This Saturday, Bowen will put all those hard yards in the potato fields into action at the Stadium of Light, where he will lead his West Ham team – and family – into the new season.
Having scored two goals and assisted two more and looked razor-sharp in pre-season, he is fit and firing ahead of the Premier League opener at newly promoted Sunderland.
And he revealed his Dad will hit the road for a five-hour, 270-mile drive from the Bowen family home in Leominster to Wearside in his own unique style to cheer him on.
“He tries to come to as many games as he can, and he's already thinking about the Sunderland game and told me he’s going to drive his campervan up there!” Bowen explained. “The campervan went to the Euros in Germany last summer. There was him, my brother and my two best mates and they all had a go at driving it.
“He’s got that campervan for his little trips away, and he's going to drive up to Sunderland. He's already planned his route out and found a caravan park where he's going to park it and then come up to the ground!”
The 28-year-old is a true Hammers legend in his own lifetime, then, but the man himself says he still has so much more to achieve in a West Ham shirt, with one particular ambition at the very top of his list.
“I’ve got one thing that I’d love to do here at the Club and that is I’d love to win the FA Cup!” he smiled. “Growing up, watching football, it’s the most prestigious cup competition and there have been some brilliant stories through the years.
“To see Crystal Palace win it last year and what it means for them as a club and the fans, with the celebrations they had, I really enjoyed seeing it because it was a moment for them that they might not have expected to happen.
“So I think, obviously I’d love to win the Premier League and play in the Champions League, but something that I’d love to do this season is win the FA Cup!”