In recent months it would seem the urge for Footballers to write their autobiography has gone through the roof. The likes of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and even Wayne Rooney have released their stories on the unsuspecting market. They were probably all signed up before the World Cup as a just in case they win it contingency by publishes. I’ve always thought though that footballers should wait to the end of their careers before writing one. Although he’s not at the end of his career I recently was given a copy of Robbie Fowler’s book and thought it might be worth a read.

Robbie isn’t at the end of his career and certainly wasn’t when he wrote the book almost 2 years ago but he had been playing football for over 12 years as a professional. I don’t really have any feelings towards Liverpool or either of Fowler’s other clubs but he was one of the first Sky TV recognisable footballers, a point he makes during this book. So for me he is one of my earliest memories of the Premiership and a player who’s been there since I started watching Live Premiership football. So it was for that reason I quite fancied reading about Robbie’s career that has taken him from Liverpool to Man City via a short stay in Leeds.

I’ve read a few autobiographies over the years and I’ve found them to be interesting enough but I thought a lot of them lacked passion and that personal touch. In Fowler’s there is plenty of that personal touch as he writes this in a very similar way to how he actually talks. It hasn’t been written in perfect English and is full of all the slang and coarse language that he deems necessary. While I can understand people saying there is no need for swearing I think it helps to add Character to Fowler’s story.

Throughout the book I really got the impression that Fowler was quite a private person. He sticks mostly to his football career, although there are parts about his family. In the most part though he uses the book to clear up certain misconceptions about himself, including what seems like a rather unjustified accusations of drug abuse. I’d always seen Fowler in the way the media portrayed him but this book really helps to clear up a lot of misconceptions that I, and possibly a lot of other people held about him.

Of particular interest are his tales about the people he’s worked with. He makes a number of positive comments about 3 of his 4 Liverpool managers and also a number of fellow pros. Of particular interest were his comments about the fourth of those managers, Gerrard Houllier, who he believes tried to force him out of the club he loved. He also reveals details about his time in the England squad and his opinions on England managers over the years.

I thought that Fowler’s story made for very interesting reading and really held my attention throughout. It’s an interesting story and takes you from his roots in Toxteth through his entire career. If there was one fault in the book I’d say it was Fowler trying so hard to put a different spin on the reputation his childhood home Toxteth has. In the end that becomes a little much and although it’s clear he’s proud to be from Toxteth he takes it a little too far at times. I also feel the personal approach, complete with Scouse slang, will put people off reading this book.

Overall though I would recommend Fowler’s autobiography. While I am still a firm believer that a player should leave it till their career is over it did make for interesting reading. My only regret is the copy I have doesn’t include the revised edition released after his return to his beloved Liverpool. That aside it’s a fascinating story and one I have thoroughly enjoyed reading. While I’ve read a number of autobiographies, very few of those have been football ones, but Fowler’s will probably be the first of many.

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