Fowler: Robert Bernard (Robbie)

2001-2003 (Leeds Player Details)(Player Details)

Centre Forward

Born: Toxteth, Liverpool: 09-04-1975

Debut v Fulham (a): 02-12-2001

5’11” 11st 7lb (2005)

Robbie Fowler's career turned full circle in January 2006 when he returned to Liverpool. It was without doubt the most surprising move of the transfer window, with the European champions re-signing a player who could not get into the Manchester City side. In fact, he had featured in only five games in 2005/06. The striker had become a goalscoring legend at Liverpool during his first spell. But a move to Leeds went wrong as the West Yorkshire club hit financial troubles and his move to Manchester City also failed to take off. Once hailed as England's most natural finisher, Fowler burst onto the Liverpool scene in September 1993 when he scored all five goals against Fulham in a League Cup match and swiftly made a name for himself as 'the best finisher in English football'. He scored over thirty league goals in 1994/95, 1995/96 and 1996/97 to cement this reputation. Fowler made his international debut in 1996 against Bulgaria. But the striker suffered a knee injury in the 1997/98 season and was out for many months. The injury ruled him out of France '98 with England. He was named in Kevin Keegan's Euro 2000 squad but did not feature. He returned for 1998/99 and grabbed eighteen goals, overshadowed by a disgraceful incident with Graeme Le Saux and a simulated cocaine sniff along the goal-line during a derby game with Everton which saw him banned for six matches at the end of the season. Fowler signed a new Anfield deal during the summer of 1999, having distanced himself from speculation that he could be on his way out of Anfield. He was then appointed vice captain of the side by boss Gerard Houllier, only to miss most of the 1999/2000 season with another series of injury problems. The player returned to form after another injury lay-off during the 200/01 season and he scored and skippered Liverpool when they lifted the Worthington Cup at the Millennium Stadium. But he had more trouble at Liverpool following a training ground bust up with Phil Thompson. The striker initially failed to apologise for the spat and was consequently omitted from the Liverpool team. That prompted further rumours of an Anfield departure. Again he remained. Fowler made a brief return to international action in Peter Taylor's England team that was beaten 1-0 in Italy in November 2001. Fowler replaced Kieron Dyer for the final eight minutes of the game. Eventually the lingering rumours over a move to Leeds proved to be true. He joined the West Yorkshire side in an £11million deal at the end of November 2001. Fowler had scored one hundred and seventy-one goals in three hundred and thirty games for Liverpool, with forty-one of those from the bench. It was a truly outstanding return. On signing he told the club's official website: 'One thing I shall predict is that I can win the league here at Elland Road this season. Liverpool had a great year last season and are still well placed. But, at Leeds, there is a great team and we feel we can go all the way.' However, they didn't go on to win the league despite Fowler scoring twelve goals in twenty-two starts as Leeds finished in fifth place that season. He was part of Sven Goran Eriksson's England plans, and netted against Mexico at Pride Park, and scored a great goal in a World Cup qualifier against Albania at St James' Park. Fowler rubber-stamped his claims for a place at the 2002 World Cup with a goal against Italy in March of that year on his home ground. But he only made one appearance as a substitute at the finals, against Denmark. A hip injury sustained after the 2002 World Cup ruined his pre-season and, eventually, ruled him out until December. It proved to be the end of his international career. Rumours then began to spread that Manchester City were looking to take advantage of Leeds' financial predicament and take the player in a cut-price fee. In mid-January he appeared set to move to Maine Road for £7million - only for Fowler to change his mind at the last moment in a bid to prove himself at Leeds. However, City boss Kevin Keegan resurrected the deal and just before the transfer deadline - signing for less than half the fee that was agreed only two weeks earlier. Fowler joined Manchester City for an initial fee of just £3million with a further £500,000 payable after every fifteen appearances up ninety. He signed a three-and-a-half year deal. Leeds' desperation to get him off the wage bill was clear to the extent that they agreed to pay him a monthly sum until the summer of 2006 - when his deal at Elland Road would have expired. He made his City debut in a 2-1 defeat at home to West Bromwich Albion, and only scored twice in the remainder of the season as he failed to click at City. And the 2003/04 term was far from better as he scored only one Premiership goal before Christmas. His form did pick up after that, bagging a total of