John Joseph Bostock (born 15 January 1992) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for club

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

. Bostock made his professional debut for

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

at the age of 15. In 2008, he signed for

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

for an initial £700,000. He played only four games for Tottenham, none of which were in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

, spending most of his time on loan at various clubs in the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...

, and later with

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

. In 2013, Bostock was released and moved to Belgium, representing

Royal Antwerp Royal Antwerp Football Club, often referred to as Royal Antwerp or simply Antwerp, is a Belgian football club based in the city of Antwerp. Founded around 1880 as ''Antwerp Cricket Club'' by English students residing in Antwerp, 15 years before ...

and OH Leuven. In summer 2016, he joined French side

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements''), ...

where he stayed for one and a half seasons. Born in England, Bostock represented the country up to under-19 level. In 2016, he chose to represent his ancestral

Trinidad & Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of Gr ...

at full international level, although he has yet to appear for them.

Club career

Crystal Palace

Bostock began his career with

at the age of five. At the age of 14 he was offered a contract by Spanish club

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. Bostock made his league debut on 29 October 2007 at the age of 15 years and 287 days, playing 20 minutes as a substitute for Ben Watson in a 2–0 defeat to

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

Selhurst Park Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst in the London Borough of Croydon which is the home ground of Premier League side Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted international footba ...

, making him Palace's youngest ever player. He also became the youngest ever Palace player to start a game, aged 15 years and 295 days, on 6 November 2007 against Cardiff City at

Ninian Park Ninian Park was a football stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovations during its lifespan and hosted fixture ...

Tottenham Hotspur

On 30 May 2008,

announced the signing of Bostock on their club website. Crystal Palace later issued a statement denying reports that an agreement had been reached with Tottenham. Tottenham and Crystal Palace entered negotiations over the transfer fee, but agreement could not be reached, leading to the sum being decided at a tribunal. On 9 July, the tribunal declared that Tottenham would pay £700,000 for Bostock, with add-on payments of up to £1.25m dependent on appearances and a further £200,000 should he make his full international debut. A sell-on clause entitled Crystal Palace to 15% of any profit Tottenham makes from any future sale of Bostock's contract. Crystal Palace chairman

Simon Jordan Simon Jordan (born 24 September 1967) is an English businessman who made his fortune in the mobile phone industry. In 2000, he purchased Crystal Palace Football Club and remained chairman of the club until administration in early 2010. In 2002, ...

said he was so disgusted with Bostock and his stepfather that he intended to revoke and refund their Selhurst Park season tickets for 2008–09, which the pair had already purchased. Bostock made his first team debut for Spurs in an 8–0 pre-season win over Spanish side Tavernes, providing the cross for

Aaron Lennon Aaron Justin Lennon (; born 16 April 1987) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger. Lennon began his career at hometown club Leeds United, making his first-team debut in 2003 and becoming the youngest player to play ...

's opening goal. On 6 November 2008, he made his competitive match debut in the 2008 UEFA Cup game against

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

, coming on as a substitute, and becoming the youngest player ever to play for Spurs at 16 years, 295 days, just beating the previous record-holder Ally Dick by six days. Bostock made a further two appearances in the UEFA Cup that season, however his career with Tottenham stalled after that and had to wait until January 2012 for his next appearance, in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

match against

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

Loan spells

On 13 November 2009, Bostock joined

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

on loan for a month, he was handed the number 17 shirt immediately. Bostock scored twice on his debut against Millwall. On 6 August 2010, Bostock had joined newly relegated

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

on a season-long loan. He scored with a 30-yard strike described as a "wonder goal" on his debut against Swansea on 7 August. On 31 December 2010, Tottenham Hotspur announced that Bostock had returned early from his largely unsuccessful loan spell at Hull City. Bostock joined

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

on loan on 30 January 2012 for the remainder of the 2011–12 season. He made his debut the following day as a substitute in a 1–1 draw with

MK Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. ...

. He was recalled to Spurs in March after playing only four games. Bostock joined

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

on loan on 22 March 2012 for the remainder of the season, after Tottenham manager

Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former football manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United, Portsmouth, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City. In his ...

said it would be good for him to play under

Paolo Di Canio Paolo Di Canio (born 9 July 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer and manager. During his playing career he made over 500 league appearances and scored over one hundred goals as a forward. He primarily played as a deep-lying forward ...

. He made his debut on 25 March in the

2012 Football League Trophy Final The 2012 Football League Trophy Final was the 29th final of the domestic football cup competition for teams from Football Leagues One and Two, the Football League Trophy. The final was played at Wembley Stadium in London on 25 March 2012. The m ...

, which Swindon lost 2–0 to

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

. He made his league debut against Gillingham on 21 April. He made his home debut on 28 April, in a 5–0 win against

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

in a game that saw Swindon crowned

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

champions. He made his final appearance on the final day of the season in a 0–0 draw against

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

. He returned on loan to Swindon on 30 August 2012 until January 2013. He made his first appearance 2 days later against Preston. He made his home debut on 5 September in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

against rivals

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...

