Mark Bosnich health: How a healed friendship with Robbie Slater saved life of Socceroos great

Told he was a ‘ticking time bomb’, Mark Bosnich faced suffering a heart attack within 12 months – and he would’ve had he not healed his friendship with Socceroo teammate Robbie Slater.

Socceroos and Manchester United legend Mark Bosnich says he was a “ticking time bomb” who could have suffered a heart attack within 12 months had it not been for a rekindled friendship.

Bosnich, 52, twice felt chest pains last week before former Australian teammate Robbie Slater told him to have medical tests immediately.

The demand could have helped save Bosnich’s life and it came after he and Slater had just rebuilt a friendship that had been broken for two-and-a-half years.

Bosnich had completed gym and sprint work in Sydney’s CBD when he had a chest ache below his throat.

Slater, his mum Frances and Stan Sports commentator Max Rushden immediately urged Bosnich to see a doctor.

Former keeper Mark Bosnich in hospital

The goalkeeper, who played 17 times for the Socceroos, was told he had a 70 per cent blockage in an artery of his heart.

He had surgery, which included the placement of a stent, and has vowed to give up smoking cigars.

Speaking for the first time about his health shock, Bosnich said: “Without a check-up, I was a ticking time bomb.

“If I hadn’t had the tests, over the next 12 to 18 months I would have had a heartbreak, very much so.

“If I didn’t get it checked it could have been serious. It was certainly a wake-up call, especially when you’re over 50. I am so grateful to Robbie, mum and Max.

Mark Bosnich is one of the most famous Socceroos of all time. Picture: Shae Beplate.

“When I was warming up to do some sprints last Monday, I just felt something pressing on the top of my chest just underneath my throat but I didn’t think anything of it.

“I did 12 to 15 sprints and then on the Tuesday I felt it again in that same spot.

“I thought I might have pulled a muscle so I thought I should go for a massage. On the Wednesday, Robbie, my mum and Max told me to go get it checked.

“Everything was normal at the GP with an ECG but the cardiologist (Andrew Jabbour) did an ultrasound, which was all good, but he told me this shouldn’t happen to someone as young and fit as me.

“I told him I was a smoker and I love my cigars. In that case, he said, off you go to St Vincent’s Hospital to get your bloods done and have a CT scan.

Former Fox Football colleagues Adam Peacock, Mark Bosnich and Robbie Slater. Picture: AAP

“They said I passed but not with flying colours and that I should have an angiogram under sedation with doctors David Roy and Stephanie Wiltshire, where they looked at my arteries.

“One of my arteries was 70 per cent blocked so they put a stent in straight away. The moral to the story is, go and get checked and don’t smoke.”

Slater revealed his role in helping Bosnich seek medical tests.

“‘Bozza’ twice told me he had pains in his chest,” Slater said.

“I told him to get straight off the phone and get your heart checked.

“I told him not to muck around, just go and get an angiogram. He said, ‘You’re right, I’m going.’

“He likened it to a ticking time bomb. The great story here is that he went and got checked out. A lot of men wouldn’t.

“This is a message to everyone to look after yourself. His mum also told him to go.”

Bosnich (top left) and Robbie Slater (top right) pictured during their days as teammates on the Socceroos.

Bosnich and Slater fell out in 2022 and only recently restored their 40-year friendship.

“We have fallouts all the time,” Bosnich said.

“Robbie and I have patched things up. We’re back to speaking to each other seven times a day.

“I have known Robbie for nearly 40 years, for goodness sake.”

Asked about his repaired relationship with Bosnich, Slater said: “Distance makes the heart grow fonder.

“The big thing with ‘Bozza’ and I talking again is that it has brightened both our lives.

“We missed each other, especially in our game where there aren’t a lot of us about who have an opinion and maybe help the game.

“We’re much better united. I have known ‘Bozza’ since he was 10 years old.”

Bosnich returned to work last Friday.

Originally published as Mark Bosnich health: How a healed friendship with Robbie Slater saved life of Socceroos great