Robbie Fowler

By Craig · Published 27 October 2026

Robbie Fowler is a Toxteth-born striker who scored 163 Premier League goals, 128 of them for Liverpool. The Kop called him God.

His 28 league goals in 1995/96 are still the most by an Englishman for Liverpool in one season.

Clubs

Liverpool (1993 to 2001), Leeds United (2001 to 2003), Manchester City (2003 to 2006), Liverpool (2006 to 2007), Cardiff City (2007 to 2008), Blackburn Rovers (2008)

Premier League

379 appearances, 163 goals

Honours

League Cup 1995 and 2001, FA Cup 2001, UEFA Cup 2001, PFA Young Player of the Year 1995 and 1996

International

England, 26 caps, 7 goals

Fantasy price

£10.0m in 1995/96

Who did he play for?

He made his Liverpool debut in 1993 and scored five against Fulham in a League Cup tie on 5 October that year, in his fourth game. He scored 12 league goals in his first season and 25 in his second, when Liverpool won the League Cup.

In 1995/96 he scored 28 in 38 league games and was Player of the Month in December and January. He was the PFA Young Player of the Year in 1995 and again in 1996. On 14 December 1996 he scored four against Middlesbrough, his 100th Liverpool goal in his 165th game.

Injuries cut into 1997/98 and 1999/2000. In 2000/01 Liverpool won the League Cup, the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup, and he scored in the League Cup final. He won 26 England caps between 1996 and 2002.

Leeds paid £11 million for him in November 2001 and he scored 12 in 22 league games that season. In January 2003 he moved to Manchester City for £3 million plus add-ons, and scored 21 league goals in three seasons there.

Liverpool took him back on a free in January 2006. He scored five in 14 games that spring and three in 16 the following season, and was in the squad for the 2007 Champions League final.

He finished in England with a season at Cardiff and three games for Blackburn, then played in Australia and Thailand until 2012. He has since managed Muangthong United, Brisbane Roar, East Bengal and Al-Qadsiah.

The moment: Arsenal, 28 August 1994

Anfield, Sunday 28 August 1994. Liverpool 3-0 Arsenal, and all three were his, inside four minutes and 33 seconds of the first half. The third came from a long John Barnes pass. It stood as the fastest Premier League hat-trick until Sadio Mané beat it in May 2015.

Two other afternoons get mentioned as often.

Highbury, 24 March 1997. Referee Gerald Ashby gave a penalty when Fowler went down under David Seaman. Fowler told him Seaman hadn't touched him. The penalty stood, Seaman saved it and Jason McAteer scored the rebound. UEFA gave Fowler a fair play award.

Anfield, 3 April 1999. After scoring a penalty against Everton he went to the byline in front of the away end and mimed sniffing the white line. The FA banned him for four games and fined him, with two more games added for an earlier incident with Graeme Le Saux.

Why the streets won't forget

The Kop called him God. Michael Owen said the nickname summed it up.

Only Mohamed Salah has scored more Premier League goals for Liverpool than his 128.

In March 1997, after scoring against Brann in the Cup Winners' Cup, he lifted his shirt to show a T-shirt backing Liverpool's striking dockers. UEFA fined him £900.

He has been shortlisted for the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2024 and 2025.

Which seasons can you draft him in?

Ten. His first two Liverpool seasons come before the game starts, 2007/08 at Cardiff was in the Championship, and his return to Anfield and three games for Blackburn don't make the game's squads.

In 1995/96 he is £1.5m cheaper than Alan Shearer and scored three fewer. He played all 38 games.

Want him in your retro fantasy football team for 1995/96? He'll cost you £10.0m.