Robbie Fowler Biography; Liverpool’s ‘God’

Number 4 on the list of ‘100 Players Who Shook The Kop’, Robbie Fowler is Liverpool’s Premier League top scorer of their history with 128 goals in a total of 266 league appearances he made for the Reds.

While Liverpool Football Club had just experienced two decades of unrivaled sporting riches, underneath the silverware the city had been falling apart. There was industrial unrest and rising unemployment. A six-year-old Fowler had witnessed the events of the ‘81 Toxteth Riots on his own street and rose to become a hero of not only Liverpool club, but the Liverpool city.

However, despite his success at Liverpool at an early age, chaotic injury held Fowler to continue his form and raise to the ranks of the player he promised to become. Despite that, Fowler remains one of the best strikers in Premier League history as well as Liverpool.

All You Need to Know About Robbie Fowler Biography

In this part of

Robbie Fowler biography

, we analyze the Liverpool icon's style of play.

A prolific goal-scorer, Fowler was a quick and opportunistic striker, with good technical ability. The fellow Liverpool legend, Jamie Redknapp recalls his first impressions of Fowler:

"He wasn't very tall, wasn't athletic looking, he had funny little legs, a paunch almost at times, no real strength if you compare him to the modern thoroughbred footballers. But nobody -- nobody -- could finish like him."

As soon as he made his Liverpool debut, the goals came quickly and the sheer volume of them was outrageous. In an era when a good run of games can earn an England call-up, Fowler's record can appear freakish. He scored 80 times in 135 games for Liverpool before his international debut.

At the age of 21, Fowler scored 36 goals for the Reds in the 1995-96 season, a record that hasn’t been matched despite the emergence of

and the popularity of Fernando Torres and Luis Suarez at Anfield.

Brave in the air without being built like a boxer, Fowler had an impish pace but was not an out-and-out sprinter either. He looked to have bounded straight off the playground and into the Premier League.

Fowler’s England and Manchester City teammate, Trevor Sinclaire, describes his ability: "He's not like an Andy Cole who'd score them off his knee or bobble one into the bottom corner. Robbie Fowler was a purist. His technique was absolutely outstanding. He was the most accurate striker of a ball I've ever played with.”

Unfortunately, injuries hampered Fowler in his later career and while his finishing ability never left him, the turn of pace which had allowed him to find space in the penalty box would prove increasingly elusive.

Fowler was an Anfield hit during his first spell at the club between 1993 and 2002, scoring 171 goals in 330 appearances in all competitions before leaving to join

.

After another spell at Manchester City, Fowler rejoined Liverpool for an 18-month stint where he scored 12 goals in just under 40 games during his second spell.

Reception

The classic 'local boy made good', Fowler's popularity among the fans was at a scale not seen since Kenny Dalglish in his pomp. To them, he could do wrong, even if his infamous Spice Boy image brought unwanted off-field attention.

Firing Liverpool to two League Cup, an FA Cup, and a UEFA Cup, Fowler is known as one of the best strikers in Premier League history as well as Liverpool.

Despite these goalscoring heroics, Fowler was offloaded to Leeds, against his will, for a record-busting £11million as Gerard Houllier favored a partnership of Emile Heskey and Michael Owen.

Owen may have been Liverpool's 'Boy Wonder' but even his tally of 55 Premier League goals under the age of 21 is only second best. Wayne Rooney starred at Euro 2004 while still a teenager but trails behind with 44 goals. Fowler is out on his own with 64 of them before his 21st birthday.

Being behind England legend,

, the Scouser only made 26 international appearances, scoring 7 goals.

Fowler never won a Premier League Golden Boot. He scored 163 goals in the English top flight but was outscored by at least one other player in every one of his 15 seasons.

When asked which period he believed he was at his best, Fowler said:

“It was in the first three or four years. I possibly never got any better than that.

“When I retired I was third in the all-time Premier League goalscorers list, but I’m down to seventh these days. I should be higher and should have scored more goals, but everyone forgets the injuries I had – they take their toll.”

Goal Celebration

Being a specialist in making unique celebrations, Robbie Fowler’s most famous celebration was the historic ‘Cocaine Sniff’ celebration after he scored an equalizer during Liverpool’s 3-2 victory over rivals, Everton.

During his playing days, the former Liverpool forward was the subject of some unconfirmed accusations from Toffees supporters that he was a cocaine user.

Hence, when Fowler equalized for the Reds in the 3-2 derby win a little over 20 years ago, the England international knelt on the ground and pretended to snort the goal line - right in front of the Everton supporters.

