Lee Bowyer facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Lee Bowyer

Bowyer playing for Birmingham City in 2010
Personal information
Full name	Lee David Bowyer
Date of birth	(1977-01-03) 3 January 1977 (age 48)
Place of birth	Canning Town, London, England
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
	Senrab
	Charlton Athletic
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1994–1996	Charlton Athletic	46	(8)
1996–2003	Leeds United	203	(38)
2003	West Ham United	10	(0)
2003–2006	Newcastle United	79	(6)
2006–2009	West Ham United	41	(4)
2009	→ Birmingham City (loan)	17	(1)
2009–2011	Birmingham City	64	(9)
2011–2012	Ipswich Town	29	(2)
Total		489	(68)
International career
1994–1995	England U18	6	(0)
1995–2000	England U21	13	(4)
2002	England	1	(0)
Managerial career
2018–2021	Charlton Athletic
2021–2022	Birmingham City
2023–2024	Montserrat
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Lee David Bowyer (born 3 January 1977) is an English football manager and former professional player. He played as a midfielder for many clubs over 18 years. These clubs included Charlton Athletic, Leeds United, West Ham United, Newcastle United, Birmingham City, and Ipswich Town.

He played in 397 Premier League games. With Leeds, he reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League. He also won the Football League Cup with Birmingham in 2011. Bowyer played once for the England national team. After retiring as a player, he became a manager. He has managed two of his former clubs, Charlton Athletic and Birmingham City. Since September 2023, he has been the head coach for the Montserrat.

Playing Career

Starting at Charlton Athletic

Lee Bowyer was born in Canning Town, London. He started playing football for a youth team called Senrab. Later, he joined Charlton Athletic as a schoolboy. He became a professional player in April 1994.

In 1995, he faced a temporary suspension from the England under-18 squad. This happened after he and a teammate had an issue with a drug test. He then completed a special course organized by the Football Association (the FA). After this, he became a regular player for Charlton. He played 58 games and scored 14 goals for the club. A memorable moment was when Bowyer scored three goals in a 5–4 win against Wimbledon FC in a League Cup match in September 1995.

Time at Leeds United

In 1996, Leeds United manager Howard Wilkinson signed Bowyer. The transfer fee was £2.8 million, which was a record for a British teenager at the time. Early in his time at Leeds, he struggled to get into the first team. However, he became a regular player during the 1998–99 season.

Bowyer was a key player for Leeds under manager David O'Leary. The team qualified for the Champions League in 1999–2000. They also reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 2000 and the Champions League in 2001. During the Champions League run, he scored important goals against top teams like A.C. Milan, Barcelona, and Anderlecht. Leeds supporters voted him their player of the year in both 1998–99 and 2000–01.

Bowyer with Leeds United in 2001.

Bowyer faced some legal challenges during his time at Leeds. Despite these challenges, he continued to play excellent football. He often went straight from court to play for Leeds. After a court case concluded, Leeds fined him for not following the club's rules. Even though the club had supported him, Bowyer disagreed with the fine. He was then put on the transfer list.

The disagreement was later resolved, and he was removed from the transfer list. However, he was put back on it after he turned down a new contract. A move to Liverpool for £9 million was almost agreed. But the Liverpool manager, Gérard Houllier, decided not to sign him. In January 2003, Bowyer joined West Ham United. He played 265 games for Leeds and scored 55 goals.

Bowyer playing for West Ham United in 2006

Joining West Ham United

Bowyer signed with West Ham United in January 2003. His first contract was for six months. Some West Ham supporters were not happy about his signing. They held a protest outside Upton Park. Bowyer's time at West Ham was affected by ankle injuries. He only played eleven games. West Ham was relegated at the end of the 2002–03 season, and Bowyer was not offered a new contract.

Playing for Newcastle United

After West Ham was relegated, Bowyer moved to Newcastle United in July 2003. He joined them on a free transfer. In April 2005, Bowyer was involved in an on-pitch incident with teammate Kieron Dyer. This happened during a Premier League match against Aston Villa. Both players received red cards and were banned for three games.

The Football Association also fined Bowyer £30,000 and gave him an extra three-game ban. His club fined him six weeks' wages. Bowyer played 98 games for Newcastle and scored 11 goals.

Back to West Ham United

Bowyer returned to West Ham United, the club he supported as a child, in June 2006. He said he had "unfinished business" there. He played 22 games in the 2006–07 season. This season was interrupted when he dislocated his shoulder in January 2007. However, he recovered quickly and played in five important games at the end of the season.

He became a regular player for West Ham again at the start of the 2007–08 season. He scored his first goals for West Ham against Wigan Athletic and Middlesbrough. He then scored two more goals in a big 5–0 win over Derby County.

Bowyer playing for Birmingham City in 2010

Moving to Birmingham City

In January 2009, Bowyer joined Birmingham City on loan. He stayed until the end of the 2008–09 season. He made his first appearance on 17 January against Cardiff City. He scored a goal in the last minute to make the score 1–1. After his contract with West Ham ended, Bowyer signed a two-year contract with Birmingham in July 2009.

