| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mark Rosslyn Bowen | ||
| Date of birth | (1963-12-07)7 December 1963 (age 62) | ||
| Place of birth | Neath, Wales | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | |||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Forest Green Rovers (director of football) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1980–1981 | Tottenham Hotspur | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1981–1987 | Tottenham Hotspur | 17 | (2) |
| 1987–1996 | Norwich City | 321 | (24) |
| 1996–1997 | West Ham United | 17 | (1) |
| 1997 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 7 | (3) |
| 1997–1999 | Charlton Athletic | 42 | (0) |
| 1999 | Wigan Athletic | 7 | (0) |
| 1999 | Reading | 0 | (0) |
| Total | 411 | (30) | |
| International career | |||
| 1982–1983 | Wales U21 | 3 | (0) |
| 1986–1997 | Wales | 41 | (3) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2001 | Crystal Palace U23s | ||
| 2012 | Queens Park Rangers (caretaker) | ||
| 2019–2020 | Reading | ||
| 2022 | AFC Wimbledon (interim) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Mark Rosslyn Bowen (born 7 December 1963) is a Welsh football manager and former professional footballer. He is currently Director of Football atForest Green Rovers.
A left-back who also played in midfield, Bowen played in thePremier League forNorwich City,West Ham United andCharlton Athletic, having initially played in the top flight withTottenham Hotspur. He also played in theFootball League withWigan Athletic andReading, as well as in Japan withShimizu S-Pulse. He was capped 41 times byWales, scoring 3 goals.
Since retiring in 1999, he has worked as assistant and First team coach to former international teammateMark Hughes with Wales,Blackburn Rovers,Manchester City,Fulham,Queens Park Rangers,Stoke City andSouthampton. Bowen was head coach and manager of Reading during the2019–20 season.
Bowen joinedTottenham Hotspur as an apprentice in 1980, signing his first professional contract in December 1981. First-team opportunities were limited for him atWhite Hart Lane and he made only 20 full appearances for the club though he was a member of the successful Tottenham Hotspur Squad of the1984 UEFA Cup Final. In the summer of 1987,Norwich City managerKen Brown paid Spurs £90,000 for Bowen, who was one of a number of players that Norwich signed from Tottenham during that period. He made his debut for the Canaries on 19 August 1987 in a league match againstSouthampton atCarrow Road. Mark Bowen scored his first goal forNorwich City againstWest Ham United on New Year's Day 1988 in a 4–1 win at home in the first division.[2]
Bowen spent much of his first season at Norwich playing on the left of midfield, but soon, Bowen made the left-back spot his own for the next eight years. As well as carrying out his defensive duties in a consistent and dependable manner, Bowen was a threat going forward and in the1989–90 season he finished as the team's joint top league goalscorer. That season, he also collected theBarry Butler memorial trophy when the supporters voted himNorwich City player of the year.
On 8 April 1989, Bowen was involved in an unusual incident in a match againstCoventry City atHighfield Road. GoalkeeperBryan Gunn was sent off for arguing incessantly with the referee after he had awarded Coventry a penalty kick. Bowen went in goal to replace him, only for Coventry's specialist penalty takerBrian Kilcline to miss the spot-kick by putting it wide. Coventry won 2–1.Bowen was chosen to represent the Barclays Division One representative side v Italy Serie A in Naples in January 1991.Italy Serie A won 3-0 with goals from Van Basten, Careca andDiego Simeone.
Bowen was a key member of the Norwich team that finished third in the inaugural season of theFA Premier League after topping the table for most of that season (1992–93) and qualified for theUEFA Cup as a result. In the second round of the UEFA Cup run, Bowen scored one of the most famous goals in Norwich City's history when his header put Norwich 2–0 up in theaway leg againstFC Bayern Munich. Norwich won the match 2–1 and remained as the only British club to beat FC Bayern at their own stadium untilChelsea defeated Bayern at theAllianz Arena in the2012 UEFA Champions League Final.Arsenal later did the same, though they lost their tie on aggregate following defeat at home.
At the end of the1994–95 season, Norwich were relegated from the Premiership, many thought, due to the continually selling of key players. The season that followed was one of the worst in the club's history and it was Bowen's last at Carrow Road. The club was in a desperate financial position and came close to going out of business.[citation needed]Gary Megson replacedMartin O'Neill as manager halfway through the season and although and ex teammate, he and Bowen did not enjoy a good relationship.[citation needed] Bowen was critical of what he saw of the club's situation and was dropped from the team by Megson when he had played 399 matches for the club. He was not given the opportunity for a 400th. At the end of the season, as the club began trying to pick up the pieces after chairmanRobert Chase had left the club close to bankruptcy, Bowen was one of the players released in order to reduce the club's outgoings.[citation needed]
Bowen was highly regarded by the Canaries' fans. For example, in 2002, in a survey to mark the club's centenary, Norwich fans voted Bowen the club's best ever left-back and put him in the club's 'all-time XI'. He is also a member of theNorwich City F.C. Hall of Fame. He won 35 Welsh caps while at Norwich, meaning that he holds the record for being the club's most capped player. He was nicknamed 'Taff' because of his Welsh connections.
