Patrick Joseph Bonner (born 24 May 1960) is an Irish retired

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 lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

and spent his entire senior career at

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

. He earned 80

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

after making his debut on his 21st birthday. Commonly known as Pat or Packie, he also played Gaelic football for his native Donegal county team.

Gaelic football

Bonner played

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

for the Donegal county team at minor and senior level in the 1970s. He played a number of games in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL).

Club career

Early career

He began his soccer career in the late 1970s with his local youth side, Keadue Rovers. When he was 16 he had several trials with

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

and kept goal for them in the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

. In August 1977, Bonner had agreed a deal to sign for

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

side

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club is an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. They hail from Ballybofey, County Donegal and play their ho ...

on a 6-month contract after impressing in a guest appearance in a friendly against English team

Stoke City F.C. Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

An agreement was put in place, with then Harps manager, Eunan "Busty" Blake, that if a bigger club came in, Bonner would be allowed to leave and Blake himself would personally tear up his contract. He was subsequently spotted by Sean Fallon, who was scouting in Ireland for

, and invited to Glasgow for a trial. True to his word, Blake tore up Bonner's Finn Harps contract, without him ever making a competitive appearance for the club, and Bonner signed for Celtic on 14 May 1978.

Celtic

Bonner went on to make 483 league appearances with Celtic, and is the goalkeeper with the most appearances in Celtic's history, with 646 overall. In total with Celtic, he won four League Championship medals, three

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,League Cup winners' medal. Although he was released by manager

Lou Macari Luigi Macari (born 7 June 1949) is a Scottish former footballer and manager. He began his playing career at Celtic where he was one of the Quality Street Gang, the outstanding reserve team that emerged in the late 1960s that also included Kenn ...

in 1994, he was re-signed by Tommy Burns after Macari was sacked. His last appearance for Celtic was winning the 1995 Scottish Cup final under Burns. After the Scottish Cup Final victory over Airdrie, Bonner took on the role of player-coach and finally left the club in 1998 to work as a coach alongside former teammate Tommy Burns.

International career

Bonner made his international debut for the

on his 21st birthday in a friendly against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

on 24 May 1981. For the remainder of the

Eoin Hand Eoin Kevin Joseph Colin Hand (born 30 March 1946) is an Irish former footballer and football manager. As a player, his normal position was centre-half. He works as a television and radio football commentator for RTÉ in Ireland. Playing career ...

managerial era, Bolton Wanderers Jim McDonagh remained Ireland's first choice goalkeeper. However, by the time of the appointment of

Jack Charlton John Charlton (8 May 193510 July 2020) was an English professional Association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager who played as a Defender (association football), centre-back for Leeds. He was part of the England ...

in March 1986, Bonner was already claiming the number one position. Bonner claimed his 75th international cap on his 34th birthday in a 1–0 win over

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium (, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for the Aviva Stadium on ...

which at the time equalled the Republic of Ireland record held by

Liam Brady William Brady (born 13 February 1956) is an Irish former footballer and pundit. He found success both in England with Arsenal, where he won an FA Cup in 1979, and in Italy with Juventus, winning two Serie A titles. Brady was capped 72 times for ...

Euro 1988

Bonner played in seven of Ireland's eight games in the qualifying round of

UEFA Euro 1988 The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany from 10 to 25 June 1988. It was the eighth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. France national football team, Fr ...

. Despite some good results, including a 1–0 win away to

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, a 2–0 win at home to

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

and a 2–2 draw away to

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

bronze medalists

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, Ireland looked to be losing out on goal difference to Bulgaria. Bulgaria needed only a draw against Scotland in their last match to progress. However, a last-minute winning goal for Scotland gave Ireland, and Bonner, a first appearance at the

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

. Bonner played in all of Ireland's games at Euro 88, including the 1–0 victory over

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in Stuttgart. Ireland scored early and dominated in the first half, missing several chances to put the game beyond England. However, in the second half, Bonner produced a number of outstanding saves to keep Ireland in the lead, most notably from

Gary Lineker Gary Winston Lineker ( ; born 30 November 1960) is an English Sports broadcasting, sports broadcaster and former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Lineker is the only player t ...

