Robbie Fowler
Encyclopedia
Robert Bernard Fowler is an English footballer who is currently player/manager for Thai Premier League club Muangthong United.

He is best remembered for his playing days at Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...

 and is the fourth-highest goalscorer in the history of the Premier League. Fowler scored 183 goals in total for Liverpool, 128 of which were scored in the Premier League (162 Premier League goals in total). He subsequently played for Leeds United
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...

 and Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...

, before returning to Liverpool in January 2006.

He moved clubs 18 months later to sign for Cardiff City
Cardiff City F.C.
Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for...

. He refused a one year "pay as you play" contract extension and signed with Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....

 on a three-month "pay as you play" deal instead. In December 2008, he departed Blackburn and has since forged a career in Australia. He has been capped for England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 twenty-six times, scoring seven goals.

Early life

Fowler was born in Toxteth
Toxteth
Toxteth is an inner city area of Liverpool, England. Located to the south of the city, Toxteth is bordered by Liverpool City Centre, Dingle, Edge Hill, Wavertree and Aigburth.-Description:...

, Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 and brought up in the inner city area of Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

. At this time he was known as Robert Ryder, his mother's surname. He lived in Toxteth at the time of the 1981 Toxteth riots
Toxteth riots
The Toxteth riots of July 1981 were a civil disturbance in Toxteth, inner-city Liverpool, which arose in part from long-standing tensions between the local police and the black community...

, when he was six years old. As a youngster he supported Everton F.C.
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...

, regularly travelling to Goodison Park
Goodison Park
Goodison Park is a football stadium located in Walton, Liverpool, England. The stadium has been home to Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892 and is one of the world's first purpose-built football grounds...

. He played regularly for schoolboy team Thorvald, and once scored 16 times in a 26–0 rout.

In 1985 a 10-year-old Fowler was selected for Liverpool Schoolboys and was spotted by Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...

 scout Jim Aspinall. He began training with Liverpool once a week and signed schoolboy forms with the club. On leaving school in 1991 he signed as a YTS
Youth Training Scheme
The Youth Training Scheme was the former name in the United Kingdom of an on-the-job training course for school leavers aged 16 and 17, managed by the Manpower Services Commission...

 trainee, and turned professional on his 17th birthday less than a year later.

Liverpool

Fowler's career began with Liverpool. He signed as a youth team player on leaving school in the summer of 1991, signing professional terms on his 17th birthday, 9 April 1992.

Fowler's first involvement with the Liverpool first team came on 13 January 1993, when he was an unused substitute in an FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 third round tie against Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....

. In the following close season, Fowler helped the England under-18
England national under-18 football team
-Latest squad:The following players were named in the squad for the friendly match against Slovakia.-Recent call-ups:The following players have also been called up to the England under-18 squad and remain eligible.-References:...

 team win the 1993 European Championship, before making a scoring first-team debut in Liverpool's 3–1 win in a first round League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...

 tie at Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...

 on 22 September 1993. Fowler scored all five goals in the second leg at Anfield two weeks later, making him the fourth player in Liverpool's history to score five in a senior fixture. He scored his first league hat-trick
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...

 against Southampton
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...

 in only his fifth league game. His very first league goal for the Reds had come on 16 October 1993, when an 87th minute equaliser at home to struggling Oldham Athletic saved the Reds from what would have been one of the biggest Premier League shocks of the season, with a last gasp own goal giving Liverpool a 2–1 win. He scored twice in a thrilling 3–3 draw at Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....

 on 18 December.

His first 13 games for the club yielded 12 goals, and he was rewarded with an England Under-21
England national under-21 football team
England's national Under-21 football team, also known as England Under-21s or England U21, is considered to be the feeder team for the England national football team....

 debut against San Marino
San Marino national football team
The San Marino national football team is the national football team of San Marino, controlled by the San Marino Football Federation...

 in November 1993, in which he scored England's opening goal in the third minute. Fowler was unable to sustain his goal-a-game ratio throughout the season, but finished his first season as the club's leading scorer with 18 goals in all competitions, although Ian Rush had scored more goals in the league. It was, however, a disappointing season for Liverpool, as they finished eighth in the Premier League without making any impact in any of the major competitions, though the departure of Graeme Souness
Graeme Souness
Graeme James Souness is a Scottish former professional football player and manager.Souness was the captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s and player-manager of Rangers in the late 1980s as well as captain of the Scottish national team. He also played for Tottenham Hotspur,...

 as manager and the appointment of Roy Evans
Roy Evans
Roy Evans CBE was a Liverpool football player who eventually rose through the coaching ranks to become team manager.-Career:...

 as successor built up hope for the future.

Success and fame

In the 1994–95 season
1994-95 in English football
-Premiership:Blackburn Rovers ended their 81-year wait for the league title thanks to the strike partnership of Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton which scored a total of more than 50 league goals. Manchester United would have made it three league titles in a row if they had been able to turn a 1-1 draw...

, Fowler was an ever-present for Liverpool, playing in all of their 57 competitive matches, including the victory in the 1995 League Cup final
1995 Football League Cup Final
The 1995 Coca-Cola Cup Final was played between Liverpool and Bolton Wanderers at Wembley Stadium on 2 April 1995. Liverpool won the match 2–1. Two Steve McManaman goals in the 37th and 68th minutes put Liverpool ahead, but Alan Thompson scored a brilliant goal for Bolton to give them some...

, and a match against Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 in which he scored the Premier league's fastest ever hat-trick, in four minutes and 33 seconds, a record that still stands.

He also managed braces against Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...

, Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town F.C.
Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....

, Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...

 and Norwich City
Norwich City F.C.
Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The...

 in the league that season.

Fowler was voted the PFA Young Player of the Year
PFA Young Player of the Year
The Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year is an annual award given to the player aged 23 or under at the start of the season who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in English football...

 in two consecutive years in 1995 and 1996, a feat equalled only by Ryan Giggs
Ryan Giggs
Ryan Joseph Giggs OBE is a Welsh professional footballer who plays for Manchester United. Giggs made his first appearance for the club during the 1990–91 season and has been a regular player since the 1991–92 season...

 and Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney
Wayne Mark Rooney is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Manchester United and the England national team...

.

Throughout the mid and late 1990s, Fowler was widely considered to be the most natural finisher playing in England. Fowler sealed this reputation as he scored more than 30 goals for three consecutive seasons, up to 1997. He remains the only player to have scored 30 plus goals in his first three full seasons in England scoring 98 goals with a total of 116 in 3 and a half years, something which has also yet to be beaten in La Liga, Seria A and the Bundesliga too. Fowler's partnership with Steve McManaman
Steve McManaman
Steven McManaman is a retired English footballer who played as a midfielder, winger and playmaker. Having spent his playing career at two of European football's most successful clubs of the 20th century, Liverpool and Real Madrid, as well as a spell at Manchester City, McManaman is the most...

 was largely described as the reason why Liverpool had become the club known for being the most potent attacking force in England at the time, and Fowler was renowned for scoring goals of all varieties, from every angle and distance, with McManaman describing him as the "greatest goalscorer of all time."

Stan Collymore
Stan Collymore
Stanley Victor "Stan" Collymore is an English football pundit and former footballer, who played from 1990 until 2001. He held the British transfer record when he moved from Nottingham Forest to Liverpool for £8.5 million in 1995 and was capped three times at senior level by the England...

, Fowler's strike partner from 1995 to 1997, said in his autobiography that Fowler was the best player he has ever played alongside. Fowler and Collymore were among the most prolific goal-scoring strike partnerships in England during the 1995–96
1995-96 in English football
- Premiership :Newcastle United were 12 points clear at the top of Manchester United, but Alex Ferguson's relatively young and inexperienced side overhauled them during the second half of the season to win the title....

 season. In the same season he scored twice in a 4–3 victory over Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...

