Lee Bowyer

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