Name: John Bostock
Date of birth: 15th January, 1992
Position: Midfield
Club: Tottenham Hotspur
Former Club(s): Crystal Palace
Honours: Victory Shield, 2006
International Apps: England U16 - 6
England U17 - 25
International Goals: None
The tall and neat attacking midfielder captained England Under-17s in this year’s European competition. He made his league debut on 29th October, 2007, coming on as a substitute against Watford. This made him Palace’s youngest ever player at the age of 15 years and 287 days.
He then made a controversial move across London to Spurs for an initial £700,000 before again showing his maturity as he made his Spurs debut.
Palace chairman Simon Jordan was outraged by the transfer and was quoted with the following statement at the time “I feel mugged and brutalised, it is scandalous, and this sends a message to smaller clubs. Why bother to bring players through if tribunals cannot reflect the work that has gone in?”
Bostock came on as a second half substitute against Dinamo Zagreb in a UEFA Cup match aged 16 years and 295 days. This made him the youngest ever player to wear a Spurs shirt.
Since then he has progressed by making further First Team appearances as a late substitute in both legs against Shakhtar Donetsk in February 2009.
by Scott Richards