, a match voted the best of the decade in a Premier League poll. The match helped prevent Newcastle from winning the league, but it was not enough for Liverpool to clinch the title; they finished third while Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

 were crowned champions. Fowler also played in his first FA Cup final
FA Cup Final
The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. With an official attendance of 89,826 at the 2007 FA Cup Final, it is the fourth best attended domestic club championship event in the world and the second most...

 that season, but was on the losing side as Manchester United won 1–0.

Fowler received a call-up to the full England squad
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 and won his first cap on 27 March 1996 as a substitute in a friendly against Bulgaria
Bulgaria national football team
The FIFA Bulgaria national football team is an association football team fielded by the Bulgarian Football Union, a member association of UEFA. The team's home ground is Vasil Levski in Sofia and Luboslav Penev is in charge manager after replacement of Lothar Matthäus...

. His first start at international level was against Croatia
Croatia national football team
The Croatia national football team represents Croatia in international football. The team is controlled by the Croatian Football Federation, the governing body for football in the country, and has been managed since 2006 by former player Slaven Bilić...

 which was the England game following his substitute appearance. Fowler was part of the England squad for Euro 1996, making two appearances in the tournament. On 14 December 1996, he scored four against Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...

, including his hundredth for Liverpool. This meant he reached a century of goals one game quicker than his first strike partner, Ian Rush
Ian Rush
Ian James Rush, MBE, is a retired football player from Flint, Wales. He is best remembered as a player for Liverpool, where he was among the top strikers in the English game in the 1980s and 1990s. He also had spells playing at Chester City, Juventus, Leeds United, Newcastle United, Sheffield...

, in just 165 games.

That year, he also won a UEFA
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....

 Fair Play
UEFA Fair Play ranking
The UEFA Fair Play ranking has been used by UEFA since 1995 to grant three berths for the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.-Current club qualification system:...

 award for admitting that he had not been fouled by Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman
David Seaman
David Andrew Seaman MBE is a former English football goalkeeper who played for several clubs, most notably Arsenal. He retired from the game on 13 January 2004, following a recurring shoulder injury...

 at Highbury
Arsenal Stadium
Arsenal Stadium was a football stadium in Highbury, North London, which was the home ground of Arsenal Football Club between 6 September 1913 and 7 May 2006...

 after a penalty had been given. After unsuccessfully trying to convince the referee to change his decision about the penalty, Fowler took it tamely and Seaman saved. However, Seaman failed to hold on to the ball and Jason McAteer
Jason McAteer
Jason Wynne McAteer is a retired Irish footballer, who represented the Republic of Ireland at international level. He announced his retirement from professional football on 12 June 2007,...

 scored from the rebound. Though many people believe that he deliberately took the penalty kick poorly for reasons of fair play, Fowler said at the time: "As a goalscorer it's part of my job to take it and I wanted to score it. I tried to score. I never missed on purpose. It just happened, it was a bad penalty."

Spice Boys

Fowler was part of a group of Liverpool players from the mid-1990s who were nicknamed "The Spice Boys
Spice Boys (footballers)
The Spice Boys was a media term used to describe a group of Liverpool F.C. footballers in the mid-late 1990s, seen typically as being composed of Jamie Redknapp, David James, Phil Babb, Steve McManaman, Robbie Fowler, Stan Collymore and Jason McAteer...

" by the press following a series of off-field controversies. The term was coined by the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...

, and arose due to misplaced rumours that Fowler was dating Spice Girl
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...

 Emma Bunton
Emma Bunton
Emma Lee Bunton is an English pop singer/songwriter and TV and radio presenter. She was a member of the 1990s girl group, the Spice Girls, in which she was known as Baby Spice as she was the youngest member. In 2010, she joined the judging panel on ITV's Dancing on Ice...

. The term was subsequently used in a derogatory manner, implying Fowler and colleagues such as Jamie Redknapp
Jamie Redknapp
Jamie Frank Redknapp is a retired English footballer who was active from 1989 until 2005. He is now a football pundit with Sky Sports, and an editorial columnist with the Daily Mail....

, Stan Collymore
Stan Collymore
Stanley Victor "Stan" Collymore is an English football pundit and former footballer, who played from 1990 until 2001. He held the British transfer record when he moved from Nottingham Forest to Liverpool for £8.5 million in 1995 and was capped three times at senior level by the England...

, David James
David James (footballer)
David Benjamin James is an English footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bristol City.On 14 February 2009, he achieved the all-time Premier League appearance record with 536 appearances, overtaking Gary Speed. He held this record until being overtaken by Ryan Giggs on the 14th May 2011...

 and Steve McManaman
Steve McManaman
Steven McManaman is a retired English footballer who played as a midfielder, winger and playmaker. Having spent his playing career at two of European football's most successful clubs of the 20th century, Liverpool and Real Madrid, as well as a spell at Manchester City, McManaman is the most...

 were underachieving playboys.

Fowler's performance in the 1997–98 football season
1997-98 in English football
The 1997-1998 season was the 118th season of competitive football in England.-Premier League:Arsenal overhauled Manchester United's lead during the final weeks of the season to win the Premiership title...

 was marred by a knee ligament injury that kept him out of action for half the season and caused him to miss the 1998 World Cup. During this period of injury, fellow Liverpool striker, Michael Owen
Michael Owen
Michael James Owen is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Manchester United.The son of former footballer Terry Owen, Owen began his senior career at Liverpool in 1996. He progressed through the Liverpool youth team and scored on his debut in May 1997...

 rose to prominence, making his debut in 1997. Owen established himself in the Liverpool team in Fowler's absence.

In 1999, Fowler was fined £60,000 by his club for bringing the game into disrepute. Whilst celebrating his goal against Liverpool's Merseyside
Merseyside
Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...

 rivals, Everton, Fowler used the white line of the penalty area to simulate cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...

 use. Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier
Gérard Houllier
Gérard Houllier, OBE , is a French football manager, who was last manager of Premier League club Aston Villa. He stepped down on 1 June 2011, following hospitalisation over heart problems towards the end of the 2010-2011 season....

 stated that this was a Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

ian grass eating celebration, learnt from teammate Rigobert Song
Rigobert Song
Rigobert Song Bahanag is a former Cameroonian footballer who is currently a main consultant for the famous sports channel 'Orange sports'. Although receiving many propositions from top clubs, Song declined. Song played for Kosovo super league club KF Drenica, when his contract after season 2010/12...

. Defending himself, Fowler later said this was a response to Everton fans who had insulted him with false accusations of drug abuse
Recreational drug use
Recreational drug use is the use of a drug, usually psychoactive, with the intention of creating or enhancing recreational experience. Such use is controversial, however, often being considered to be also drug abuse, and it is often illegal...

. Fowler received a four match suspension from the FA
The Football Association
The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England, and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1863, and is the oldest national football association...

 for this incident. At the same FA disciplinary hearing, Fowler received a further two match suspension due to a separate incident in which he had taunted the Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...

 defender Graeme Le Saux
Graeme Le Saux
Graeme Pierre Le Saux is a retired English footballer of French ancestry who played for the Premier League clubs Chelsea, Blackburn Rovers and Southampton, and for the England national football team. Primarily a left back, he was sometimes also played in midfield or on the left wing.After...

 by waving his backside at him as Le Saux's wife and children watched from the stands. Fowler later attempted to justify his actions by suggesting his homophobic
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...

 taunts were simply an extension of gamesmanship. The FA imposed a £32,000 fine and a six match ban for the two incidents.

2000–01 season

The 2000–01 season
2000-01 in English football
The 2000–01 season was the 121st season of competitive football in England.-Overview:Manchester United secured their 3rd Premiership title in succession and their 7th title in just nine seasons...

 was Fowler’s most successful season. He appeared in three finals, scoring 17 goals and lifting three trophies in a unique cup treble. In the absence of Jamie Redknapp, who was sidelined by injury, Fowler was named as Liverpool captain when he started. However he found himself the third choice Liverpool striker
Striker
Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...

