It’s 20 years to the day since Robbie Fowler returned to Liverpool after a conversation with then-manager Rafa Benitez.
Fowler is one of the all-time greats to ply his trade at Anfield.
His first stint at the club was iconic. He started his Liverpool career with 12 goals in his first 13 appearances, setting a standard he would maintain for years as the go-to goalscorer in the side.
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Leaving in 2001 on somewhat of a sour note, Fowler would spend four years away from Merseyside, but he never stopped loving the club. He always wanted to go back, and he got that chance after some persuading.
Robbie Fowler recalls talking to Rafa Benitez about returning to Liverpool
To mark the 20-year anniversary of his comeback, Fowler took part in an interview for Liverpoolfc.com, and described his efforts to return to the fold after that famous Champions League night in Istanbul.
He recalls: “After that match was the first time I had met Rafa Benitez. I was in a bar in Liverpool following the game, I actually think it was a club function that I had managed to sneak myself into. It took a little bit of Dutch courage, if I am totally honest, but I was quickly in his ear and telling him how much I’d love to come back.
“He fobbed me off at first, but it was less than a year later that I got a phone call out of nowhere when I was at Manchester City…
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“I was actually on the golf course at the time, and I genuinely thought it was a wind-up at first and someone was doing an impersonation. I just left my golf clubs with my mates straight away.”
Liverpool football manager Rafael Benitez takes his seat before their English Premiership football match against Aston Villa at Anfield, Liverpool, north-west England, 21 January 200
Photo credit should read PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images
That was early 2006. Fowler was past his prime by this point, but he showed he could still put the ball in the back of the net. When healthy, he was delivering more goals for Benitez than any other striker in the side.
Fitness was always a concern with the striker, and he only made six league starts in his final season at the club, but Fowler has no regrets.
As he explains: “Getting that chance to return to Liverpool was the best thing that ever happened to me in football. It was better than winning trophies. I got the chance to pull on a red shirt again and I probably appreciated it more.
Robbie Fowler playing for Liverpool
Photo by Phil Cole/Getty Images
“Rafa had said to me that he wanted me to come in and energise the players and the club and give everyone a lift – I’d like to think I did that. My goals-per-game ratio wasn’t too bad!
“I knew I wasn’t going to play as much, I knew my place in that scenario – but when you go to other places and experience other things, you realise how special and big Liverpool is.”
During his two stints at the club, Fowler scored 183 goals in 369 appearances, and was one of the more beloved players to ever wear the red shirt.
Nicknamed ‘God’ by the Anfield faithful, he is a true legend of Liverpool.
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