seven league goals but he was clearly not the striker he once was. Though he scored ten Premiership goals in 2004/05 the dual signing of Andy Cole and Darius Vassell by new City boss Stuart Pearce pushed him down the pecking or der. As the new strikeforce sparkled in 2005/06, Fowler could not get a look-in. He'd featured in only two Premiership games before scoring a hat-trick against Scunthorpe in the FA Cup in January. Fowler followed that up a week later with a fine left-footed striker to seal the derby victory against Manchester United. Though there had been speculation about the striker's future at City few could have predicted that Liverpool would be back in to sign Fowler. Given all his fitness and form problems for the previous three years a switch to Anfield appeared laughable. But Rafael Benitez did bolster his forward line by signing Fowler towards the end of the transfer window in January 2006 on a free transfer, the deal running until the summer. Benitez said: 'Robbie is a great finisher who can help us reach a new level. He hasn't been signed because he loves the club; he's been signed because he's one of the best goal-scorers ever to play in the Premiership and he can score goals for us right now.' Fowler, who won twenty-six England caps, scored twenty-seven goals for City in ninety-two games, seventeen of which were as a substitute, for Manchester City. He made his second debut for Liverpool in a 1-1 home draw with Birmingham City, and almost grabbed a dramatic injury time winner with an overhead kick only for the goal to be disallowed due to an offside flag. The striker was used sparingly in the opening weeks back at Anfield while he worked hard on his fitness levels. In his second spell with Liverpool, Fowler played thirty-five games, of which nineteen were as a substitute, scoring twelve goals. Fowler became a free agent on 1st July 2007. On 21st July 2007 Fowler signed a two-year contract to play for Cardiff City. He missed the season's opening fixtures due to a lack of fitness, making his debut in a League Cup tie on 28th August 2007. He scored his first two Cardiff goals on 22nd September 2007 against Preston North End, scoring with two headers, and he then scored twice in his next game, a Third Round Carling Cup tie against West Bromwich Albion, which Cardiff won 4–2 and were then drawn against Fowler's former Club Liverpool, at Anfield, for the fourth round of the competition but were knocked out in a 2–1 defeat on 31st October 2007. In November Fowler travelled to Frankfurt,Germany to see Dr. Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfarth, 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 15th December 2007 as a late substitute in a 2–1 defeat against Bristol City. However, he went on to suffer another injury blow just days later after a mistimed tackle in training from club captain Darren Purse saw him damage ankle ligaments. Due to the new injury blow Cardiff and Fowler agreed that he would travel to Colorado, U.S.A. to undergo keyhole surgery on the hip problem which had plagued him in recent years in the hope that it would finally resolve the problem. On 17th January 2008 it was announced that Fowler may miss the rest of the 2007-08 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. He had talks with the Bluebirds about his future at the club with both Fowler and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink on similar one-year deals, with the option of a one-year extension, with only one likely to remain at the club. Cardiff were understandably infuriated when he decided to throw in his lot with Blackburn Rovers, who he joined on 19th September 2008 after scoring four League goals in thirteen games, three of which were as a substitute and two goals in three League Cup appearances. At Ewood he started one and came off the bench in two other League games without scoring and also made three appearances in the League Cup, one of which was as a substitute, without scoring. His three month deal at Ewood Park expired on 12th December 2008,when his contract was not renewed. He signed for the North Queensland Fury in the Australian A-League for the 2009-10 season. After a relatively successful season he refused to sit on the bench for a game against Brisbane Roar in January 2010 and although he played in the clubs remaining fixtures he took legal action against the club. On 27th April 2010 he joined Perth Glory, after turning down offers from Sydney FC and some Middle-East clubs. He saw out the 2010-11 season with Perth Glory as their marquee player scoring nine goals in twenty-eight games. At the end of his contract Fowler returned to England and was assistant to the MK Dons coaching staff for a short time before joining Bury on 7th April 2011 as assistant to coach Richie Barker, but left after a week and was briefly coach to the Liverpool strikers in April 2011. He joing Thai club Muangthong United on 7th July 2011 on a one year contract. It was not long before he was appointed Player/Coach.