Robbie Fowler Stays Rooted In Down Under

Various news sources have reported that the Liverpool and Premier League goalscoring legend has moved after one year at North Queensland Fury. The Fury which are undergoing financial troubles released Fowler once the current season had ended. Fowler was originally on a two-year deal with North Queensland.

Fowler ended the season with nine goals and two assists in 26 matches in the A-League. Fury finished seventh in the A-League, just missing out on the play-offs. His debut season in Australia can be deemed a successful one. At the NQF medal night, Fowler won a hattrick of honours, the Golden Boot (as the Fury's top scorer), Players' Player Award and also Player of The Year. He also played more minutes (2776 minutes) than any single player in the A-League.

Fury Chairman Don Matheson said the 34-year-old had more than proven his worth to the new Hyundai A- League club. Matheson said,

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Apart From Scoring Goals, What Has Robbie Fowler Been Doing In Queensland?

Robbie Fowler has been busy in the Australian A-League. Apart from having scored nine goals and one assist, he has been doing what marquee signings are meant to do.

Fowler kicks in for Mayor's Christmas Appeal
Wednesday, 9 December 2009

North Queensland Fury FC skipper Robbie Fowler has blasted past feeble goal keeping to kick home a win for the Townsville Mayor's Christmas Appeal.

Robbie peppered the goal guarded by Mayor Les Tyrell and Jupiters Townsville Managing Director Sean Knights with, with $2000 going straight into the Christmas appeal every time he scored.

Mayor Cr Les Tyrell said that with the chance of securing $20,000 for the appeal, there was no hesitation in getting one of the game’s greats to do the job.

“Jupiters have been very generous with their support for the Christmas Tree Appeal. Their support for the local community will be appreciated by a lot of struggling families this Christmas.”

“We were delighted that Robbie ciould take time out to support the Christmas Tree Appeal and it would be good to see the community get right behind the Fury on Friday night.”

The Fury captain said he was happy to help out any time he was calle don to support a cause for charity.

"Anything involving charity, it is important to do them," Fowler said.

"It doesn’t take long out of your day to do them. I got the call late yesterday and I was around to help and do whatever I could ... anything to put balls in the back of the net – I’m all for that."

While Jupiters Townsville managing director Sean Knights is a keen football fan and former player, he wasn't able to keep many shots out but that only meant a bigger contribution. Mr Knights said Jupiters had a proud tradition of support for the Appeal.

“This is the fourth year we have been involved in the Mayor’s Christmas Tree Appeal, and being a part of this initiative continues to bring a great amount of pride to our team,” Mr Knights said.

“It is important to recognise that many families in our great region struggle during this financially draining time, and it is a great feeling to be able to share our festive spirit with the community in which we operate.”

The Jupiters Townsville donation of $20,000 will bring the Mayor's Christmas Tree Appeal to its half way target. Townsville City Councillors will be present at the entrance gates of Dairy Farmers Stadium on Friday night for any ticket holders that wish to make donations to this very worthwhile cause.

And earlier in August, he went with Fishing Australia host, Rob Paxevanos on a fishing expedition after another charity fund raiser project in Cairns.

Fowler lands a monster
Thursday, 13 August 2009

North Queensland Fury Marquee Signing Robbie Fowler got out on the water recently with Fishing Australia Host Rob Paxevanos and landed a 15kg Spanish mackeral on his first blue water fishing expedition. Fowler joined Paxevanos and his crew after a four-hour drive up the coast to Cairns to take in more of the coastline he currently calls home.

The conditions were very rough due to very strong southeast winds, but their 47' charter 'Moana' was able to find some shelter behind Fitzroy Island near Cairns. The Fury Skipper proved to be as determined to catch a big fish as he is to score goals during a tough game and he put up with being bounced all around the boat and being hammered by rain and heavy spray.

It was hard to get to the better spots due to the conditions but the team persisted around the Island and Robbie eventually hooked onto the 15kg Spanish mackerel pictured - one of the best eating fish on the Great Barrier Reef.

“I was so impressed with Robbie’s competitiveness in conditions where the rest of the anglers in town where hiding at home,” Paxevanos said.

“He did an amazing job fighting the fish in the rough seas, especially given his previous biggest fish was a small trout back in England!”

“You should have seen all the kids go mad when he we got back to the Marina with his catch; it was a memorable day for us all.”

Fowler was impressed with his first taste of blue water fishing and was even more impressed with the fact he could eat his mackerel catch while it was still fresh.

“It was a fantastic day,” Fowler said. “It was just amazing to be out on a boat and
to pull in a fish that big ... it took a while but it was worth it”

“It was the first time I’ve really ever been fishing to be honest and it's an experience
I'll never forget. My Wife and kids won't forget the weekend away either - the hospitality was unbelievable”

Paxevanos and Fowler were in town as part of the "go fish for sick kids" tournament that is helping to raise funds for a children’s roof top playground at the Cairns Base Hospital.

Truly a role model for the young ones. As they say, players mature as they age and this is true in Fowler's case.