, with Houllier favouring a forward partnership
Partnership
A partnership is an arrangement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests.Since humans are social beings, partnerships between individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments, and varied combinations thereof, have always been and remain commonplace...

 of Michael Owen and Emile Heskey
Emile Heskey
Emile William Ivanhoe Heskey is an English footballer who plays for Aston Villa as a striker.Born in Leicester, Heskey started his career with hometown club Leicester City after progressing through their youth system, making his first team debut in 1995...

.

He did take part in a fourth round League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...

 hammering of Stoke City
Stoke City F.C.
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...

, scoring a hat-trick in an 8–0 victory, which was second only to the clubs biggest ever win in 1986 a 10–0 defeat of Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...

. In the League Cup final against Birmingham City
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...

, the club's first cup final since 1996, he captained the side and scored in 30th minute. Liverpool went on to win the trophy on penalties, with Fowler scoring Liverpool's fifth in the shootout. Fowler picked up the Alan Hardaker
Alan Hardaker
Alan Hardaker was an English football administrator for the Football League, a wartime Royal Navy officer, and previously an amateur footballer...

 Man of the Match
Man of the match
In sport, a Man of the Match or Player of the Game or Man of the Series award is given to the outstanding player, almost always the one who makes the most impact, in a particular match or series. The term was originally used more often in cricket before being adopted by other sports. This can be a...

 award and lifted the trophy.

Fowler’s season picked up from there as he scored several important goals including a goal against runaway champions Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

 and a free kick in the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 semi-final against Wycombe Wanderers
Wycombe Wanderers F.C.
Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional football team from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, which has been promoted to Football League One after finishing third in Football League Two in the season 2010–11. The club's nicknames are "The Chairboys" and "The Blues", and they play...

. Fowler featured as a substitute in the 2001 FA Cup Final
FA Cup Final 2001
The 2001 FA Cup Final was a football match held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday, 12 May 2001 and was the first final to be played outside of England. The game had an attendance of 72,000. The final was contested between Arsenal and Liverpool, with Liverpool winning 2–1, after...

 coming on as a 77th minute replacement for Vladimír Šmicer
Vladimír Šmicer
Vladimír Šmicer is a former Czech football midfielder and forward player. Šmicer was a devout player of Slavia Prague, the only Czech club he ever played for. He also played notably for Lens in France, with whom he won the Ligue 1 title. In 1999, Šmicer moved to England, where he played several...

. Liverpool, who were 1–0 down at that point, eventually won the game 2–1 with two goals from Michael Owen. Fowler raised the trophy along with Sami Hyypiä
Sami Hyypiä
Sami Tuomas Hyypiä is a retired European Cup winning Finnish footballer who played in the centre back position. He last played for German Bundesliga side Bayer 04 Leverkusen and was the captain of the Finland national football team. He joined Leverkusen in summer 2009, ending a ten year spell at...

 and Jamie Redknapp.

Four days later he was a substitute again in Liverpool’s third final, the 2001 UEFA Cup Final
2001 UEFA Cup Final
The 2001 UEFA Cup Final was an association football match between Liverpool of England and Alavés of Spain on 16 May 2001 at the Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany. The showpiece event was the final match of the 2000–01 edition of Europe's secondary cup competition, the UEFA Cup. Liverpool were...

 against Deportivo Alavés
Deportivo Alavés
Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, in the Basque Country. Founded in 1921, it plays in Segunda División B, holding home matches at the 19,500-seater Estadio Mendizorrotza....

. He came on in the 64th minute for Emile Heskey with the score at 3–3. He scored seven minutes later but Alavés equalised before full time and Liverpool eventually won with a golden goal
Golden goal
The golden goal is a method used in association football, field hockey, ice hockey and korfball to decide the winner of games in elimination matches which end in a draw after the end of regulation time. It is a type of sudden death. Golden goal rules allow the team that scores the first goal during...

, an own goal, in the 116th minute. Fowler and Hyypiä then raised Liverpool’s third trophy of the season together. Liverpool’s next and final game of the season was against Charlton Athletic F.C.
Charlton Athletic F.C.
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...

 and Fowler scored twice in a 4–0 victory that assured them UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

 qualification for the next season.

Liverpool departure

Fowler began the 2001–02 season
2001-02 in English football
The 2001-02 season was the 122nd season of competitive football in England.-Arsenal cruise to title glory:In what had earlier been one of the most closely fought Premiership title races for years, Arsenal won the championship by seven points. Their crown was won in the penultimate game of the...

 controversially, after being dropped by the then manager Gérard Houllier
Gérard Houllier
Gérard Houllier, OBE , is a French football manager, who was last manager of Premier League club Aston Villa. He stepped down on 1 June 2011, following hospitalisation over heart problems towards the end of the 2010-2011 season....

 from the Liverpool squad for the 2001 Charity Shield match following a training ground
Melwood
Melwood, in West Derby, Liverpool, is home to Liverpool FC's training ground. It is not attached to The Academy, which is in Kirkby.It is based in the West Derby area of Liverpool and has been their home since the fifties. The ground previously belonged to St Francis Xavier, a local school...

 confrontation with assistant manager Phil Thompson
Phil Thompson
Philip Bernard Thompson is a retired English footballer, who played as a defender for Liverpool team of the 1970s and 1980s. During this time, he also represented the England national football team on 42 occasions...

. He made an appearance in Liverpool's 3–2 European Super Cup
European Super Cup
The UEFA Super Cup is an annual football game between the reigning champions of the two cup competitions organized by UEFA: the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League...

 victory over Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Munich , is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional football team, which is the most successful football club in Germany, having won 22 national titles and 15 cups....

, but starts were intermittent. In October 2001, he scored his first league hat-trick for three years, helping Liverpool beat Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...

 4–1, but was dropped for the following league match. Though Fowler had been on a contract extension from 1999 (unlike Steve McManaman
Steve McManaman
Steven McManaman is a retired English footballer who played as a midfielder, winger and playmaker. Having spent his playing career at two of European football's most successful clubs of the 20th century, Liverpool and Real Madrid, as well as a spell at Manchester City, McManaman is the most...

 – who exercised his Bosman
Bosman ruling
Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association ASBL v Jean-Marc Bosman is a 1995 European Court of Justice decision concerning freedom of movement for workers, freedom of association, and direct effect of article 39 of the EC Treaty...

 entitlement the very same year), Fowler was linked to Lazio, Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 and Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

, and Liverpool's management as well as fans and the media constantly reported that what happened with McManaman (regarded as a huge financial loss) would never be repeated and thus the club never rejected those bids without consideration. This meant that coupled with Fowler's relationship with Houllier, speculation over Fowler's future persisted for most of Houllier's tenure and became an issue that divided Liverpool fans. His last appearance for Liverpool was against Sunderland
Sunderland A.F.C.
Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...

, in which he was substituted at half-time.

Leeds United

Despite his popularity with Liverpool fans, who referred to Fowler as "God", Michael Owen
Michael Owen
Michael James Owen is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Manchester United.The son of former footballer Terry Owen, Owen began his senior career at Liverpool in 1996. He progressed through the Liverpool youth team and scored on his debut in May 1997...

 and Emile Heskey
Emile Heskey
Emile William Ivanhoe Heskey is an English footballer who plays for Aston Villa as a striker.Born in Leicester, Heskey started his career with hometown club Leicester City after progressing through their youth system, making his first team debut in 1995...

 had established themselves as Liverpool's regular strike partnership, leaving Fowler on the fringes of the first team. This along with the mentally unhealthy nature with Houillier, he sought regular first team football away from Anfield in an £12 million move to Leeds United. Fowler maintains that Houllier forced him out of Liverpool, and accused Houllier of pressuring the Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
The Liverpool Echo is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Saturday, and is Liverpool's evening newspaper while its sister paper, the Liverpool Daily Post, is the morning paper...

newspaper to use its influence to turn opinion against him.

