Unbelievable - Perth Glory and Robbie Fowler are united. Tony Sage has delivered with one of the greatest transfer coups in the history of the club. Time to get excited!
Perth - as much as I love it - can be a bit insular at times. So I can imagine that when this time last season the east coast of Australia was looking north to Townsville and their marquee man, Perth fans were busy looking up stats and highlights of Mile Sterjovski and Branko Jelic. Therefore, for the uninformed here is a brief introduction to the man known to Liverpool fans simply as ‘God'.
Robbie Fowler comes to Perth with an unbelievable track record. Brian Deane might've scored the first ever English Premier League goal, but Fowler over his career managed to notch up 162 of them to sit fourth on the all-time list. That's 39 more than Dwight Yorke, Sydney fans! Only football icons Alan Shearer, Andy Cole and Thierry Henry sit above him- that's some highly credentialed company. On top of that, Fowler managed 49 English cup goals in 75 appearances and 15 more in European competition.
Fowler's international career was never quite so spectacular as he largely played understudy to the likes of Shearer, Owen and Sheringham. He did, however, manage 7 international goals including one against Cameroon in a 2002 World Cup warm-up match. Unfortunately, Fowler was limited to just 45 minutes of football in the tournament itself.
Fowler's trophy personal trophy cabinet is probably a more impressive display than the combined efforts of any A-League squad. On top of 2 English PFA Young Player of the Year awards, with Liverpool Fowler collected winners' medals in the cup quadruple of 2001 (the UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup, FA Cup and League Cup) plus the League Cup of 1995. In 1993, Fowler was the tournament top-scorer for an English team that won the UEFA Under-18 Championship.
Of course, before we get too carried away it should be pointed out that all of these fantastic achievements came in the mid-to-late 90s. It was 5 years ago that Fowler last ended a season with double-figures in his goal tally. It was 8 years ago that he last played an international match. It was a massive 13 years ago that Fowler finished top 3 in the Premier League scoring charts for a third season in a row. It would be fair to ask, what has Robbie done recently?
The simple answer to that is that Fowler took a decidedly talentless North Queensland Fury side to the brink of finals football last season. Fury were expected by most to be almost certain wooden-spooners last season. Most based this on the assumption that Fowler, with his best years behind him, would struggle to make an impact without a decent midfield behind him. Fowler, though, was outstanding and managed to create his own opportunities on his way to 9 goals.
Dedicated Perth fans know all this, because the vast majority pay attention not just to their own side by the league as a whole. They saw first-hand how the Liverpool legend still has more than enough to dominate the A-League. There is a reason, though, to continue to dwell on the fact. The reason is to get the 3,000 fans that made a special effort to see Fowler play when Fury visited Perth last season to make a regular habit of attending games. Fowler is a great player, and Perth now have a very strong team. If ever there was a year to jump on the bandwagon, this is it!
Fowler is an unquestionable goalscorer. His efforts last season with Fury show that he will find goals even at a team doing its best not to create him any. He may not, in the grand scheme of things, actually be the best player in the A-League. But he is possibly the most important. And he is certainly the biggest name. And he belongs to Perth - unbelievable!
