Lee Bowyer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lee Bowyer | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lee David Bowyer | |
| Date of birth | January 3, 1977 (age 30) | |
| Place of birth | Newham, London, England | |
| Playing position | Midfielder | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | West Ham United | |
| Number | 29 | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1993-1996 1996-2003 2003 2003-2006 2006- |
Charlton Athletic Leeds United West Ham United Newcastle United West Ham United |
46 (8) 203 (38) 10 (0) 79 (6) 17 (0) |
| National team2 | ||
| 2002 | England | 1 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Lee David Bowyer (born January 3, 1977 in Newham, London) is a professional English footballer who currently plays for FA Premier League side West Ham United. He has been capped once by England.
Bowyer signed for Charlton Athletic at the age of 17, first hitting headlines in 1994 when he and team-mate Dean Chandler failed tests for cannabis.[1] Both received lengthy bans, but Bowyer became a first-team regular a year later, before transferring to Leeds United in 1996 for £2.8m - a record for a British teenager. Shortly after this, he was accused over a racial incident in a McDonald's in London, apparently telling the shop's Asian staff "I don't want to be served by no Paki".[2] Initially, Bowyer was kept out of the first team by Alf Inge Haaland and David Hopkin, however, he supplanted Hopkin in the 1998/1999 season, and went on to make 257 appearances for the club, scoring 62 goals.
In the 1999-00 season, a tackle by Bowyer on the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Stephen Clemence caused a brawl between Leeds and Tottenham players. The clubs were each fined £150,000 by the FA for the incident. In the same season, Bowyer was fined £4,000 and given a one-match ban for becoming the first Premiership player to receive 14 yellow cards in a single season.[3]
[edit] Racism
After an incident outside a Leeds city centre nightclub, Bowyer was accused of involvement in the assault of the student Sarfraz Najeib. Bowyer was found not guilty of affray and grievous bodily harm with intent, but teammate Jonathan Woodgate was found guilty of affray and ordered to serve 100 hours' community service.[4]
On December 19, 2001, the Mirror newspaper's front page, featured next to an image of Bowyer's head the headline: "I'm the victim... wails boozing, pot smoking, violent, RACIST, cowardly, unapologetic, lying, odious transfer-listed Lee Bowyer (now try and sue us you little scum bag)."[5]
In January 2003, Bowyer signed for West Ham on a short contract for a nominal fee. West Ham were relegated at the end of this season, and Bowyer joined Newcastle United on a free transfer.
In April 2005, Bowyer was in the media spotlight again after an astonishing on-pitch brawl with teammate Kieron Dyer in Newcastle United's Premiership match with Aston Villa. This resulted in a red card for that particular game plus a further three game ban; Dyer received the same punishment. Bowyer was fined six weeks wages by the club, thought to be in the region of £250,000.[6] Dyer was not fined as Bowyer was perceived to have thrown the first punch.
On June 8, 2005, Bowyer was charged in connection with this brawl by Northumbria police with public order offences under section four of the Public Order Act. In July 2006 he was fined £600 and ordered to pay £1000 in costs after admitting to using threatening behaviour towards former Newcastle United teammate Kieron Dyer.[6] Lee Bowyer's problems continue to hinder him off the playing field. On the same day Bowyer re-signed for West Ham United on a free transfer.
On January 1, 2007 Bowyer suffered a dislocated shoulder in West Ham United's 6-0 loss to Reading.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ "Caborn attacked on plan to ease dope rules", The Guardian, 2006-12-13. Retrieved on December 30, 2006.
- ^ "Bowyer's a soccer player, not a saint", The Daily Mirror, 2003-01-13. Retrieved on December 30, 2006.
- ^ "Profile: Lee Bowyer", BBC Sport, 2001-12-18. Retrieved on December 30, 2006.
- ^ "Bowyer cleared for England", BBC Sport, 2001-12-14. Retrieved on December 30, 2006.
- ^ "Give a dog a bad name...", The Observer, 2003-01-12. Retrieved on December 30, 2006.
- ^ a b "Court fine Bowyer over Dyer fight", CNN, 2006-07-05. Retrieved on December 30, 2006.
- ^ "Reading 6-0 West Ham", BBC, 2007-01-01. Retrieved on January 1, 2007.
[edit] External links
| West Ham United F.C. - Current Squad |
|---|
|
1 Carroll | 2 Neill | 3 Konchesky | 4 Gabbidon | 5 Ferdinand | 6 McCartney | 7 Dailly | 8 Sheringham | 9 Ashton | 10 Harewood | 11 Etherington | 12 Cole | 13 Boa Morte | 14 Pantsil | 15 Benayoun | 17 Mullins | 18 Spector | 19 Collins | 20 Reo-Coker | 21 Green | 22 Stokes | 23 Walker | 24 Noble | 25 Zamora | 27 Davenport | 29 Bowyer | 30 Tomkins | 31 Štěch | 32 Tévez | 33 Quashie | 35 Upson | 37 Kepa | Manager: Curbishley |
Categories: 1977 births | Living people | People from London | Charlton Athletic F.C. players | Doping cases in football (soccer) | English footballers | English sportspeople in doping cases | England international footballers | Premier League players | Leeds United AFC players | Newcastle United F.C. players | West Ham United F.C. players | West Ham United F.C. midfielders
