Birth Date: January 3 1977
Birth Place: London
Birth Nation: England
Height: 175cm
Weight: 66Kg
Nationality: British
Position: Midfielder
Lee Bowyer left school and in April 1994 aged 17 signed with First Division, Charlton Athletic but he wanted to play for his cherished West Ham. However during the summer of 1996 he was sought after by many Premiership clubs. He chose Leeds because he thought he might win medals with them and it cost Leeds million - then a record fee for a British teenager.
Bowyer's initial progress at Elland Road was curtailed with the signing of two other midfielders, David Hopkin and Alf Inge Haaland. He eventually supplanted Hopkin and in 1998/99 he was named Leeds' Player of the Season Bowyer was a key figure when Leeds finished third in the 1999/2000 Premiership and was nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year award.
But Bowyer is obviously no stranger to controversy on the field and at the start of the 1999/00 season, his tackle on Stephen Clemence prompted a brawl between Leeds and Spurs players. Each club paid a ,000 fine for their part in the incident. That season, Bowyer was also given a one match ban and a fine by the FA for becoming the first Premiership player to receive 14 yellow cards.
However Bowyer was playing so well, he looked as though he would win a full England international place to add to his 13 international caps at under 21 level but in January 2000 along with Leeds team mate, Jonathan Woodgate he was arrested and put on trial for an alleged attack on an Asian student outside a Leeds nightclub. The first trial was abandoned and Bowyer was eventually cleared of all charges in November 2001.
But when Leeds fined Bowyer for being out drunk on the night in question he refused to accept the punishment and was dropped for the following game against Everton. He did eventually accept his punishment but still refused to sign a new contract with Leeds. His deal with them expired in the summer of 2003
In July of 2002 Leeds accepted an offer from Liverpool for him but the move broke down because Gerard Houllier found out that Bowyer was only interested in the money and Houllier only wants players if they truly want to play for Liverpool. On his return to Leeds, Bowyer made out that he wanted to stay at Elland Road. However, the contract remained unsigned and new Leeds boss Terry Venables set a January 2003 deadline for Bowyer's signature
After serving his international ban, due to his court case, the FA allowed Bowyer for England selection at the start of the 2002/03 season and manager Sven Goran Eriksson called him into the squad for a friendly against Portugal at Villa Park When Bowyer still did not sign, Leeds decided to get what they could for Bowyer and off loaded him to West Ham and as a life long West Ham supporter Lee Bowyer jumped at the chance to sign for the Hammers in January 2003
At the end of the season, after failing to keep the Hammers up, he joined Newcastle on a free transfer.
Lee Bowyer Rumours and Transfers
11 08 2007
Sven-Goran Eriksson enjoyed a glorious start to life at Manchester City as goals from Rolando Bianchi and Geovanni, 2 of his summer signings, condemned The Hammers to that old familiar losing feeling.
With a side virtually thrown together in the space of a month, Eriksson found the potent combination of an effective and winning performance, with the promise of much more to come when his 8 new boys in the end find their feet.
His opposite number Alan Curbishley, a one time candidate for the Swede's old job, must be anxious about his side's pitiful display at the starting of a campaign which promised so much after the troubles of last term.
In fact, the high point of an otherwise horrible day for The Hammers was Dean Ashton's return, and even he would not wipe the smile off Eriksson's face. Given the mostly negative manner in which his time in charge of the England side is remembered, Eriksson might have expects a rather more frosty reception than he actually received.
He had taken his place in the dug out relatively unnoticed as the home fans blew their pre match bubbles and did not emerge until City were ahead. Other than an isolated cat-call, the only boos Eriksson heard were reserved for the The Hammers players following a bitterly disappointing contest as far as the home fans were concerned.
Inspite of dominating possession for long periods in the opening period, Curbishley's side failed miserably to put any load on Kasper Schmeichel, the inexperienced City goalkeeper. Eriksson must have feared for the 20 year old, son of Man Utd legend Peter, when he named him in a starting line up featuring 6 Premier League debutants.
Yet Schmeichel was a virtual spectator as City's defence, protected superbly by Dietmar Hamann and Michael Johnson, kept them at arm's length. All the threat came from the visitors, with Martin Petrov particularly prolific in the shooting department.
The Bulgarian midfielder let fly from all angles without being able to beat Robert Green.
It was Elano who provided the touch of class though. One of Eriksson's 8 summer signings, even though presumably someone the Swede did at least previously view on TV given his Champions League experience with Shakhtar Donetsk and international background with Brazil, most recently in their triumphant Copa America campaign, Elano enjoyed a superb introduction to the English game.
Deployed only behind lone forward Bianchi, he found space intelligently, never lost his composure and always threatened to cause problems. The 26 year old had already fired one snap-shot over when he collected Stephen Ireland's short pass after Luis Boa Morte had lost possession inside the City half.
Quickly sensing Matthew Upson might lack half a yard of pace, Elano ran straight at the England defender, then missed round him with the minimum of fuss. The low cross invited a far post finish and Bianchi, 4th highest scorer in Serie A last term, was on hand to tap home.
Curbishley gave a clear indication of what he thought about West Ham's attempts to level by hauling off both Boa Morte and Lee Bowyer during the interval.
For the moment Ashton, the man most home fans and Steve McClaren, the watching England coach, really would like to see, remained on the bench. However, the introduction of Matthew Etherington instantly brought the home side more threat.
Micah Richards needed all his impressive strength to prevent Craig Bellamy getting his head to Freddie Ljungberg's cross and with Schmeichel suddenly starting to wobble, the Hammers seemed to have added impetus.
Ljungberg was an inch away from turning home Etherington's cross but, with only under half an hour remaining Curbishley called on Ashton, who had not played a game since breaking an ankle on England duty 12 months ago.
Yet, with Richards matching Ashton stride for stride and jump for jump, the move actually stopped West Ham's flow, allowing City to force themselves back into the contest.
Green was unconvincing as he fumbled Petrov's shot and only Ireland's slack pass prevented the midfielder being offered another sight of the The Hammers goal.
Ashton almost celebrated his return with a goal 11 minutes from time as Etherington picked him out with a deep cross and his 1st time volley from 10 yards skimmed the crossbar.
It was the nearest The Hammers came to spoiling Eriksson's day before substitute Geovanni thundered home the 2nd 4 minutes from time.
29 07 2007
New transfers Craig Bellamy and Freddie Ljungberg both found the net as The Hammers eased to a 3-1 friendly triumph at Southend.
In a match marking the hosts' centenary, a strong Hammers XI were led out by new captain Lucas Neill, and they were unlucky not to score midway through the 1st half when Bobby Zamora's header hit the bar.
The former Brighton forward opened the scoring soon afterwards, however, when he headed Ljungberg's crossfield ball over Darryl Flahavan in the 30th minute.
The Hammers made it 2 10 minutes later when Lee Bowyer headed against the bar and Belamy was on hand to nod in his 1st for the east Londoners.
A 3rd came in the 50th minute when Zamora pounced on a poor backpass to round the goalie and square for Ljungberg who fired home via a deflection.
The Shrimpers' sole response came from Kevin Maher's shot from the edge of the area.