The transfer went ahead just one month after his hat-trick at Leicester with a fee of £12 million. He made his Leeds debut in an away game against Fulham, the same ground
Craven Cottage
Craven Cottage is the name of a football stadium in the Hammersmith and Fulham area that has been the home ground of the association football team Fulham F.C. since 1896....

 where he had made his thrillingly memorable Liverpool debut eight years earlier. Fowler scored 12 goals in the remainder of the season, helping Leeds to a UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

 qualifying place. Fowler was included in the England squad for the 2002 World Cup
2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th staging of the FIFA World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan from 31 May to 30 June. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia, and the last in which the golden goal rule was implemented. Brazil won the tournament for a record fifth time, beating Germany 2–0...

, but only made one appearance, coming on as substitute in a second round win over Denmark
Denmark national football team
The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...

.

Fowler suffered an aggravation of a pre-existing hip injury in the 2002–03 pre-season
2002-03 in English football
The 2002-03 season was the 123rd season of competitive football in England.-Most Memorable rise:*Wigan Athletic marked their 25th season of Football League membership by winning the Division Two championship and reaching the league's second tier for the very first time.-Most Memorable...

, and did not recover until December. Struggling to gain fitness, and seeing team-mates sold off due to a financial crisis, Fowler's form and market value diminished. It was despite this decrease in form that he still, in total,scored 15 goals in 31 appearances for Leeds; achieving an impressive strike rate of just less than one goal every two games. In 2002–03, Leeds finished 15th in the Premier League and a severe financial crisis was developing.

Manchester City

In the 2002–03 season
2002-03 in English football
The 2002-03 season was the 123rd season of competitive football in England.-Most Memorable rise:*Wigan Athletic marked their 25th season of Football League membership by winning the Division Two championship and reaching the league's second tier for the very first time.-Most Memorable...

, Fowler was transferred to Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...

 following a protracted transfer saga. Fowler initially turned down the move, and a dispute between Manchester City manager Kevin Keegan
Kevin Keegan
Joseph Kevin Keegan, OBE is a former international footballer and former manager of the England national football team and several English clubs, most notably Newcastle United....

 and chairman David Bernstein
David Bernstein (executive)
David Bernstein is a British business executive who was the former chairman of French Connection.A chartered accountant by trade, Bernstein has also been involved in the footballing world and was the chairman of Manchester City Football Club from 1998 to 2003, a period of revival and stability in...

 over whether the transfer should take place due to medical concerns resulted in Bernstein leaving the club. Following encouragement from Keegan, Fowler finally signed for Manchester City on 16 January 2003 for an initial fee of £3 million and a further £3 million dependent upon appearances. Bizarre transfer conditions meant Leeds United still paid a significant proportion of Fowler's wages. Fowler made his Manchester City debut against West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion F.C.
West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...

 on 1 February 2003, but made a poor start to his Manchester City career, scoring just two goals in the remainder of the season.

Fowler continued to struggle with fitness problems in the 2003–04 season
2003-04 in English football
The 2003-04 season was the 124th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:Arsenal completed the entire campaign without losing a single league game....

, completing the full 90 minutes only nine times, however he did score against his old club Liverpool in a 2–2 draw at home. The arrival of close friend, Steve McManaman, from Real Madrid
Real Madrid C.F.
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...

 gave Fowler hope, but the pair failed to rekindle their prolific partnership from their time at Liverpool, and received criticism from the fans and tabloids for their salaries, alleged excesses as well as named and shamed in a sex scandal
Sex scandal
A sex scandal is a scandal involving allegations or information about possibly-immoral sexual activities being made public. Sex scandals are often associated with movie stars, politicians, famous athletes or others in the public eye, and become scandals largely because of the prominence of the...

 covered by the News of the World
News of the World
The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...

 that year.

Despite the slump, Fowler rallied for the following campaign, and showed a marked improvement in the second half of the 2004–05 season
2004-05 in English football
The 2004–05 season was the 125th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:*2004–05 was the first season to feature the rebranded Football League. The First Division, Second Division and Third Division were renamed the Football League Championship, Football League One and Football League...

, scoring his 150th Premiership goal in the 3–2 win over Norwich City
Norwich City F.C.
Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The...

 on 28 February 2005. However, his failure to convert a 90th minute penalty kick against Middlesbrough's
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...

 Mark Schwarzer
Mark Schwarzer
Mark Schwarzer OAM is an Australian association football player who plays as a goalkeeper. He currently plays for Premier League club Fulham. He rose to prominence during his time at North-East England football club Middlesbrough...

 in the final game of the season prevented Manchester City from gaining a place in the UEFA Cup. Despite this, Fowler ended the season as the club's joint top goal scorer and gained the approval of the fans, finishing in the top three in the fans' Player of the Year poll. Fowler later described this as "one of the proudest achievements of my career".

Fowler had injury problems at the start of the 2005–06 season
2005-06 in English football
The 2005–06 season was the 126th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:*The rebuilt Wembley Stadium was due to open in time for the FA Cup final in May. However, in August 2005, The Football Association reserved the Millennium Stadium as a backup, as there was some doubt whether...

 and rarely featured when fit, making just two substitute appearances in the first four months of the season. His first start of the season came against Scunthorpe United
Scunthorpe United F.C.
Scunthorpe United Football Club is an English association football team based in the town of Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, who play in the Football League One....

 in the FA Cup on 7 January 2006, in which he scored a hat-trick. The following week he scored Manchester City's third goal in their 3–1 win against local rivals Manchester United after coming on as substitute. However, Fowler made only one more appearance for Manchester City before returning to Liverpool on a free transfer.

Return to Liverpool

On 27 January 2006, Fowler rejoined Liverpool from Manchester City on a free transfer, signing a contract until the end of the season. Fowler had remained a Liverpool fan after he left the club; he was in the Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

 crowd when Liverpool won the Champions League in 2005.

The fans were overjoyed to learn that Fowler had returned; there were large banners in the game against Birmingham City
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...

 which read 'God – number eleven, welcome back to heaven', with 'God' being Fowler's nickname while he was previously at Liverpool.

Fowler's return against Birmingham City
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...

 in February 2006 was labelled by the tabloid press as the stuff of fairytales, and he himself said he felt like "a kid waking up on Christmas morning every day". Fowler's first appearance back at Anfield
Anfield
Anfield is an association football stadium in the district of Anfield, Liverpool, England, with a seating capacity of 45,522. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892 and was originally the home of Everton F.C. from 1884 to 1892, before they moved to Goodison Park...

 was as a substitute against Birmingham, receiving a standing ovation upon his introduction. After his return, he had three goals ruled out for offside, before finally getting off the mark on 15 March 2006 in a home game against Fulham, the same opponents against which he scored his first ever goal for Liverpool 13 years earlier.

Fowler's next Liverpool goal, against West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion F.C.
West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...

, meant he overtook Kenny Dalglish
Kenny Dalglish
Kenneth Mathieson "Kenny" Dalglish MBE is a Scottish former footballer and the current manager of Liverpool F.C.. In a 22-year playing career, he played for two club teams, Celtic and Liverpool, winning numerous honours with both. He is the most capped Scottish player, with 102 appearances, and...

 in the club's all time top scorers. His resurgence continued as he marked his 31st birthday with a goal against Bolton Wanderers. He made it four goals in five games when he scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....

 on 16 April 2006. However, Fowler's fitness remained a concern. In March 2006, manager Rafael Benítez
Rafael Benítez
Rafael "Rafa" Benítez Maudes is a football manager, and former player. He is currently unemployed, after leaving as manager of Internazionale in December 2010....

 commented on Fowler's work and progress by saying, "to buy a Robbie Fowler who is fit and scoring goals would cost a lot, maybe £10m or more". Despite concerns about his fitness, Fowler finished the 2005–06 season
2005-06 in English football
The 2005–06 season was the 126th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:*The rebuilt Wembley Stadium was due to open in time for the FA Cup final in May. However, in August 2005, The Football Association reserved the Millennium Stadium as a backup, as there was some doubt whether...

 scoring on a more consistent basis than Liverpool's other strikers. In May 2006 he was offered a new one year contract with the club, and celebrated by scoring the first goal in Liverpool's last league game of the season in a 3–1 away win at Portsmouth
Portsmouth F.C.
Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...

