Lee Bowyer

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Lee Bowyer
Personal information
Full name	Lee David Bowyer
Date of birth	January 3, 1977 (age 29)
Place of birth	Newham, London, England
Position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	West Ham United
Number	29
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1993–96 1996–2003 2003 2003–06 2006–present	Charlton Athletic Leeds United West Ham United Newcastle United West Ham United	46 (8) 203 (38) 10 (0) 79 (6) 7 (0)
National team
2002	England	1 (0)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Lee David Bowyer (born January 3, 1977 in Newham, London) is a professional football player 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. 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 purely-Asian staff to "get a white guy in to serve me or I'll trash the place". 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 early stages of the 1999/2000 season, a tackle by Bowyer on the Spurs midfielder Stephen Clemence prompted a brawl between Leeds and Tottenham players. Each club was fined £150,000 by the FA for their part in the incident. That season, Bowyer was also given a one-match ban and a £4,000 fine by the FA for becoming the first Premiership player to amass 14 yellow cards in one season.

[edit] Racism

After an incident outside a Leeds city centre nightclub, Bowyer was accused of involvement in the assault of the student Safraz 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.

Perhaps the most amusing of Bowyer's various racially motivated incidents was the December 19 2001, when the Mirror newspaper published front page, which next to an image of Bowyer's head exclaimed: "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)"

It is popularly blamed on the Leeds administration for the deterioration of his career, this culminated in Terry Venables, then manager, forcing him out of the club due to him allegedly being jealous of Bowyer's playing skills in relation to his own. Bowyer was also attributed with having a strong distaste for the city of Leeds due to a 'lack of support from the fickle fans'.

In January 2003, Bowyer signed for West Ham United 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 £200,000. Dyer was not fined as Bowyer was alleged 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. 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.

[edit] External links

• Lee Bowyer career stats at Soccerbase

West Ham United F.C. - Current Squad
1 Carroll | 2 Mears | 3 Konchesky | 4 Gabbidon | 5 Ferdinand | 6 McCartney | 7 Dailly | 8 Sheringham | 9 Ashton | 10 Harewood | 11 Etherington | 12 Cole | 14 Pantsil | 15 Benayoun | 16 Mascherano | 17 Mullins | 18 Spector | 19 Collins | 20 Reo-Coker | 21 Green | 23 Walker | 24 Noble | 25 Zamora | 26 Newton | 29 Bowyer | 30 Tomkins | 31 Stokes | 32 Tévez | Caretaker Manager: Keen