The celebration earned Fowler a hefty four-match ban and a £32,000 fine. However, Fowler never regretted his celebration. He told an interview lately:

“No chance! I used to get absolutely mullered by Everton fans, so I was always going to do it.

“I knew what I was doing. I didn’t care. It was a chance to wind them up after all the abuse they’d given me!”

Here, in

Robbie Fowler bio

, we provide everything you need to know about the Liverpool icon, his story outside and inside the pitch, and find out why he became Anfield’s god.

Although, in 2001, Fowler’s difficult relationship with the then-Liverpool boss,

, made him seek regular first-team football away from Anfield in the form of a £12 million move to Leeds United, when he was 26.

By that time Fowler had already become a Liverpool icon and remained one despite having spells at Leeds United, Manchester City, Cardiff City, and Blackburn Rovers.

Robbie Fowler Information

Fowler always stayed a man of the people. One incident that shown the fact was during 1995, when there was a long dispute between Liverpool dockworkers and their employers, the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company (MDHC).

The conflict began when workers refused to cross a picket in a show of solidarity with another group of dockers who had been sacked by a different company. The 500 men who had shown support for fellow workers were accused of acting in breach of their contracts and were sacked, from one day to the next, by MDHC.

Two Liverpool FC players, Steve McManaman and Robbie Fowler, decided to do something to show solidarity with the workers; while over on the other side of Stanley Park, Everton's Duncan Ferguson also stated he too was right behind the sacked dockers. On the eve of the Champions League meeting with SK Brann on 20 March, McManaman and Fowler decided to wear a second shirt under their LFC one, with a message for the dock workers.

When Fowler scored his second goal of the night, giving Liverpool a comfortable 3-0 advantage, he lifted his jersey, under which was another red top, emblazoned with the words: 'Support the 500 sacked doCKers’

The 'CK' in the word 'doCKers' being the logo Calvin Klein, who had given the shirts to both players. The celebration caused a huge scandal and the media was divided on the issue. Some thought it was brave and praiseworthy for a player to come out and show support for the disadvantaged, for others, it was an inopportune reaction while also giving Calvin Klein free publicity.

The problem was still generating debate four days later when Liverpool visited Arsenal at Highbury. An incident happen during that game that earned Fowler a UEFA Fairplay award. Quick Fowler scampered into

's penalty area and fell at the keeper's feet. A penalty was awarded but Fowler strode over to the ref to tell him that it wasn't a penalty. The ref had already blown his whistle and there was no way he could now back down on his decision; so Fowler decided to take the spot-kick himself - and missed. Two days later, on 26 March, he received a telegram from FIFA president Joseph Blatter, which read:

"I wish to congratulate you for your act of sportsmanship

".

But the following day, March 27th, Fowler received a very different communiqué from UEFA, who during the previous week had studied the shirt supporting the dockers: "It seemed strange and unsportsmanlike…" the letter began. Fowler was issued a 900 pound fine. In the space of 24 hours he had been a hero for FIFA and a villain for UEFA. The player later explained: "The dockers were getting a lot of stick for what they were doing and what they believed in and we believed in what they were trying to do. I was fined the equivalent of 900 pound but there was collections going round Anfield which proved how much that support meant to them".

Robbie Fowler Outside Football

Despite the controversial goal celebrations that cost Fowler infamy, Fowler is a philanthropic family-man outside the pitch.

In the previous parts of

Robbie Fowler biography

, you read how being raised in the chaos of unjust, Fowler became a cult hero for the city outside and inside the football pitch, and according to his then-Liverpool teammate, McAteer, the footballers were becoming celebrities then.

“

Football went from a drinking culture to actually like a superstar culture,”

says former Liverpool player Jason McAteer.

“We were treated like Hollywood actors. We were looked upon as these superstars. We were on telly doing adverts, we were in magazines a lot more, we were on boxes of cornflakes. We were becoming household names.”

Despite the controversies surrounding ‘Spice Boys’ persona he was given during his playing career, Robbie Fowler life story narrates the scouser as a committed man who married his wife, Kerrie, on 9 June 2001.

'Spice Boys' of Liverpool

The Spice Boys was a media pejorative used to describe a group of high-profile Liverpool F.C. footballers in the mid-late 1990s, typically Jamie Redknapp,

, Steve McManaman, Robbie Fowler and Jason McAteer, but occasionally team-mates such as Stan Collymore and Paul Ince. The name was a play on the Spice Girls, who were extremely popular at the same time and famed for their 'Girl Power' persona.

