Robbie Fowler
He's now the manager of Brisbane Roar FC in Australia, but just over 25 years ago Robbie Fowler was a teenage goalscoring sensation. Born in Toxteth, the same suburb of Liverpool that Curtis Jones is from, Fowler was just 18 when scoring on his debut at Fulham FC in the League Cup.
This was in 1993, when the second round of the League Cup was played over two legs, and it was in the return game at Anfield when it became clear that the Liverpool FC production line had unearthed a new star. The Reds beat Fulham FC 5-0 and Fowler scored all five.
After scoring his first Premier League goal against Oldham Athletic FC at Anfield later that month, manager Graeme Souness kept him in the team and Fowler ended October 1993 with his first league hat-trick, coming in a 4-2 home win against Southampton FC.
A broken ankle suffered against Bristol City FC in the FA Cup in January 1994 ruled Robbie out for two months, but on his return to action – with Roy Evans now the Liverpool FC manager – he scored the winning goal in the Merseyside derby at Anfield.
It was the last goal scored against Everton FC in front of the old standing Spion Kop before it was replaced with an all-seater stand, and by then his Liverpool FC team-mates had nicknamed him 'God' because he could do no wrong!
Fowler finished 1993/94 with 18 goals, but he was no one-season wonder. He began 1994/95 by scoring an Anfield hat-trick against Arsenal FC in just four minutes and 33 seconds – a Premier League record that stood until Sadio Mané broke it while playing for Southampton FC in 2015.
Red-hot Robbie couldn't stop scoring. He became the first LFC player to net over 20 goals in a Premier League season, hitting 25 in total, and scored winners in both legs of the League Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace FC. The Reds went on to beat Bolton Wanderers FC in the final.
At the end of the season Fowler was named PFA Young Player of the Year for 1995, and he landed the same award again 12 months later after having an even better goalscoring season in 1995/96.
His tally of 36 goals included 28 scored in the Premier League. Four of them came in a 5-2 Anfield win against Bolton Wanderers FC, and four of them came in two games against Manchester United FC. He scored a memorable double at Old Trafford – famously shoving Gary Neville off the ball before chipping home his second in a 2-2 draw – and his two goals in a 2-0 Anfield win included a brilliant free-kick.
What made Fowler different to most of the great Liverpool FC goalscorers that came before him was that he was left-footed. Perhaps the best of all his goals for the Reds came at Anfield in March 1996 when he turned past Aston Villa FC's ex-Red Steve Staunton and scored with an unerring left-footed drive from 25 yards out.
In December 1996, Fowler scored his 100th goal for LFC against Middlesbrough FC, reaching the milestone a game quicker than Liverpool FC's all-time greatest goalscorer Ian Rush did. He scored 31 goals in 1996/97, 18 of them in the Premier League, but a serious knee injury suffered in February 1998 ruled Fowler out for seven months.
He was never quite the same player after that but, under the management of Gerard Houllier, continued to score goals, netting 18 in 1998/99. After missing much of 1999/2000 through injury, a revived Robbie hit 17 goals in 2000/01, including a hat-trick in Liverpool FC's record 8-0 away win at Stoke City FC in the League Cup.
Fowler also scored in the League Cup final win against Birmingham City FC and the UEFA Cup final victory against Deportivo Alaves as the Reds collected a treble of trophies, also winning the FA Cup. His double on the final day of the Premier League season at Charlton Athletic FC also secured Liverpool FC's first-ever qualification to the UEFA Champions League.
However, shortly after scoring another hat-trick at Leicester City FC in October 2001, Fowler was sold to Leeds United FC. He left having scored 171 goals in 330 games, but there was to be a twist in the tale.
In January 2006, new manager Rafa Benitez brought Fowler back to Liverpool FC, signing him from Manchester City FC. Just like when bursting onto the scene 13 years earlier, Fowler's first goal during his second spell also came against Fulham FC, this time in a 5-1 win at Anfield.
Over the course of 18 months Fowler scored another 12 goals for LFC, taking his final total to 183 in 369 games, and is now forging a managerial career in Australia. For many Kopites who saw him play, he remains then most natural-born goalscorer to wear the red shirt.