, and was named Man of the Match. It was Bonner's eighth consecutive clean sheet for Ireland. In the second game, Ireland drew 1–1 with the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Ireland narrowly missed out on a semi-final appearance, conceding a goal in the dying minutes of their final group match against eventual champions, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

1990 World Cup

Bonner missed the opening

qualifying Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

game for the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

away to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

due to a back injury. He played in the remaining seven fixtures, with the only goals being conceded throughout the qualifying campaign coming in a 0–2 loss in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Indeed, only an excellent performance by Bonner in that game saved Ireland from a heavier defeat. Ireland went on to beat Spain 1–0 in the return fixture at Lansdowne Road, and in November 1989 clinched qualification in the final fixture with a 2–0 win away over

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. It was the first time the Republic of Ireland had qualified for the World Cup, and Bonner would make his mark on the world stage with two memorable moments that live long in Irish sporting folklore. The first was in Ireland's very first World Cup finals game, against England. With Ireland 1–0 down late in the game, Bonner delivered a determined clearance all the way to the English penalty area, setting up Kevin Sheedy's equaliser. While Bonner's role in the goal itself was minimal, the look of sheer determination on his face has been remembered as one of the defining moments of Ireland's inaugural appearance in the tournament. After a disappointing 0–0 draw with

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

in the second game, Ireland needed at least a draw with the Netherlands to ensure passage to the next round. With Ireland 1–0 down midway through the second half, Bonner once again delivered a clearance all the way to the Dutch penalty area, which caused enough confusion to allow

Niall Quinn Niall John Quinn (honorary Order of the British Empire, MBE; born 6 October 1966) is an Irish former professional Association football, footballer, manager, businessman and sports television pundit. As a player, he was a Striker (association f ...

to slot in the equaliser and send Ireland to the knockout stage. Ireland's second round fixture against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

went to a penalty shootout, where the score was tied at 4–4 with one kick remaining for each team. Bonner made a simple save from a poorly taken penalty by Daniel Timofte, setting up

David O'Leary David Anthony O'Leary (born 2 May 1958) is a football manager and former player. The majority of his 20-year playing career was spent as a central defender at Arsenal, where his tally of 722 appearances stands as a club record. He played 68 time ...

to score the winning Irish kick. In the quarter-final against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, Ireland lost 1–0 as Bonner saved a powerful shot from

Roberto Donadoni Roberto Donadoni (; born 9 September 1963) is an Italian football manager and former midfielder. A skilful and versatile winger, Donadoni was capable of playing on either flank, or in the centre. He began his career with Atalanta, and late ...

, but was knocked off balance enough to allow

Salvatore Schillaci Salvatore Schillaci (; 1 December 1964 – 18 September 2024), commonly known as Totò Schillaci, was an Italian professional association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. During his club career, he p ...

to snatch the winning goal and send Ireland home. Bonner arrived home in Dublin to a hero's welcome the following day. Bonner's penalty save has been remembered by FIFA as one of the great moments of that World Cup. In an article entitled "Bonner's Moment in Time", Bonner states, "It really wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that that one save changed my life forever, certainly in terms of recognition."

Euro 1992

Bonner remained Ireland's number one choice goalkeeper for

UEFA Euro 1992 The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark won the 1992 championship, having been inv ...

, where Ireland was drawn against Poland,

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and England in the

qualifying round Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

. Ireland lost out to England in controversial circumstances. With Ireland one point behind England and tied with Poland with two games left, it was debated in the media if a draw with Poland would be better than a win. Assuming England beat Turkey on the same day, a draw left Ireland and Poland with six points each with England on eight points and all three teams having one remaining game. With England playing Poland in the last game, it meant that Poland could still qualify for the tournament by beating England and hoping Ireland failed to beat Turkey in their last game. If Poland did beat England, Ireland could then qualify on goal difference by beating Turkey. However, if instead, Ireland beat Poland in the second-last game, Poland was out of the tournament. Ireland would have seven points to England's eight, meaning that Ireland would need to beat Turkey and hope that Poland, without the prospect of qualification, could still manage a draw with England. With Ireland leading Poland 3–1 with minutes to go, Ireland conceded two late goals and the game finished 3–3. In those final games Poland did hold England to a draw (1–1) and Ireland did beat Turkey 3–1, but England qualified with 9 points to Ireland's 8 points.