. It was his final game of the season as he was unable to take part in the club's FA Cup Final success due to being cup-tied
Cup-tied
Cup-tied is an adjective, used primarily in association football, to describe a player who is ineligible to play in a knockout cup competition after transferring from another club during that competition.-Application:...

.

Fowler featured rarely in his final Liverpool season, making only six league starts. Bizarrely, all three of his League goals were penalties against Sheffield United
Sheffield United F.C.
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional English football club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.They were the first sporting team to use the name 'United' and are nicknamed 'The Blades', thanks to Sheffield's worldwide reputation for steel production...

. Appearances in other competitions were more common due to Rafael Benítez's squad rotation policy
Squad rotation system
A squad rotation system is a technique often used in sport, usually association football, which is designed to rest players and give playing time to everyone, rather than to just play the same players in every game...

. On 25 October 2006 Fowler was named as Liverpool's captain for the first time since his return in a League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...

 tie against Reading
Reading F.C.
Reading Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Reading, Berkshire who currently play in the Championship...

, scoring just before half-time in a 4–3 win.

On 5 December, Fowler scored his first two goals in the UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

 competition proper against Galatasaray
Galatasaray S.K. (football team)
Galatasaray Anonim Şirketi is a Turkish football club, part of the Galatasaray S.K. multi-sport club of Istanbul. Galatasaray is a major sports club in Turkey, holding 17 Turkish Super League titles and the highest number of Turkish Cups....

 (he had previously scored during a qualifying tie some six years prior against FC Haka
FC Haka
Haka is a Finnish football club, based in the industry town of Valkeakoski. It is one of the most successful clubs in Finland, with nine Finnish championships and 12 Finnish Cup wins.- History :...

), though Liverpool lost 3–2.

On 1 May 2007 he was a substitute in the Champions League semi-final against Chelsea, brought on in the last few minutes of extra-time. He set up an attack for Dirk Kuyt
Dirk Kuyt
Dirk Kuyt is a Dutch footballer who plays for English club Liverpool. He started his career as a striker, but he has been converted into a winger and plays the position for both Liverpool and the Netherlands national team....

 but the shot went straight at the Chelsea goalkeeper. The match went into a penalty shoot-out that Liverpool won. Fowler was due to take the fifth and final spot-kick, but the game had already ended when Kuyt slotted home his winning penalty.

In what transpired to be his last appearance for the club, against Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic F.C.
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...

 on 13 May, Fowler was given the captain's armband one final time. He was substituted two minutes from the final whistle and given a standing ovation. He finished his second run as a Liverpool player with a UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

 runners-up medal, although he was not named in either the starting eleven or the seven substitutes. He became a free agent on 1 July having scored 183 goals in 369 appearances during his two spells at the club.

Cardiff City

On 21 July Fowler signed a two-year contract to play for Cardiff City
Cardiff City F.C.
Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for...

. He missed the season's opening fixtures due to a lack of fitness, making his debut in a League Cup
League Cup
In association football, a League Cup or Secondary Cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament to be called "League Cup" was held in Scotland in 1946/47 and was entitled the Scottish...

 tie on 28 August. He scored his first two Cardiff goals on 22 September against Preston North End
Preston North End F.C.
Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...

, scoring with two headers. Fowler scored twice in his next game, a third round League Cup tie against West Brom
West Bromwich Albion F.C.
West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...

, which Cardiff won 4–2. This led to a fourth round tie against Fowler's former club Liverpool, at Anfield
Anfield
Anfield is an association football stadium in the district of Anfield, Liverpool, England, with a seating capacity of 45,522. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892 and was originally the home of Everton F.C. from 1884 to 1892, before they moved to Goodison Park...

, but Cardiff were knocked out in a 2–1 defeat.

In November, Fowler travelled to Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 to see Dr. Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfarth
Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfarth
Dr. Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt is the club doctor at Bayern Munich and is a world leader in the treatment of sports injuries....

, a specialist sports injuries doctor, to try and resolve a recurring hip problem that had left him lacking fitness in early season fixtures for the Bluebirds. The treatment involved taking around twenty-eight injections into his hip. He returned to full training in late November and made his comeback on 15 December as a late substitute in a 1–0 defeat against Bristol City
Bristol City F.C.
Bristol City Football Club is one of two football league clubs in Bristol, England . They play at Ashton Gate, located in the south-west of the City...

. However he went on to suffer another injury blow just days later after a mistimed tackle in training from club captain Darren Purse
Darren Purse
Darren John Purse is an English professional footballer who plays for League Two club Plymouth Argyle as a defender, on loan from Championship side Millwall....

 left him with damaged ankle ligaments. Due to the new injury blow Cardiff and Fowler made plans for him to go to Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 to undergo keyhole surgery on the hip problem, which had plagued him in recent seasons, in the hope that it would finally resolve the problem.

On 17 January, it was announced that Fowler could miss the rest of the 2007–08
Cardiff City F.C. season 2007-08
During the 2007-08 season Cardiff City played in the Football League Championship. It was the team's fifth year in the Championship since being promoted from League One. The season was the first full year in charge for chairman Peter Ridsdale after taking over from Sam Hammam the previous...

 season for Cardiff after his hip operation revealed that the injury was worse than previously thought. Surgeons were forced to perform a micro-fracture in order for the hip to heal properly. Despite this, he attempted to make a comeback at the end of the season to play in the FA Cup final
2008 FA Cup Final
The 2008 FA Cup Final was a football match held at Wembley Stadium on 17 May 2008 and was the final match of the 2007–08 FA Cup competition. The match was the 127th FA Cup Final, and the second to be held at the new Wembley Stadium since its redevelopment. The match was contested by Portsmouth and...

 against Portsmouth
Portsmouth F.C.
Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...

 and was included in the 18-man match squad. However he did not feature in the game in any way and thus did not receive a runners-up medal having not made an appearance in the competition.

Blackburn Rovers

Fowler was offered a new pay-as-you-play contract with Cardiff for the 2008–09 season in May 2008 and was expected to sign the contract. However, he pulled out of the deal, preferring to accept an offer of a trial at Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....

 from former Liverpool colleague Paul Ince
Paul Ince
Paul Emerson Carlyle Ince is an English football manager and a former professional player. He has managed Blackburn Rovers, Milton Keynes Dons and Macclesfield Town...

 who'd just retired after a spell at Macclesfield Town
Macclesfield Town F.C.
Macclesfield Town Football Club is an English football team. The club was formed in 1874 and is based in the town of Macclesfield in Cheshire. The team play its home games at the 6,355 capacity Moss Rose stadium...

 & eventually went on to manage MK Dons & Notts County. The move left Cardiff manager Dave Jones and chairman Peter Ridsdale
Peter Ridsdale
Peter Ridsdale is an English businessman who is currently the Chairman of Football Operations at League Two club Plymouth Argyle. Ridsdale was previously the chairman of Leeds United, Barnsley and Cardiff City.-History:...

 furious after the club had assisted Fowler's rehabilitation throughout the summer. After training with Blackburn and appearing in a handful of friendlies he was offered a six-month deal by the club to last until January, but Fowler turned down the deal due to it being a shorter offer than the previous one he had rejected at Cardiff. After turning down the offer, Fowler made a shock enquiry about returning to Cardiff on the deal he had originally turned down, prompting anger from supporters and a swift "no thanks" from the club.

