Robbie Fowler remains one of the most revered figures in Liverpool history.
To the Anfield faithful, he was simply ‘God’ a natural-born killer in the penalty box who struck 183 goals in 369 appearances for the club.
He was a central figure in Gerard Houllier’s iconic 2001 treble-winning side.
He won the [PFA Young Player of the Year award in back-to-back seasons.](https://www.thepfa.com/pfaawards/past-winners?gender=&category=&club=&year=&nationality=)
Yet, for all his ruthless efficiency on Merseyside, Fowler’s international career stands as one of English football’s great anomalies.
Despite his relentless goalscoring record, he was systematically overlooked by a succession of England managers, restricted to just 26 caps. Now 51, the Toxteth-born striker remains remarkably candid about a situation he still finds difficult to rationalise
Fowler addressed the reality of his peripheral status for the national team during an appearance on [Simon Jordan’s _Up Front_ podcast.](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CCG1-IwSOvo) When Jordan pressed him on why a striker of his immense calibre could not command a regular place in the England setup, Fowler admitted the situation still puzzles him.
“The genuine answer is I don’t know because I mean I’d scored almost 100 goals before I got my first cap. I think it’s extraordinary in all honesty I genuinely think it’s a little bit of a head wrecker.
“What concerned me was the amount of goals I’d scored and still couldn’t get a look in now you think back and think it’s probably wrong, but…
if you’re a manager and you’re comfortable with certain players in certain formations or certain players in certain roles then you’re going to go with that. At the time it’s hard to take because you think I should be a given.”
Elite players universally view international football as the pinnacle. However, because managers denied Fowler a fair crack of the whip, his relationship with the national team quickly soured. Managers rarely trusted him to lead the line from the start, and when they did, they kept him on a notoriously short leash.
“Started 11 games and out of the 11 games I only finished four of them so did I get a decent chance, probably not in all fairness,” Fowler reflected.
“People can make it out what they want. I can sit here and I can cry and I can pour milk on anything, but the fact of the matter is that’s what the managers were thinking, I don’t agree with it, and I still won’t agree with it.
“I never enjoyed playing for England for the simple fact is I never played enough when I played. When I played, of course, I did love playing for England, but I always felt I was a bit-part player. I was going to go down there, and I was never ever going to play now, I think anyone will tell you if you’re going down there all the time and you’re in squads and you’re never really getting a look in.
It’s more than a bit demoralising because the amount of goals I had scored from a club, so I’m not saying that you have to have a defined right to go and start any game for England.”
While the international snubs undoubtedly caused frustration, Fowler always reserved his emotional investment for L4 rather than Soho Square.
When analyzing the dynamic, Fowler drew a sharp contrast between his own outlook and that of his former Liverpool strike partner, Michael Owen, who became the poster boy for the national team during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
“If you think of a footballing person and the way they are and the way people’s perception of him is. I think Michael’s perception was he thought more of England than his club,” Fowler explained. “But with mine, I thought more of the club than England and now it could have been the other way around if I had played more.
Ultimately, this lack of international recognition does nothing to diminish Fowler’s towering legacy on Merseyside. England’s loss became Liverpool’s gain. When Kopites look back at his career, they do not count his caps; they remember the visceral brilliance of a local working-class hero who came alive under the Anfield lights.
Decades after managers cast Fowler aside, a new generation of talent prepares to carry the hopes of the nation on the grandest stage of all. England begin their 2026 World Cup journey across the Atlantic this month, aiming to end sixty years of hurt. While modern Three Lions bosses value clinical edge more than ever, the current squad boasts a depth that Fowler’s generation could only dream of.
As the current crop of stars takes the pitch to launch their tournament campaign, Liverpool fans will look on with a familiar perspective. International accolades come and go, but as ‘God’ himself proved, true immortality belongs to those who conquer Anfield.