Jack Anderson: Three decades on, profound effects of Bosman still being felt
PROFOUND EFFECTS: Belgian Footballer Jean-Marc Bosman looks on at Benfica on April 25, 1996 in Lisbon, Portugal. Bosman, whose judical challenge of the football transfer rules led to the Bosman ruling in 1995. This landmarkjudgment completely changed the way footballers are employed, allowing professional players in the European Union to move freely to another clubat the end of their term of contract with their present team. (Photo by Getty Images/Getty Images)
Thirty years ago, one of the most unlikely upsets in football occurred not on the field of play but when the then European Court of Justice announced that a Belgian journeyman, Jean-Marc Bosman, had defeated UEFA in a case that continues to have profound impact on the sport today, including implicitly on the current managerial saga at Manchester United.
Think back to this point three decades ago in the English football season of 1995/96. Ruben Amorin was soon to celebrate his 11th birthday. His now former Director of Football at United, Jason Wilcox, was a winger with the defending champions Blackburn. Newcastle United were 12 points ahead in the title race and Kevin Keegan was about to sign Colombian forward Faustino Asprilla from Italian side Parma for €7.8m. Alex Ferguson’s United would eventually reel them in during a thrilling finale featuring the greatest, if grammatically questionable, football strop of them all – Keegan’s “I will love it if we beat them”.
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