CleverFootball.com And Man On Platform 13

I came across a site last week which captured my attention. It's a site not dissimilar to most news aggregator websites like Footballblips, NewsNow and Soccerblogs. However, the nicest thing about CleverFootball.com is that the football news from blogs and/or broadsheets are segregated by teams. So one can read every news available on his/her team at CleverFootball.com.

This is what CleverFootball.com's founder, Phil McThomas had in mind when he built the site:

The goal of the site is to improve the experience of reading football news. When my team has won a big game, I want to drink in all the reaction from lots of different sites. On other occasions, I just want to read the headlines and maybe dip into one or two stories. I also want to keep tabs on what blogs are saying about my team - even sites I don't know about. I couldn't find a good way to get what I wanted - so I decided to build it.

These were some of the great stuff I saw on the site.
Fergie: You Don’t Leave Manchester United
Tom Hicks: Star players will not be sold even if Liverpool FC don't make Champions League
Fraizer Campbell: Steve Bruce is a great manager

So don't just take my word for it, go experience CleverFootball.com!

If you are looking for a more offbeat football blog, Stefan Coutts from Man On Platform 13 gives a very refreshing outlook on football. Predominantly focussed on Scottish football with a touch of Premiership, it covers major news items as well as surprises readers with exclusive interviews. If you'd like to find out what Tony Meola thinks about David Beckham and US Soccer, then read it here.

Robbie Fowler Lets Out His Fury!

In his second match for the North Queensland Fury, Robbie Fowler showed that even in the twilight of his career, he has not lost a single bit of his agility when it really mattered. What was truly amazing about this ninja kick was that it went unpunished. I checked officially and Fowler did not even get a yellow card. The stuff of legends! Here is the video of that ninja kick taken from Footy Blog.

Fowler now captains North Queensland Fury and they are currently lying last in the A-League, winning one match thus far. However, only nine points separate top from bottom so there is still plenty to play for. Fowler himself has scored four goals and 14 shots on target for a team that is struggling to score goals but has the leakiest defence.

In short, Fowler as the Fury Marquee is doing his best to carry this team through a tough season. Their next game will be against Central Coast Mariners but with inside knowledge of the Mariners style of play, NQ Fury boss Ian Ferguson will be itching to overcome the Mariners.


Other Robbie Fowler articles:
The Contrasting Fortunes of Robbie Fowler and David Beckham

The Contrasting Careers Of Robbie Fowler and David Beckham

I came across a Fox Sports Australia article about Robbie Fowler scoring goals again in the A-League. That got me thinking about the contrast in the twilight football career of Fowler and Beckham.

Robert Bernard Joseph Fowler, now aged 34, turned professional in 1992 started his football career in Liverpool. David Robert Joseph Beckham, also aged 34, turned professional in 1992 with Manchester United. Both players won their first England cap in 1996. Both have won the English PFA Young Player of The Year award at the start of their career. These are interesting similarities in the two players' careers which have taken them to different parts of the world. Note that they even have the same middle name. Finally, there is the willingness of both players to become marquee signing of the current leagues that they play in. And that's where it ends.

Robbie Fowler signed to become North Queensland Fury marquee player on 4th February 2009 and was expected to carry the Australian A-League to greater heights. He obviously understood the high aspirations of the A-League as he embraced his new status and has thrilled the fans Down Under. Three goals in his last three matches have earned him rave reviews and he is being labelled as a true footballing genius. He is well-liked, popular among team mates and quite willing to act as mentor and role model to impart valuable football experience. Fowler is letting his football do the work of enhancing the A-League reputation, as can be seen in the video highlight by dinxbeau with this piece of brilliance.



In contrast, Major League Soccer authorities had hoped with the transfer of David Beckham to the LA Galaxy in July 2007, that the profile of MLS would grow in the football world. Though there is a bigger worldwide focus on MLS with Beckham there, it would seem however, that this "experiment" has not worked out as well as hoped. If MLS wanted a Beckham circus, that's exactly what they got. David Beckham has definitely attracted a lot of attention and controversy during his time at MLS. Fans will remember the endless string of injuries in his first year or the desire to play in Europe in his second year or the neverending saga of his return to the Galaxy this year and finally, the recent confrontation with the fans on his first home match back from Milan. Beckham is still thinking about himself rather than the league and it showed clearly in his actions. Certainly not marquee signing type behaviour. He has, through his actions, implied that he do not want to play in MLS. It has truly been a mixed bag, profile-wise, MLS has gained a larger following but by and large, football-wise, David Beckham have failed to produce the goods.

Perhaps Fowler accepted the fact that his career in the top flight was over and chose sunny Queensland as his last hurrah whereas Beckham clearly believes he can still cut it in the top flight and want that last big "go out at the top" farewell. It could also be that Australian fans understand soccer whereas USA fans do not.

But for now, football reports in Australia and America suggest that Robbie Fowler is enhancing the reputation of A-League through his superb goalscoring skills whereas David Beckham is just lending his world-famous brand to MLS, his football drawing mixed reactions.

You can read what the footballing world think about these two footballing icons,
Fowler shows the way
Fowler genius best so far
Beckham speaks on loan, explores MLS ownership
What Beckham must do to be successful in MLS
David Beckham knows how to put on a show
Beckham: MLS Owner?