The term ‘Spice Boys’ was coined by the Daily Mirror following (unfounded) tabloid rumours that Fowler was dating Spice Girl Baby Spice (Emma Bunton).

Several incidents around the behaviour of the so-called Spice Boys generated major media attention, notably the squad’s decision to wear matching cream Armani suits to the 1996 FA Cup Final - a game they went on to lose to key rivals Manchester United. Robbie Fowler told the in 2008 on the ‘White Coats Incident’: "People still remind me about the white suits all the time. It's one of those things - if we had won the game nobody would have mentioned it but we lost and it has become infamous."

However, a hero of Liverpool city, many of the fans argue that

Robbie Fowler nationality

is Scouse, rather than English.

Robbie Fowler Personal Life

Being raised in a Catholic family,

Robbie Fowler religion

is Christianity. In association with long-term friend Steve McManaman, Fowler has invested in several racehorses through their company The Macca and Growler Partnership, most notably 2003 Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Celebration Chase runner-up Seebald. In 2005, Fowler was listed as one of the 1,000 wealthiest Britons by the Sunday Times Rich List, 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.

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

In addition, Fowler is a cousin of boxer and 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Anthony Fowler.

Family, Children and Relationships

Robbie Fowler life story

outside the pitch becomes settled in 2001, when he married his wife, Kerrie Ann Hannon, in Scotland. The couple share four children together with three daughters, Mackenzie, Madison, Jaya, and a son, Jacob. Robbie’s son, Jacob, is already signed to Liverpool Academy.

Kerrie was also a key figure in Robbie Fowler's Property Academy company that saw wannabe landlords charged £1,000 to take his course on how to build a property empire, as reported by the Guardian.

Philanthropy

Liverpool FC’s official charity, LFC Foundation joined forces with Robbie Fowler’s Education and Football Academy, a charity academy that was created and sponsored by Robbie Fowler, to create the LFC Foundation and Fowler Academy Partnership.

FEFA, which are nationally recognized as specialists in football and education, offer a range of football and educational opportunities for young people aged 16 - 19 to prepare them for their next career step.

Through the new LFC Foundation and Fowler Academy Partnership, young people will be able to benefit from the expertise of FEFA alongside the career opportunities that the LFC Foundation offers.

He said on his charity works during his career:

"I do a fair bit for children's charities. The big ones I support in Liverpool are Zoe's Place Baby Hospice, and Claire House Children's Hospice. I donate money and time but the time is what they value the most. If my inclusion at any event they're doing, helps them to raise more money, then of course I'll be there."

Legal Issues

In addition to the infamous goal celebrations, at the end of February of 1999, Fowler was also involved in an ugly spat with Graeme Le Saux at Stamford Bridge.

After some verbals, Fowler presented his buttocks to the Chelsea left-back in a gesture that was deemed to be homophobic.

Le Saux – a heterosexual who has a wife and two kids – suffered homophobic abuse his whole career simply because he rejected the uber-masculine culture of the average Premier League dressing room.

This incident, added to his infamous ‘Cocaine Sniff’ celebration, cost Fowler a record 6-match fine, which ultimately cost Fowler the Golden Boot that season.

However, no outside the pitch legal issues were mentioned including Robbie Fowler.

Robbie Fowler Career Statistics

Scoring 163 goals in 379 Premier League appearances makes Robbie Fowler eighth in the total ranking, most recently taken by Tottenham skipper

.

Fowler Represented 8 clubs during his career, Liverpool, Leeds United, Manchester City, Cardiff City, Blackburn Rovers, North Queensland Fury, Perth Glory, and Muangthong United.

However, Robbie Fowler is still the highest-scoring Liverpool player in Premier League history.

Club

During two spells at Liverpool, Robbie Fowler has scored a total of 183 goals for the club, making him the club’s sixth top in their history.

In addition, Fowler also scored the fastest hat-trick in Liverpool history, which came against Arsenal and took him 4 minutes, 33 seconds. The record was held as the Premier League record for more than 20 years before it was broken by

during his Southampton spell.

Spending two seasons at Leeds United, Fowler scored 14 goals as injuries restricted his game-time to 32 matches.

Fowler also scored 27 goals for Manchester City, 6 for Championship side Cardiff City, and after an unsuccessful spell at Blackburn, he transferred aboard to the Australian side, Northern Fury FC.