Fowler concluded the trial period at Blackburn by agreeing to a three month pay-as-you-play deal. He stated that he was eager to return to the Premier League and that his pre-existing relationship with Ince would not earn him any preferential treatment. He made his first appearance against Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...

 in a 1–0 win in the League Cup on 24 September. With a month left on his contract at Blackburn, Fowler received interest from League Two side Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town F.C.
Grimsby Town Football Club is an English football club based in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, in North East Lincolnshire, England, who compete in the Conference National. They were formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham and later became Grimsby Town...

. Fowler a noted friend of Grimsby manager Mike Newell
Mike Newell (footballer)
Michael Colin "Mike" Newell is an English football manager and former professional footballer. As a player he notably was a member of the Blackburn Rovers team which won the Premier League in 1995, as well also playing for Crewe Alexandra, Wigan Athletic, Luton Town, Leicester City, Everton,...

 had held talks at Blundell Park
Blundell Park
Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England and home to Grimsby Town Football Club. The stadium was built in 1898, but only one of the original stands remain. The current capacity of the ground is 9546, though with the introduction of all seating in the late...

 over a possible Player/Coach role with the club.

His three month deal at Blackburn expired on 12 December, and after not being offered a new contract was released by the club, he entered talks with new Australian A-League
A-League
The A-League is the top Australasian professional football league. Run by Australian governing body Football Federation Australia , it was founded in 2004 following the folding of the National Soccer League and staged its inaugural season in 2005–06. It is sponsored by Hyundai Motor Company...

 club North Queensland Fury
North Queensland Fury FC
North Queensland Fury FC were a professional football club based in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, which competed in the A-League. North Queensland played its home fixtures at Dairy Farmers Stadium. The club was closed on 1 March 2011, due to financial instability.-History:A Townsville bid was...

.

North Queensland Fury

Fowler signed with the North Queensland Fury
North Queensland Fury FC
North Queensland Fury FC were a professional football club based in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, which competed in the A-League. North Queensland played its home fixtures at Dairy Farmers Stadium. The club was closed on 1 March 2011, due to financial instability.-History:A Townsville bid was...

 on 4 February 2009 and became their inaugural marquee player; with his family relocating to Townsville
Townsville, Queensland
Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Australia, in the state of Queensland. Adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef, it is in the dry tropics region of Queensland. Townsville is Australia's largest urban centre north of the Sunshine Coast, with a 2006 census...

 for the 2009–2010 season of the Australian A-League
A-League
The A-League is the top Australasian professional football league. Run by Australian governing body Football Federation Australia , it was founded in 2004 following the folding of the National Soccer League and staged its inaugural season in 2005–06. It is sponsored by Hyundai Motor Company...

. It was an important signing for the new franchise who struggled to sign a marquee player, while some questioned whether Fowler would be able to cope with the heat and humidity of North Queensland
North Queensland
North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the state of Queensland in Australia. Queensland is a massive state, larger than most countries, and the tropical northern part of it has been historically remote and undeveloped, resulting in a distinctive regional character and...

.

Fowler made his debut in July 2009 in a 2–1 preseason loss against Wolverhampton Wanderers in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

 after recovering from groin and hip complaints. Fowler was subsequently named North Queensland Fury's captain for the 2009/10 season and the first in the club's history. He scored his first A-League goal from a penalty kick in his club's first competitive match against Sydney FC
Sydney FC
Sydney FC is a professional football club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and competes in the country's premier football competition, the A-League...

 on Saturday 8 August 2009. In rounds four, five, and six Fowler scored Solo's Hyundai A-League Goal of the Week.

Shortly after his arrival in Australia, it was reported in the British media that Fowler would be making a swift return to his homeland and sign for League One
Football League One
Football League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system....

 side Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers F.C.
Tranmere Rovers Football Club are an English team based in Birkenhead, Wirral. The club currently compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system...

, who had just appointed Fowler's former Liverpool team mate John Barnes
John Barnes (footballer)
John Charles Bryan Barnes MBE is an English football manager and former player.During his playing career, Barnes had successful periods at Watford and Liverpool in the 1980s and 1990s, winning the First Division twice, the FA Cup twice, and playing for England 79 times...

 as manager. However, Fowler was quick to dismiss talk of a quick return to England. When Barnes was dismissed three months later, it was reported that Tranmere had approached Fowler about becoming player-manager, but these reports too were dismissed.

Controversy erupted around Fowler after he reportedly refused to play against the Brisbane Roar on January 23 after being named on the interchange bench for the clash. He however returned to the starting line up for two of the last three games of the season.
On 15 June 2010, Fowler confirmed that he is taking legal action over the ending of his playing contract with North Queensland Fury. He is suing the Fury and Football Federation Australia, which took over the running of the club.

Perth Glory

On 27 April 2010, it was announced that Fowler had agreed to become part of Glory's squad for the 2010–11 A-League season. Fowler reportedly ignored offers from Middle East clubs as well as Sydney FC
Sydney FC
Sydney FC is a professional football club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and competes in the country's premier football competition, the A-League...

 to play in Perth. He joined the Glory for pre-season training in mid-June, following World Cup sponsorship commitments. Fowler scored his first goal for Perth on August 29, a penalty against Melbourne Heart. He followed this up with a headed goal the following week against the Wellington Phoenix. In the following match, Fowler's hat-trick gave the Glory a 3–1 victory against Melbourne Victory
Melbourne Victory
Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, that plays in the A-League....

 at the Dairy Famers Stadium
Dairy Farmers Stadium
The Willows Sports Complex, currently known as Dairy Farmers Stadium due to sponsorship rights, is a grass football stadium situated in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It has historically been used mainly for rugby league, and is the home ground of the National Rugby League club the North...

 in Townsville. Fowler ended the year as top scorer for the club.

Muangthong United

On 7 July 2011 he agreed to play with Muangthong United, signing a one-year contract. In a press conference Robbie stated that the weather conditions of Nonthaburi
Nonthaburi
Nonthaburi may refer to:*Nonthaburi Province, Thailand*Amphoe Mueang Nonthaburi, the capital district of the Province*Nonthaburi , city of Nonthaburi...

 shouldn't be a problem as he'd played in Townsville & Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

. He was quickly a hit with Muangthong fans & the Thai public in general; he attended Thailand's World Cup Qualifier
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Third Round
This page provides the summaries of the AFC Third Round matches for 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification.-Format:In this round the fifteen winners from the second round joined the five AFC sides seeded 1–5 in the AFC World Cup rankings...

 against Oman wearing the National teams shirt. He's since played a handful of scoreless games both at the Yamaha Stadium
Yamaha Stadium (Thailand)
Yamaha Stadium or formerly Thunderdome Stadium is a football stadium located in Nonthaburi, Thailand. The stadium was sponsored by Yamaha. It is currently used for football matches and is the home stadium of Muangthong United of the Thai Premier League. The stadium holds 25,000...

 and on the road in the AFC Cup, until The Twin Qilins were eliminated from the competition by Al-Kuwait. Muangthong took action and sacked Henrique Calisto
Henrique Calisto
Henrique Manuel da Silva Calisto is the ex-coach of Muangthong United in Thailand, having resigned in early March 2011 as coach of the Vietnam national football team.He has won 2 V-League titles with Đồng Tâm Long An....

 as Head Coach. A statement on the Muangthong website read: 'The Board have appointed Robbie Fowler as the acting Head Coach and terminate the contract of Portuguese boss Henrique Calisto. The contract is until the end of the season and the team must adapt to long-term goals if it is to succeed in Asia.' Thus making Robbie Player/Coach
Player-coach
A player-coach, in sports, is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. The term can be used to refer to both players who serve as head coaches, or as assistant coaches....

 of Muangthong United.

On 16 October 2011, Robbie Fowler scored his first goal for MTU against Chiang - Rai United. He took 250 minutes to score his first goal in the Thai Premier League. And it was his first ever goal as a player coach.

International career

Fowler has won 26 caps for England scoring 7 goals and has not been called to the England team since 2002.

