Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler has signed a contract with Australian A League side Perth Glory. His two year contract with North Queensland Fury was made null and void after the franchise collapsed and now, the former Reds striker, has put to an end weeks of speculation about his future. Fowler apparently rejected two bigger offers from Sydney FC and an unnamed Middle Eastern club to join the Glory, and has signed a 1 year contract believed to be worth around $800,000. Glory owner Tony Sage said to the Daily Telegraph:
“There were two or three other offers, especially from a mid east club, that were higher. So why did he decide to come to Perth? We convinced him that the lifestyle here was excellent, the way the club’s going, the direction we’re heading.”
Apparently former Fury Head coach Ian Ferguson was influential in the move. Ferguson, now Assistant Manager at the Glory, had apparently phoned Fowler to persuade him to come to Perth. It is all the more surprising considering Ferguson and Fowler were rumoured to have fallen out at the Fury last season, but Sage believed the Scot was critical in the move taking place:
“Despite all the media reports he [Fowler] gets on very well with Fergie. In fact the first call that was made was by Ferguson to Robbie saying that we were interested, do you want to come and look at Perth as an option. So let’s dispel any rumours from the beginning that there’s any animosity between the two, they’re both men, they both sorted it out, so there’s no problem there, otherwise the contact wouldn’t have been made in the first place.”
The move for Fowler, who scored nine goals in the A League last campaign, only took place because of a change in the rules that allowed clubs to sign two “Marquee” players rather than just one, with the proviso that one is Australian. “Marquee” players are allowed as exceptions to the salary cap that is enforced in the league, and with Perth’s Marquee player Mile Sterjovski being Australian, Fowler was allowed to sign on the dotted line.