He scored winning goals in two Premier League matches in a row. These were against Fulham and Wolverhampton Wanderers. These goals helped Birmingham move into a good position in the league. He was part of a team that went 15 games unbeaten in all competitions. This included a club record of 12 unbeaten games in the top league. Birmingham finished in ninth place, their best finish in over 50 years.

In September 2010, Bowyer had to apologize for speaking rudely to a West Bromwich Albion supporter. This happened after he was substituted from the game. In November 2010, Bowyer returned to the starting team and scored the only goal against champions Chelsea. This gave his team a surprising victory. He then scored a late goal to draw against Manchester United. In January 2011, replays showed some actions by Bowyer that the referee missed. He received a three-match ban for his actions.

By the end of 2010, Bowyer had received many yellow cards in the Premier League. He had 98 yellow cards and five red cards in the competition.

In February 2011, he played in his first major final. He started the game as Birmingham beat favourites Arsenal 2–1 in the League Cup Final at Wembley Stadium. It was first thought he would not be offered a new contract. However, after Birmingham was relegated to the Championship, Bowyer left the club when his contract ended in 2011.

Final Stop at Ipswich Town

On 10 July 2011, Bowyer joined Ipswich Town on a free transfer. He signed a one-year contract. He scored his first goal for Ipswich with a late winning goal against his old club, West Ham United, on 27 September. He was released from Ipswich at the end of the 2011–12 season. He had scored two goals in 29 games. After this, Bowyer decided to retire from playing football.

International Games

Early in his career at Leeds, Bowyer played for the England under-21 team. He played 13 games for the national youth side.

His good performance during the 2000–01 season led to calls for him to join the England squad. However, the Football Association decided he could not be chosen until a court case he was involved in was finished. The FA eventually allowed Bowyer to be selected after the court case ended. England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson then called him into the squad for a friendly match against Portugal in September 2002. Bowyer made his England debut in that game. He helped set up a goal for his Leeds teammate Alan Smith. This was his only game for England.

Managerial Career

In late 2015, Bowyer spent a month as a guest coach for Watford's under-21 team. He worked with his former Leeds teammate Harry Kewell. After coaching at his first professional club, Charlton Athletic, Bowyer became their assistant manager on 1 July 2017.

Managing Charlton Athletic

On 22 March 2018, Bowyer became the caretaker manager of Charlton Athletic. This happened after the previous manager, Karl Robinson, left the club. His first game as manager was a 2–0 win against Plymouth Argyle two days later. After winning his first three games, he was given the role until the end of the season in April. His time as caretaker manager ended on 13 May. Charlton lost 2–0 to Shrewsbury Town in the League One play-off semi-final.

On 14 June, Bowyer was again named caretaker manager. On 6 September, his role became permanent with a contract until the end of the season. In his first full season, he led Charlton to finish third in League One. They then played Doncaster Rovers in the play-offs. Charlton won the away game 2–1. The second game ended 3–3 in normal time, and 4–4 after extra time. Charlton won the penalty shootout 4–3. They earned promotion to the Championship by beating Sunderland 2–1 in the play-off final at Wembley Stadium. This meant they returned to the second tier of English football after three seasons away.

On 17 June 2019, Bowyer first turned down a new contract offer. The club said they could not agree on terms. However, he later changed his mind and signed a new one-year deal. In October, he received a three-match ban from the touchline for his behavior towards a match official. After the club was taken over by East Street Investments, Bowyer signed a new three-year deal on 22 January 2020. Charlton was relegated on the last day of the 2019–20 season after losing 4–0 to his former club, Leeds United.

Bowyer resigned as Charlton manager on 15 March 2021.

Managing Birmingham City

On 16 March 2021, Bowyer took over from Aitor Karanka as head coach of Birmingham City. He signed a two-and-a-half-year contract. After 16 months in charge, Bowyer was sacked on 2 July 2022. In his final season, Birmingham finished 20th in the EFL Championship. They won only four games out of 26 after November 2021.

Coaching Montserrat

Bowyer became the coach of the Montserrat national football team in September 2023. He won his first game 3–2 against Barbados. Bowyer won four of his 14 games in charge. He was replaced by Angus Eve for their June 2025 matches. This happened after Montserrat was relegated to CONCACAF Nations League C and lost their first two 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

Career Statistics

Club

International

Managerial

Honours

Player Achievements

Birmingham City

• Football League Cup: 2010–11
• Football League Championship runner-up: 2008–09

Individual Awards

• PFA Team of the Year: 1995–96 First Division
• Leeds United Player of the Year: 1998–99, 2000–01

Manager Achievements

Charlton Athletic

• EFL League One play-offs: 2019

Individual Awards

• EFL League One Manager of the Month: November 2018, April 2019

See also

In Spanish: Lee Bowyer para niños