Milton Keynes Dons

On returning to England, Robbie has worked with League One side Milton Keynes Dons on an ad-hoc basis to assist the club's coaching staff.
On 7 April 2011, Bury
Bury F.C.
Bury Football Club is an association football team based in Bury, Greater Manchester. The team currently play in League One. The club's nickname is The Shakers which was bestowed upon them by club chairman JT Ingham, an industrialist and ironmonger of the late 1890s.-Formation of the club and the...

 confirmed that Fowler would join their coaching staff for one week to assist Richie Barker.
Fowler briefly coached Liverpool's strikers in April 2011.

Non-football career

In association with long term friend Steve McManaman
Steve McManaman
Steven McManaman is a retired English footballer who played as a midfielder, winger and playmaker. Having spent his playing career at two of European football's most successful clubs of the 20th century, Liverpool and Real Madrid, as well as a spell at Manchester City, McManaman is the most...

, Fowler has invested in several racehorses through a chattily named company The Macca and Growler Partnership, most notably 2003 Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Celebration Chase
winner Seebald. In 2005, Fowler was listed as one of the 1,000 wealthiest Britons by the Sunday Times Rich List
Sunday Times Rich List
The Sunday Times Rich List is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families in the United Kingdom, updated annually in April and published as a magazine supplement by British national Sunday newspaper The Sunday Times since 1989...

, with the paper estimating he has a property portfolio of more than 80, while his Robbie Fowler Sports Promotions company has been reported to have net assets of £1.58 million. Other business interests including a large property portfolio have resulted in Fowler's net wealth totaling £28 million. This gave rise to the affectionate Liverpool Football Club chant, We all live in a Robbie Fowler house, sung to the tune of Yellow Submarine
Yellow Submarine (song)
"Yellow Submarine" is a 1966 song by The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney , with lead vocals by Ringo Starr. It was included on the Revolver album and issued as a single, coupled with "Eleanor Rigby". The single went to number 1 on every major British chart, remained at number 1 for four weeks...

.

On 2 September 2005, Fowler released a book called Fowler: My Autobiography, about his time as a footballer and the issues surrounding him. Since his transfer to Liverpool he has updated it and included a section about his return to Anfield
Anfield
Anfield is an association football stadium in the district of Anfield, Liverpool, England, with a seating capacity of 45,522. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892 and was originally the home of Everton F.C. from 1884 to 1892, before they moved to Goodison Park...

. Excerpts published in newspapers included criticism of the England management.

In June 2008, Fowler participated alongside McManaman in Steve Nash
Steve Nash
Stephen John "Steve" Nash, OC, OBC is a South African-born Canadian professional basketball player who plays point guard for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association . Nash enjoyed a successful high-school basketball career, and he was eventually given a scholarship by Santa Clara...

 and Claudio Reyna's
Claudio Reyna
Claudio Reyna is a retired American soccer player and the current USSF US Youth Soccer Technical Director. He was the captain of the United States national team before retiring from international football following the USA's exit from the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He is widely considered one of the...

 Showdown in Chinatown
Showdown in Chinatown
Showdown in Chinatown is an annual charity soccer match organized by basketball player Steve Nash and soccer player Claudio Reyna to benefit their respective charity foundations. The first edition was a nine-a-side match played on June 25, 2008 while the second edition was an eight-a-side match...

, an 8-on-8 charity soccer game at Sara D. Roosevelt Park in Manhattan with McManaman making five of the goals, including one for Fowler.

In 2011, Fowler and McManaman participated in a Select World XI against Chechen
Chechen people
Chechens constitute the largest native ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus region. They refer to themselves as Noxçi . Also known as Sadiks , Gargareans, Malkhs...

 dictator
Dictator
A dictator is a ruler who assumes sole and absolute power but without hereditary ascension such as an absolute monarch. When other states call the head of state of a particular state a dictator, that state is called a dictatorship...

 Ramzan Kadyrov
Ramzan Kadyrov
Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov is the President of Chechnya and a former Chechen rebel.Ramzan is a son of former Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, assassinated in May 2004. In February 2007 Kadyrov replaced Alu Alkhanov as President, shortly after he had turned 30, which is the minimum age for the post...

 and his select XI in a public relations fundraiser in the war torn nation's capital of Grozny
Grozny
Grozny is the capital city of the Chechen Republic, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 271,596; up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Census. but still only about two-thirds of 399,688 recorded in the 1989...

. The match caused much press bewilderment in the western world, mainly due to Kadyrov's abysmal human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

 record and known practices of torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...

 and rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...

 as weapons of rule. British press also cited the use of and payment of footballers to parade the event as particularly "evil", with The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

labelling it "Football's moment in Bed with Kadyrov".

Personal life

Fowler married wife Kerrie on 9 June 2001 in the town of Duns
Duns
Duns is the county town of the historic county of Berwickshire, within the Scottish Borders.-Early history:Duns law, the original site of the town of Duns, has the remains of an Iron Age hillfort at its summit...

 in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. Together they have three daughters named Madison, Jaya, and Mackenzie, and one son, Jacob.

Career statistics

|-
|1993–94
FA Premier League 1993-94
-New league sponsors:From the start of the 1993-94 season, the FA Premier League was sponsored by Carling Breweries.-Promoted teams:Newcastle United and West Ham were promoted to the Premier League from the First Division as champions and runners-up respectively. The last promotion place was won by...

||rowspan="9"|Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...

||rowspan="17"|Premier League||28||12||1||0||5||6||0||0||34||18
|-
|1994–95
FA Premier League 1994-95
-Promoted teams:Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest were promoted from the Football League First Division as winners and runners-up respectively. Leicester City won the 1993-94 playoff.-Controversial incidents:...

||42||25||7||2||8||4||0||0||57||31
|-
|1995–96
FA Premier League 1995-96
-Promoted teams:Due to the decision to reduce the number of clubs in the Premier League from 22 to 20, only two clubs were promoted this season: Middlesbrough as Football League First Division champions, and Bolton Wanderers who won the 1994-95 playoff.-Transfers:...

||38||28||7||6||4||2||4||0||53||36
|-
|1996–97
FA Premier League 1996-97
The 1996–97 FA Premier League season was the fifth season of the competition, since its formation in 1992. The majority of the season was contested by the reigning champions, Manchester United, along with Newcastle United, Arsenal and Liverpool...

||32||18||1||1||4||5||7||7||44||31
|-
|1997–98
FA Premier League 1997-98
The FA Premier League 1997-98 season saw Arsenal lift their first league title since 1991, and also become only the second team to win the 'double' of the FA Cup and league title twice...

||20||9||1||0||4||3||3||1||28||13
|-
|1998–99
FA Premier League 1998-99
The 1998–99 FA Premier League season was the seventh season of the Premier League, the top division of English football, since its establishment in 1992. The season will always be remembered as the one in which Manchester United won a unique treble of the league title, the FA Cup and the European Cup...

||25||14||2||1||2||1||6||2||35||18
|-
|1999–00||14||3||0||0||0||0||0||0||14||3
|-
|2000–01
FA Premier League 2000-01
The FA Premier League 2000-01 season was the third season running which ended with Manchester United as champions and Arsenal as runners-up. Sir Alex Ferguson became the first manager to win three successive English league titles, although three teams had achieved that feat in the past - but with...

||27||8||5||2||5||6||11||1||48||17
|-
|2001–02
FA Premier League 2001-02
The 2001–02 FA Premier League season was the tenth season of the competition. It began with a new sponsor, Barclaycard, and was titled the FA Barclaycard Premiership, replacing the previous sponsor, Carling...

||10||3||0||0||0||0||7||1||17||4
|-
|2001–02
FA Premier League 2001-02
The 2001–02 FA Premier League season was the tenth season of the competition. It began with a new sponsor, Barclaycard, and was titled the FA Barclaycard Premiership, replacing the previous sponsor, Carling...

