "Saint-Denis" in the regional league, "Olympic" (Charleroi) in the third Belgian division, and club "Visé" in the amateur league of the Belgian championship.

Bosman was married and had a daughter. However, after "Liege" refused to sell him, the footballer was left without money. He couldn't afford to pay for his apartment, and his wife left him. He left them and his belongings and moved in with his parents. He slept in the garage, not wanting to inconvenience them. This continued for almost two and a half years.