Back in 1996, Lee Bowyer joined Leeds United from Charlton. Lee Bowyer, a London-born midfielder who joined Leeds United from Charlton, played with a fighting spirit that was in the lineage of good old English soccer, scoring 54 goals and 19 assists in 260 games for the club.
In 2002, Liverpool was interested in Bowyer, and he had already reached an agreement with the club and underwent a medical. However, the former England midfielder turned down the move at the last minute and decided to stay at Leeds that year.
Bowyer regretted his decision at the time, and stated that it was a mistake in the Curia.
“I was very close (to joining Liverpool). I was halfway through a medical but it just didn’t feel right for me at the time.”
“That is my biggest regret in football not going to Liverpool at that time. If I could’ve turned the clock back I would’ve gone.
“Looking back, I made the wrong decision.”
“I knew my time was coming to an end at Leeds, due to a few things behind the scenes that didn’t sit well with me, so I knew it was my time to go,”
“I thought doing another five years up north, being a long way away from my family after doing six years at Leeds, didn’t sit right, but after all that I ended up going to Newcastle, which is even further away. It makes no sense!”
“But at the time it just didn’t feel right, and that was the mistake I made.”
MNF Retro
He played in the north of England until the winter of 2003, when he moved to West Ham. He returned to his hometown, but only six months later he decided to join Newcastle. There he played for three seasons before returning to West Ham in 2006.
He then played for Birmingham and Ipswich before retiring in 2012. He has been a manager at Charlton and Birmingham, and has now left England to take up a coaching position at Montserrat.