||rowspan="2"|Leeds United
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...

||22||12||1||0||0||0||0||0||23||12
|-
|2002–03
FA Premier League 2002-03
The 2002–03 FA Premier League was the eleventh season of the Premier League, the top division in English football. The first matches were played on 17 August 2002 and the last were played on 11 May 2003...

||8||2||1||0||0||0||1||0||10||2
|-
|2002–03
FA Premier League 2002-03
The 2002–03 FA Premier League was the eleventh season of the Premier League, the top division in English football. The first matches were played on 17 August 2002 and the last were played on 11 May 2003...

||rowspan="4"|Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...

||13||2||0||0||0||0||0||0||13||2
|-
|2003–04
FA Premier League 2003-04
The 2003–04 FA Premier League season was the twelfth season of the Premier League. In the end, Arsenal went through the season without a single defeat – only the second ever team to do so and were crowned champions once more, at the expense of Chelsea, who had spent heavily throughout the...

||31||7||4||1||2||1||4||1||41||10
|-
|2004–05
FA Premier League 2004-05
The 2004–05 season of the FA Premier League began on 14 August 2004 and ended on 15 May 2005. Arsenal were the defending champions after going unbeaten the previous season....

||31||10||0||0||1||1||0||0||32||11
|-
|2005–06
FA Premier League 2005-06
The 2005–06 season of the FA Premier League began on 13 August 2005, and concluded on 7 May 2006. The season saw Chelsea F.C retain their title after defeating Manchester United 3–0 at Stamford Bridge towards the end of April...

||4||1||1||3||0||0||0||0||5||4
|-
|2005–06
FA Premier League 2005-06
The 2005–06 season of the FA Premier League began on 13 August 2005, and concluded on 7 May 2006. The season saw Chelsea F.C retain their title after defeating Manchester United 3–0 at Stamford Bridge towards the end of April...

||rowspan="2"|Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...

||14||5||0||0||0||0||2||0||16||5
|-
|2006–07
FA Premier League 2006-07
The 2006–07 FA Premier League was the fifteenth season of the FA Premier League since its establishment in 1992. The season started on 19 August 2006 and concluded on 13 May 2007....

||16||3||1||0||3||2||4||2||23||7
|-
|2007–08
The Football League 2007-08
The Football League is contested through three divisions in England and Wales. The divisions are the League Championship, League One and League Two. The winner and the runner up of the League Championship will be automatically promoted to the Premier League and they will be joined by the winner of...

|||Cardiff City
Cardiff City F.C.
Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for...

|||Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...

||13||4||0||0||3||2||0||0||16||6
|-
|2008–09|||Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....

|||Premier League||3||0||0||0||3||0||0||0||6||0
391||166||31||16||44||33||45||15||511||230

|-
|2009–10|||North Queensland Fury
North Queensland Fury FC
North Queensland Fury FC were a professional football club based in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, which competed in the A-League. North Queensland played its home fixtures at Dairy Farmers Stadium. The club was closed on 1 March 2011, due to financial instability.-History:A Townsville bid was...

||rowspan="2"|A-League
A-League
The A-League is the top Australasian professional football league. Run by Australian governing body Football Federation Australia , it was founded in 2004 following the folding of the National Soccer League and staged its inaugural season in 2005–06. It is sponsored by Hyundai Motor Company...

||26||9||0||0||0||0||0||0||26||9
|-
|2010–11|||Perth Glory||28||9||0||0||0||0||0||0||26||9
|-
54||18||0||0||0||0||0||0||54||18

|-
|2011
2011 Thai Premier League
2011 Thai Premier League is the 15th season of the Thai Premier League since its establishment in 1996. A total of 18 teams are competing in the league due to a two team expansion, with Muangthong United as the defending champions.The season started on the 12th February 2011 and is generally...

|||Muangthong United|||Premier League||6||1||0||0||0||0||2||0||8||1
|-
6||1||0||0||0||0||2||0||8||1
451||185||31||16||44||33||47||15||573||249

International goals

Updated to games played 28 January 2008.
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 29 March 1997 London, England
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 
2–0 Win Friendly
2. 15 November 1997 London, England
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 
2–0 Win Friendly
3. 31 May 2000 London, England
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 
2–0 Win Friendly
4. 25 May 2001 Derby, England
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...

 
4–0 Win Friendly
5. 5 September 2001 Newcastle, England
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

 
2–0 Win FIFA World Cup 2002 Qualification
2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
Listed below are the dates and results for the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the European zone . For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification....

6. 27 March 2002 Leeds, England
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

 
1–2 Loss Friendly
7. 26 May 2002 Kobe, Japan
Kobe
, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...

 
2–2 Draw Friendly

Managerial statistics

Team Nat From To Record
GWDLWin %
Muangthong United   30 September 2011 Present

Liverpool

  • League Cup
    Football League Cup
    The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...

    (2): 1995
    1995 Football League Cup Final
    The 1995 Coca-Cola Cup Final was played between Liverpool and Bolton Wanderers at Wembley Stadium on 2 April 1995. Liverpool won the match 2–1. Two Steve McManaman goals in the 37th and 68th minutes put Liverpool ahead, but Alan Thompson scored a brilliant goal for Bolton to give them some...

    , 2001
    2001 Football League Cup Final
    The 2001 Worthington Cup Final was a football match played between Liverpool and Birmingham City at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff on Sunday 25 February 2001...

  • FA Cup
    FA Cup
    The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

    (1): 2001
  • UEFA Cup (1): 2001
    2001 UEFA Cup Final
    The 2001 UEFA Cup Final was an association football match between Liverpool of England and Alavés of Spain on 16 May 2001 at the Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany. The showpiece event was the final match of the 2000–01 edition of Europe's secondary cup competition, the UEFA Cup. Liverpool were...

  • UEFA Super Cup (1): 2001
    2001 UEFA Super Cup
    The 2001 UEFA Super Cup was a football match between German team Bayern Munich and English team Liverpool on 24 August 2001 at Stade Louis II, the annual UEFA Super Cup contested between the winners of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup. Bayern were appearing in the Super Cup for the third...



Runner-up
  • FA Cup
    FA Cup
    The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

    : 1996
    1996 FA Cup Final
    The 1996 FA Cup Final was the 51st to be held at Wembley Stadium after the Second World War and was held between two of the biggest rivals in English football, Manchester United and Liverpool.- Build-up :...

  • UEFA Champions League
    UEFA Champions League
    The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

    : 2007
    2007 UEFA Champions League Final
    The 2007 UEFA Champions League Final was an association football match between A.C. Milan of Italy and Liverpool F.C. of England on 23 May 2007 at the Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece. The showpiece event was the final match of the 2006–07 season of Europe's premier cup competition, the UEFA...


Personal

  • PFA Young Player of the Year
    PFA Young Player of the Year
    The Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year is an annual award given to the player aged 23 or under at the start of the season who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in English football...

    (2): 1995, 1996
  • UEFA
    UEFA
    The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....

     Fair Play Award
    UEFA Fair Play ranking
    The UEFA Fair Play ranking has been used by UEFA since 1995 to grant three berths for the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.-Current club qualification system:...

    (1): 1997
  • Premier League Player of the Month
    Premier League Player of the Month
    The Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best Premier League player each month of the season. The recipient is chosen by a panel assembled by the League's sponsor, and announced alongside the Manager of the Month on the first or second Friday of the following month...

    (2): December 1995, January 1996
  • PFA Team of the Year
    PFA Team of the Year
    The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year is an annual award given to a set of 44 footballers in the top four tiers of English football; the Premier League, the Championship, League One and League Two, whom are seen to be deserving of being named in a "Team of the Year".The award...

    (1): 1996
  • North Queensland Fury Player of the Year (1): 2010
  • North Queensland Fury Players Player of the Year (1): 2010
  • North Queensland Fury Golden Boot (1): 2010
  • Perth Glory Golden Boot (1): 2011

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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