Fowler scored a total of 18 A-League goals for Northern Fury and Perth Glory before eventually ending playing career Thai club, Muangthong United F.C., in 2012.

International

Liverpool fans would argue that Robbie Fowler is Scouse, not English, but he has made 26 appearances for England. Being behind Alan Shearer in pecking orders restricted his playtime at his prime in the late 90s. However, in those 26 appearances, Fowler scored 7 goals.

Managerial

Debuting his managing career with the club he retired at, Muangthong United, Fowler also had spells as manager at Brisbane Roar and East Bengal.

In a total of 57 competitive matches, Fowler holds a record of 31.58 win percentage as a manager.

Robbie Fowler Honors

Winning the first back-to-back Premier League player of the month award in December 1995 and January 1996, Fowler also won the back-to-back PFA Young Player of the Year award in 1995 and 1996.

However, all of Fowler’s club records come with Liverpool. A continental triple in 2000/01 season, that involved FA Cup, League Cup, and UEFA Cup, another League Cup in 1994-95 are the trophies Fowler won during his career, in addition to 1993 UEFA European Under-18 Championship he won with England.

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Robbie Fowler biography

, you might also like these articles that were previously written in Sportmob.

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 for 

• Full name: Robert Bernard Fowler

• Nickname: God, Growler

Personal information

• Robbie Fowler date of birth: 9 April 1975 (age 46)

• Zodiac sign: Aries

• Place of birth: Liverpool, England

• Robbie Fowler religion: Catholic Christian

• Mother’s name: Marie Ryder

• Father’s name: Robert Fowler Sinior

• Robbie Fowler nationality: English

• Marital status: Married

• Robbie Fowler wife: Kerrie Fowler

Body Measurements

• Hair color: Brown

• Eye color: Brown

• Height: 1.8 m

• Weight: 73 kg

• Body Type: Athletic

Robbie Fowler Early Life

Robbie Fowler date of birth

is 9 April 1975, being raised by his single mother, Marie, Robbie was known as Robert Ryder, his mother's surname, during his early ages.

Being born and raised in Toxteth, Fowler supported Everton when he was a child. However, his amazing football skills shown up early as he played regularly for schoolboy team Thorvald, and once made the headlines when he scored 16 times in a 26–0 rout.

Robbie Fowler childhood

is marked by experiencing the Toxteth riot when he was 6, a civil disturbance in Toxteth, inner-city Liverpool, which arose in part from long-standing tensions between the local police and the black community.

Despite being an Everton fan, his performances for u14 school games was spotted by Jim Aspinall, Liverpool scout. Everton also had its eye on him at this time, and despite playing few games for them when he was 14 years old, Fowler had already settled in at Liverpool FC and turned Everton down. Fowler signed his professional contract on his 17th birthday and was heavily influenced by his reception by then-Liverpool boss,

and his fellow Liverpool icon, Steve Heighway.

"Kenny Dalglish was manager when I signed for Liverpool. When I was training there as a schoolboy, Kenny would sometimes drop me off at home. I couldn't wait to get into school the next morning to tell everyone what had happened! Steve Heighway, who is still in charge of Liverpool's youth set-up, was very good to me and helped me a lot at that time. He sat me down and talked to me about things, and gave me lots of advice which I have used."

Robbie Fowler Profile

At the end of the 1992-1993 season, the Scouser made his senior debut for the Reds when he was on the bench against Bolton in the FA cup and made his league debut in the final match against Tottenham when Liverpool beat Tottenham 6-2.

However,

Robbie Fowler biography

takes its peek the following summer, when he won the European title with the England U18 team. Despite only playing 4 games for the Three Lions, the Scouser ended up as the top scorer with 5 goals in 4 games.

Picking up the number 11 shirt, Fowler established himself as a regular during the 1993-94 season. He scored his first league goal against Oldham, which ended 2-1 for Liverpool. Fowler scored his first hat-trick against Southampton in only his 5th league match.

Scoring 13 goals in 15 appearances for the Reds, it was clear that the 17-yar-old Fowler wasn’t ordinary. Making a duo with the club legend,

, Robbie Fowler learned as much as he could from the Welsh icon.

He said of the partnership: 

"He's done it all before and knows the ins and outs of the game. He knows everything about defenders and has told me about the strengths and weaknesses of every one we've played against and that's made a big difference to me. In the games it's the same. He never stops talking, keeps on at me non-stop and that's helped me to develop this season. But I know I've been lucky. I'm learning from the best and if you don't learn from the likes of Ian then who can you learn from?"

Style of Play