259: Robbie Fowler, Liverpool, Merlin’s Premier League 95 Sticker Collection

Mat Jolin-Beech takes a look at man seen by a deity by some and with a left foot capable of producing magic. Not afraid to play close to the line he pushed his luck with hardman Graeme Le Saux, became a little too acquainted with the goal line in the Merseyside Derby and served a ban for showing his support to Liverpool’s striking dockers. Over to Mat for more.

Underappreciated. Underrated. Or maybe overrated. Played above his station. Or property magnate? They are the many sides to one Robbie Fowler. To those on the red half of Liverpool, he is still referred to as God. He plundered 183 goals in 369 games for the Reds. And yet, he only managed to get 26 caps for England and a mere seven goals.

Now, even though he played at a time when top players in the English Premier ship were on only £50,000 a week (how did they manage?), he is now said to be worth £31m. That wealth, while started through football, has come through investing in property and running courses telling people how to make money like he did. But without the football. Obviously.

To me, Fowler is a complex character. There is disdain because he is, not only a Liverpool player, but a legend. There should be ingrained hate. What’s worse, is the ’96 Liverpool kit, one of the iconic ones from premier league history, looked pretty good on Fowler. Plus, you don’t score that many goals, and lose in and FA Cup final if you’re a bad player. But, was he the complete striker, that best natural born finisher that England has ever seen that some would have us believe?

His record would suggest not sitting behind his contemporaries like Alan Shearer and Andrew Cole on the all-time Premier League chart, one of whom helped keep him out the England team, the other more successful in the domestic game, but also curiously never having much success internationally.

Fowler’s time at Liverpool started coming to an end at the turn of the millennium, when the mighty new strike duo of Michael Owen and Emile Heskey game to the fore. An escape route to Leeds United came although that didn’t last long as the Yorkshire club was sinking in debt. A move to Manchester City followed, another reason for me to hate Fowler, with an average return rate o just over a goal every four games. Not too shabby for an average City team.

Then God returned. Although the second coming wasn’t as fruitful as the first with only eight goals in thirty games. A journeyman ending to his career followed, with stints at Cardiff City, Blackburn Rovers, North Queensland Fury, Perth Glory, and finally Muangthong United. During this time, he was building up his property empire and setting the stage for his wealth to flourish in his post-retirement days with more than eighty properties. He’s also dallied in racehorse ownership and he has a sports promotion company.

So, to answer the question at the start: Overrated, underappreciated, or property magnate? Maybe. Definitely internationally. And definitely again. But for me, his standing is about right. A very good, but not world class striker loved by those fans he calls his own and not so much by everyone else. What makes this more amusing is that he helped to bankrupt Leeds United, which is always a plus for any Man United fan (I’m glad they’ve bounced back by the way), and that the player who led to his Liverpool exit and demise sits below him in the all-time goal rankings 163 to 150.