. Bostock returned to Tottenham on 7 January 2013. In February 2013, it was reported that Bostock was having trials with two different MLS clubs with a view to a loan move. He officially joined

on 8 March, and made his debut for team the following day in a 2–1 home victory over

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and t ...

where he was substituted in the 85th minute. On 24 May, Bostock was given a waiver (release) by Toronto, ending his loan stint with the club. On 7 June, the

confirmed that Bostock was one of a number of Premier League players who were being released by their clubs and were now free agents, advertising their availability to other clubs. The official announcement from Tottenham was made on 10 June, which included Bostock, amongst a number of Spurs players who would not be re-signed and were being released.

Royal Antwerp

On 11 July 2013, Bostock joined

in the Belgian second division under the tutelage of manager

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink Jerrel Floyd "Jimmy" Hasselbaink ( ; born 27 March 1972) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of League One club Burton Albion. Born in Suriname, he and his family would later move to t ...

. Despite scoring just one goal he flourished at Antwerp providing 16 assists in his first season and soon became a fans favourite helping the team to finish 6th in the league narrowly missing out on the playoffs.

OH Leuven

His strong performances earned him a move to newly relegated side

Oud-Heverlee Leuven Oud-Heverlee Leuven (), also called OH Leuven or OHL, is a Belgian football club from the city of Leuven. It was created in 2002 from the merger of three clubs, '' F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee'', whose registration number it inherited, '' ...

, where he continued to blossom. In his second season in Belgium, Bostock went on to help his new side OHL win promotion via the playoffs. Along the way he scooped the Proximus Player of the Season Award after scoring 13 goals and providing 19 assists.

Lens

On 5 July 2016, Bostock joined

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

team

RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (, commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply Lens) is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department. Its nickname, ''les sang et or'' (''the blood and gold''), come ...

on a two-year deal. On 9 August 2016, Bostock scored his first goal for Lens with a 26th-minute free-kick against AC Ajaccio in the first round of the

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...

. He scored his first league goal for the club in a 2–0 win over Nîmes on 15 August 2016. He scored an eighth-minute penalty in a 1–1 draw with

Troyes Troyes () is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within the Champagne wine region and is near to ...

on 26 August 2016 before scoring twice in a 4–2 win over

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Red Star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. I ...

on 30 September 2016. Bostock was named Ligue 2 player of the month in September and then again in October 2016. He was awarded Ligue 2 player of the year after his first season in French football on 15 May 2017.

Bursaspor

In January 2018, Bostock signed with

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

side

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği (), commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Bursa. Formed in 1963, the club colours are green and white, with home kits usually featuring both colours in a striped pattern. In th ...

, having agreed a -year contract with the club.

Toulouse

In July 2018, Bostock returned to France signing a three-year contract with

Toulouse FC Toulouse Football Club is French professional football club based in Toulouse. The club was founded in 1970 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the premier division of French football. Toulouse plays its home matches at the Stadium de Toulouse lo ...

, managed by his former Lens boss

Alain Casanova Alain Casanova (born 18 September 1961) is a French former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He most recently was manager of Swiss side FC Lausanne-Sport. Career Born in Clermont-Ferrand, Casanova played for Cournon, INF Vichy, Le Havre ...

. On 8 August 2019, Bostock returned to England with a season-long loan to Championship side

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

. He left Toulouse by mutual consent in October 2020.

Doncaster Rovers

Bostock joined

club

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

on an 18-month contract in January 2021. On 1 June 2022, following Doncaster Rovers's relegation from League One, it was announced that he had turned down a new contract and would be leaving the club. He made 39 league appearances for the club.

Notts County

On 7 December 2022, Bostock signed for

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

club

on an eighteen-month contract. In the 2023 National League play-off final, Bostock scored an 87th minute equaliser against

to send the match to extra time. In the penalty shootout, Bostock attempted a

Panenka penalty In association football, the Panenka is a technique used while taking a penalty kick in which the taker, instead of kicking the ball to the left or right of the goalkeeper, gives a light touch underneath the ball, causing it to rise and fall withi ...

but hit the bar. However, Notts County would prevail 4–3 to earn promotion.

International career

Bostock captained

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at Under-17 level. He was eligible to represent

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. In March 2013, the

Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) is the governing body of football in Trinidad and Tobago. It is based in Port of Spain, Trinidad. It is a member of FIFA and is responsible for governing amateur and professional football and i ...

announced that he had shown interest in representing the Soca Warriors at international level. Three years later, on 18 March 2016, he was selected for the double confrontation with

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea wh ...

as part of the

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia qualifying automatically as hosts. All 210 ...

CONCACAF fourth round.

Personal life

Bostock is a devout

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. His family support

. As of November 2020 he had been married for ten years and had a young son.

Career statistics

Honours

Notts County *

play-offs:

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

Individual *

Belgian Second Division The Belgian Second Division (known as the Proximus League for sponsorship reasons) was the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was founded by the Royal Belgian Football Associa ...

Player of the Season: 2014–15

References

External links

*
Tottenham Hotspur player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bostock, John 1992 births Living people Footballers from Camberwell Men's association football midfielders English footballers English sportspeople of Trinidad and Tobago descent Black British sportsmen English expatriate footballers English Football League players National League (English football) players Major League Soccer players Belgian Pro League players Challenger Pro League players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Süper Lig players Crystal Palace F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Toronto FC players Royal Antwerp F.C. players Oud-Heverlee Leuven players RC Lens players Bursaspor footballers Toulouse FC players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Expatriate soccer players in Canada Expatriate footballers in Belgium England men's youth international footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Belgium English expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Turkey English Christians