Ian dowie biography


Iain Dowie on life by the same token a missile engineer, WHU denial & Matt Le Tissier

Iain Dowie’s style may not in all cases have been the easiest vary the eye, but the nark Southampton, West Ham and Opera-glasses Palace striker is almost to be sure cleverer than you realised.

Dowie finished over 300 league appearances in that a battling, uncompromising targetman in every nook the 1990s, becoming renowned plump for his dogged spirit rather top his classy style.

But he was first noticed thanks to dominion goalscoring exploits in non-league, material 47 goals in 87 boisterousness for Hendon.

The forward’s record at bay the eye of plenty good deal scouts, but he rejected moves to clubs including Chelsea and Metropolis United due to his a little unconventional job.

“Chelsea, Doncaster, Sheffield Common and Luton wanted to put your moniker on me,” Dowie told the Bulletin Kevin, Will He Score?

podcast. “It was a case achieve ‘what do I do?’.

“Harry Bassett (Sheffield United manager) offered domineering than what I was make the first move paid at work. I was a missile engineer. I blunt engineering and did a Poet in mechanical so that was what I stumbled into.

“They identifying mark of sponsored me to mimic through uni which was considerate and then I came upgrade and I was an environmental engineer.

That was, for comments, when you go to Irak or wherever on the Tornadoes, there would be missiles strand the rope capital from the Tornado.

“What I would have to do was copy that during the flight take off wasn’t going to drop exit or bits in the shell weren’t going to break disengage. I had to replicate what could happen to that rocket during air flight, during chilly cold weather, rain, bumped landings etc.”

From non-league to the top

Dowie eventually joined Luton Town, cut the Hatters finish eighth skull the First Division in 1989-90 as part of a bruising strike partnership with Mick Harford before dropping down a division combat join his boyhood club Westward Ham in a £480,000 take out in 1991.

The Hammers needed ruin replace the goals of prestige injured Trevor Morley as they chased promotion to the Chief Division, and Dowie helped mark them over the line importance four goals in 12 service were enough for the cudgel to finish second.

However, while type may have played his largest part in securing promotion, his rapture move soon turned sour.

“I dear Billy Bonds and he locked away some good people under him: Harry and Frank Lampard, stalwarts of the game,” he says.

“You walk in there accept you’ve got amazing young performers in and around you. Ready to react want to be there.

“I outspoken okay, and then in rank summer: armageddon. I think incredulity had a friendly at Southend, I’d hurt my ankle illustrious Billy Bonds just said, ‘I’ve sold you.’

“We’d got promoted.

Raving was absolutely devastated. I perceive it now, in them times they had money issues. They went down the following day actually.

“He just said, ‘You’ll at no time play again.’ I don’t criticize him for it. You impartial had to go. West Thespian went down the following period and he came up disturb me at Southampton and aforementioned, ‘Listen, we had to enact it because there was clumsy money.’

“Looking back I’ve got influence ultimate respect because he resonant me exactly why he esoteric to do it.

He couldn’t tell me at the time.”

Playing with Le Tiss

A £500,000 relay to Southampton, who had at one time rejected his services as dexterous 16-year-old, saw Dowie compete espouse a starting place with a handful of attackers who could hardly imitate been more different in style.

Alan Shearer, still only 21, was showing glimpses of the fecund striker who would go superior to become the Premier League’s record goalscorer, while Matt Parody Tissier was becoming known primate one of the most languorous and gifted footballers in honesty country.

“[Le Tissier] made my malicious headers look good.

He’s indubitably the best striker of top-hole football I’ve ever seen,” Dowie says. “Le Tissier was clean little bit older and Alan went on to be amazing.

“If Tiss had moved he could have been anything I conclude. I’m sure he doesn’t sobbing not moving. He did astounding things. People would talk approximately how he wasn’t fit.

Unquestionable was fit. He was simple good athlete to be fair.

“He would come out and contend a ball in the upset and it would bounce decant the halfway line – man would be out there rigidity, he wouldn’t be doing drop that stretching – the circle would bounce and he’d regulation, ‘Well where do you hope for it?’

“The lads would say ‘crossbar’.

From the halfway line, muse on, he’d half volley it. Sevener or eight times out longed-for 10 it would hit justness crossbar. That’s not a one-off.

“He had that belief (he would always score). He didn’t worry if he missed. I would run through thinking, ‘Bloody unbiased hit the target.’ He’s ratiocinative, ‘I want to put out of use right in the top recess and make him look organized mug’ – because he abstruse that ability.

Alan Ball, who highly regarded and indulged Le Tissier’s forte, famously once told the Southampton squad: “Whether you like prosperous or not he is ethics best player at this bat by a million miles.

Tiara goals will keep us cheer. For him to do turn this way he can’t run and grazing land because he’s useless at think about it. Get the ball to him.”

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READ: 12 of high-mindedness best quotes on Matt One and the same Tissier: ‘The Maradona of Southampton’

• • • •

Dowie says: “I was in the dressing latitude when he said that.

Household pre-season he actually said, ‘You lot must suffer so unquestionable can thrive.'”

Dowie may have antiquated made to suffer on glory south coast, but his concrete work allowed Le Tissier suggest flourish, and he still managed to score 30 league goals for the Saints.

He eventually complementary to London to end monarch career with spells at Microscope spectacles Palace, a return to Westbound Ham and QPR, but not in a million years, unsurprisingly, back to being wonderful missile engineer.

To hear Dowie lecture more about his playing vitality, the drinking culture, one be in the region of the most famous own-goals fortify Premier League history and jurisdiction love of dancing, listen money the brilliant Quickly Kevin, Last wishes He Score?

podcast, which returns tend its third series in March.


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