Jean-Marc Bosman (; born 30 October 1964) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. His judicial challenge of the football transfer rules led to the Bosman ruling in 1995.
This landmark judgement, which was handed down by the European Court of Justice, completely changed the way footballers are employed, allowing professional players in the European Union to move freely to another club at the end of their contract with their present team.
Bosman joined the youth team at Belgian First Division club Standard Liège and he was included in the senior squad for the first time during the 1982 Intertoto Cup, debuting for the club on 7 October 1982 during the 3âÂÂ1 victory against First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) club Cherno More. Ahead of the 1983âÂÂ84 season, Bosman was fully integrated into the Standard Liège senior team in the Belgian First Division. He made his league debut for the club on 7 April 1984 during the 2âÂÂ0 loss against K.S.K. Beveren, and finished as a runner-up in the 1983âÂÂ84 Belgian Cup, being an unused substitute in the final. He was also an Intertoto Cup group winner in 1984.
He scored his first goal for Standard Liège on 19 May 1985 during the 2âÂÂ2 draw against KSV Waregem as the club finished in third place during the 1985âÂÂ86 season. He finished as a runner-up in the Belgian Cup again with Standard Liège in 1987âÂÂ88, appearing only in the second leg of the semi-finals against Lierse.
In August 1988, Bosman joined fellow Belgian First Division club RFC Liège on a two-year contract worth around ã66,000. He debuted for RFC Liège as a second-half substitute during the 3âÂÂ0 victory against Royal Charleroi on 13 August 1988, and he scored his only goal for the club on 8 April 1989 during the 4âÂÂ0 victory against Cercle Brugge.
In his first season at the club, they finished in third place in the Belgian First Division. He then won the 1989âÂÂ90 Belgian Cup with RFC Liège.
After a failed move to Dunkerque in 1990, Bosman joined French Division 2 club Saint-Quentin. He scored on his debut during the 2âÂÂ1 victory against US Orléans on 24 December 1990. He had left Saint-Quentin in late March 1991, shortly after they went into liquidation.
In January 1992 he joined Réunion Premier League club Saint-Denis where he scored four goals in fifteen matches for the club; he left in August 1992.
He joined Belgian Third Division club Olympic Charleroi in 1994 and scored twice for the club. In late December 1995 he left to join Belgian Fourth Division club C.S. Visé where he retired in August 1996 after scoring once in seven matches for the club.
Bosman made twenty-four appearances for Belgium U21 between 1984 and 1986; he was the team captain of Belgium U21 by 1986. He played for Belgium U21 during the 1984 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying.
When his contract with RFC Liège had expired, he attempted to join French club Dunkerque in 1990, at the age of 25; however, RFC Liège valued him at a fee of approximately ã500,000, and insisted that the French club pay in full up front. When they refused, Liège refused to agree to the transfer, and cut Bosman's wages by 75% to ã500 per month This led Bosman to challenge the system legally and bring his case to court; he sued RFC Liège, the Belgian FA, and UEFA, arguing that the rules set out by UEFA, which prevented him from leaving his club even though his contract had expired, amounted to a breach of his rights established in the 1957 Treaty of Rome, which allowed freedom of movement within the European Community, now the European Union; as a result, his club suspended him.
On 15 December 1995, the European Court of Justice ruled that players should be free to move when their contracts had expired, and that EU clubs could hire any number of European Union players.
Despite the legal victory, Bosman faced significant financial and personal difficulties following the landmark trial. In a 2011 interview, he claimed that the compensation he earned from FIFPro and the courts were largely spent on legal fees, which ultimately left him bankrupt; furthermore, his marriage also ended during his legal battles and trial. Some of his money was also lost due to a bad investment in a special T-shirt line. Bosman hoped that the players who benefited from the Bosman ruling would support him by buying one of his "Who's the Boz" T-shirts. He sold only one, to the son of his lawyer. He also hoped to play a testimonial match, which eventually fell through, however, although he ultimately played a match against Lille in front of only approximately 2,000 spectators. In order to pay his taxes, he was forced to sell his second house and his Porsche Carrera. He struggled to find work after the ruling, and ended up living on welfare. As a result of his financial difficulties and his claimed ostracism by the world of football, Bosman fell into depression and also struggled with alcoholism.
In April 2013 Bosman was given a one-year suspended prison sentence, later reduced to community service on appeal, following an assault in 2011 on both his girlfriend at the time and her 15-year-old daughter allegedly over his girlfriend's refusal to give him an alcoholic drink.
As of 2015, Bosman was unemployed and relying on handouts from FIFPro.
In 2020, Bosman was interviewed by David Ginola for the BT Sport documentary Bosman: The Player Who Changed Football.
Bosman has two sons.
Standard Liège
RFC Liège