1994 World Cup

Bonner represented Ireland in all 12 qualifying matches for the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

. Ireland seemed well on the way to qualification after seven wins and three draws in the opening ten games. With each side having only two games remaining, Ireland led the group on 18 points, ahead of

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

on 16, with Spain in third place on 15 points. Ireland needed only a draw at Lansdowne Road against Spain in the second last game to guarantee qualification, while a win would virtually guarantee top position in the group. However, Ireland conceded three goals in a 15-minute spell in the first half, and despite a late consolation goal, Ireland now needed to beat Northern Ireland in the last game to guarantee a place in the finals. A draw would mean Ireland needed the Spain-Denmark game, happening simultaneously, to finish in a win for one of the two sides. Ireland drew 1–1 with Northern Ireland but qualified ahead of Denmark by virtue of having scored more goals (they were level on goal difference), as Denmark lost 1–0 to Spain. Bonner's saves throughout the tournament were key to Ireland's goal-difference remaining on par with Denmark and ensuring eventual qualification. In the Finals, Ireland beat Italy 1–0 in their opening match. The euphoria was elevated by the fact that Ireland had also beaten Germany and the Netherlands in warm-up games. However, from that point on, the tournament was a disappointment for Ireland and especially Bonner. A 2–1 defeat at the hands of

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and a 0–0 draw with

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

were just enough for Ireland to move into round two on the strength of their win over Italy. A 2–0 defeat to the Netherlands ended Ireland's tournament, and was a low point for Bonner. With Ireland already 1–0 down late in the first half, a long-distance effort from

Wim Jonk Wilhelmus Maria "Wim" Jonk (; born 12 October 1966) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player, who is the current technical manager of Eerste Divisie club Volendam. In his career as a midfielder, he won a variety of national hon ...

should have been an easy save. However, Bonner fumbled the shot and it dribbled into the net. Ireland never recovered and was eliminated from the tournament.

Euro 1996 qualification campaign

Bonner struggled to maintain his place in the Ireland squad during the

UEFA Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in ...

qualification campaign, playing only one match, as captain, in a 4–0 win over

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

. Alan Kelly played all of Ireland's other qualification matches. Ireland were eliminated 2–0 by the Netherlands in a playoff.

Legacy

Bonner became the Republic of Ireland's most capped goalkeeper with 80 appearances for his country. He held this record until it was surpassed in 2007 by fellow Donegal native

Shay Given Séamus John James Given (born 20 April 1976) is an Irish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Irish goalkeepers of all time ...

who, by the end of 2011, had achieved 120 caps. Bonner remains a cultural icon in Ireland for his role in some of the most memorable moments in Irish sporting history.

Coaching role

On 2 February 2003, following the promotion of Brian Kerr to the position of

team manager, Bonner was named as technical director of the

Football Association of Ireland The Football Association of Ireland (FAI; ) is the governing body for association football in the Republic of Ireland. Organisation The FAI has an executive committee of five members under the president, who receive expenses, as well as a p ...

(FAI). He previously held the role of the senior squad's goalkeeping coach in the organisation. In addition, he has worked as a football presenter with

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso * Canal 3 Niger, a commercial television channel in Niger * Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala * Can ...

Personal life

Bonner is married to Ann and has two children, Andrew and Melissa.Packie Bonner: 'I make no bones about it, I cried myself to sleep'

The Herald (Ireland) ''The Herald'' is a nationwide mid-market tabloid newspaper headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and published by Independent News & Media who are a subsidiary of Mediahuis. It is published Monday–Saturday. The newspaper was known as the ''Eve ...

, 22 July 2015 His son Andrew was also a footballer who played as a striker for the Republic of Ireland youth teams and in the Scottish Junior leagues at club level, and was later an amateur distance runner.Andrew Bonner
Power of 10 His twin brother Denis played football in Ireland for

Galway United Galway United Football Club () is an Irish professional football club based in Galway. They play in the League of Ireland Premier Division following promotion from the First Division in 2023. They were founded as Galway Rovers F.C. during the ...

and

. He also has five sisters.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Celtic *

Scottish Premier Division The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) ...

: 1978–79, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1985–86, 1987–88 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1979–80, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1994–95 *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

: 1982–83, 1997–98 Individual *

Ballon d'Or The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual association football, football award presented by French magazine ''France Football'' since 1956 Ballon d'Or, 1956 to honour the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous season. Conceived ...

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

(17th place)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonner, Packie 1960 births Living people 1990 FIFA World Cup players 1994 FIFA World Cup players Association footballers from County Donegal Men's association football goalkeepers Donegal inter-county Gaelic footballers Gaelic footballers who switched code Irish emigrants to the United Kingdom Irish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Irish radio personalities Keadue Rovers F.C. players Finn Harps F.C. Celtic F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers RTÉ Sports Person of the Year winners Irish twins UEFA Euro 1988 players Celtic F.C. non-playing staff People from Burtonport Broadcasters from County Donegal 20th-century Irish sportsmen