Mark Bosnich was hospitalised after an awkward fall during a celebrity penalty shootout in Sydney, turning a routine exhibition moment into a trip to the emergency room. The former Manchester United and Socceroos goalkeeper had just made a save when he went down badly and later had his right knee iced after hobbling to a seat.

Bosnich, 54, was in goal at a Tabcorp celebrity penalty shootout event held at The Star casino, where he faced Tabcorp chief executive Gillon McLachlan and stopped his effort. What came next was less graceful. He was heard crying out in pain and lay prone on the ground before turning himself and sitting up as Archie Thompson, McLachlan and Robbie Slater checked whether he was injured.

He was able to stand and make it to a seat, but the injury was serious enough that Nine reported he later went to a hospital emergency room to find out how badly he had hurt himself. The extent of the injury has not yet been reported, leaving the immediate concern not on the save he made, but on the fall that followed it.

The episode carried extra weight because Bosnich remains a well-known football figure in Australia and England. He joined Manchester United in 1989 as a teenager, had two spells there, and also played for Aston Villa and Chelsea in the Premier League. He is now a columnist for Nine, and his name still draws attention whenever he appears in public.

That attention has not always been gentle. Sir Alex Ferguson once called him a “terrible professional” in My Autobiography, and Bosnich later told Sports he was the only player Ferguson signed at Manchester United twice. He also said he helped United win the Premier League title in the 1999/2000 season, a reminder of how long his football career has stayed part of the conversation around him.

For now, the unanswered question is simple: how bad is the damage to Bosnich’s right knee? He was able to get up and leave the floor under his own power, but the hospital visit suggests the awkward fall may have done more than spoil the moment.