International Soccer Archive - Player Profiles - Lee Bowyer (Newcastle United & England)

Date of Birth: 3rd of January 1977
Place of Birth: London

Lee Bowyer left school and in April 1994 aged 17 signed with First Division, Charlton Athletic but always wanted to play for his cherished West Ham United. During the summer of 1996 he was sought after by a number of English Premiership clubs. He chose Leeds because he thought he had the chance to win medals with them and it cost Leeds £3.5 million - 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. Throughout his Leeds career, Bowyer 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 a student outside a Leeds nightclub.

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. In January of 2003 Bowyer moved to West Ham for a cut price fee of £250,000 and as a life long West Ham supporter Lee Bowyer jumped at the chance to sign for the Hammers.

At the end of the 2002 / 03 season, after failing to keep the Hammers from being relegated from the Premiership, he joined Newcastle United on a free transfer.