After leaving Carrow Road, Bowen signed forWest Ham United making his debut appearance on 21 August 1996 in a 1–1 home draw againstCoventry City. He made 20 appearances forThe Hammers in all competitions scoring one goal in a 2–0 away win againstNottingham Forest on 21 September 1996.[3] In January 1997 he signed a lucrative contract forShimizu S-Pulse in Japan, again on a free transfer, before signing forCharlton Athletic shortly after the start of the1997–98 season. He was a member of the Addicks side that won promotion to the Premiership at the end of that season after a memorable play-off final againstSunderland atWembley ended 4–4. Charlton won the penalty shoot-out, with Bowen scoring one of the spot-kicks. For a while during his time at Norwich Bowen had been the team's penalty taker. He scored just twice from the spot for Norwich, againstNotts County andQueens Park Rangers respectively.
That 1998 play-off final proved to be the last high-point of Bowen's playing career. He left Charlton a year later having suffered a serious injury and he played briefly forWigan Athletic andReading.
Bowen began his coaching career while at Reading asMark Hughes made him Assistant Manager for the Welsh national side. He then linked up with former Norwich teammateSteve Bruce when he was manager first atCrystal Palace, then atBirmingham City.
In 2002, under Bruce and Bowen's stewardship, Birmingham won promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs. They won the final against Norwich City in a penalty shoot-out after the match had ended 1–1. Bowen remained at Birmingham for two more years taking them to 10th position in the Premier League before leaving in the summer of 2004.[4] Shortly afterwards in August 2004 Bowen returned to the Wales national team set-up.[5][6] The move caused some controversy as Hughes appointed Bowen without the knowledge of theFootball Association of Wales.[7]Bowen obtained his UEFA Pro Coaching License in the inaugural English version in 2004.On 16 September 2004, Hughes was appointed manager atBlackburn Rovers and Bowen joined him as assistant manager.[8][9] Whilst at Blackburn, Bowen was linked with the managerial vacancy at West Brom, Norwich City and Swansea City.[10][11] In June 2008, Bowen followed Hughes toManchester City as assistant manager, and left the club with him in December 2009 with club sitting 3rd in Premier League and in semi final of League Cup.[12][13] Whilst at Manchester City the club was taken over by the wealthyAbu Dhabi United Group.[14]
In August 2010, Bowen again followed Hughes, to become his assistant atFulham.[15] An eighth place Premier League place was achieved. Hughes and Bowen turned down contract offers from Fulham due to uncertainties as to how the club was being run at that time. Following Hughes departure in June 2011, Bowen also left the club. Bowen worked with Hughes atQueens Park Rangers for a year, saving the club from relegation from the Premier League in 2011. Hughes was sacked in November 2012.[16] Bowen took caretaker charge of QPR for one match againstManchester United in a 3–1 defeat.[17]
Bowen then joined Hughes atStoke City in June 2013.[18] Three top ten Premier League finishes followed - Which was Stoke City's highest ever position in Premier League. He remained at Stoke until January 2018.[19]
After Hughes was appointedSouthampton manager in March 2018, Bowen followed him toSt. Mary's, initially on a contract for the remainder of the 2017–18 season. In May 2018, after successfully steering Southampton to Premier League safety, it was announced that Bowen had signed a new long-term contract.[20] On 3 December 2018, he was dismissed following the sacking of Mark Hughes. His Premier league coaching career now spanning some 537 Premier League games.[21]
On 27 March 2019, Bowen was hired as a technical consultant forReading.[22] He was announced as the club's sporting director on 21 August,[23] and succeededJosé Gomes as manager on 14 October.[24][25] Prior to being appointed manager he had been tasked with drawing up a shortlist of candidates for the job he eventually was offered.[26] On 17 January 2020, Bowen extended his contract until the end of the 2020–2021 season. Bowen took Reading from 23rd in the Championship table to 14th, a rise of nine places.[27] On 29 August 2020, Bowen was replaced as manager byVeljko Paunović,[28] and despite being offered a new role by the club as sport director, his departure from Reading was confirmed on 31 August 2020.[29]
On 30 March 2022, Bowen was appointed manager ofLeague One clubAFC Wimbledon until the end of the season with the club sitting in 21st position, one point from safety with seven matches remaining,[30] and without a win for nearly four months. Despite an improvement in form, he was unable to arrest the losing run,[31] the team were relegated and he left the club.[32]
Bowen returned to Reading in May 2022 as head of football operations.[33] He left Reading FC in September 2024.[34]
In June 2025, Bowen joinedNational League sideForest Green Rovers as Director of Football.[35]
Bowen is married to wife Karen since 1986. They have three children . Daniella is an accomplished actress with London West End lead credits to her name. Joshua a Head of Performance at Reading Football Club and Jackson is a Lead Recruitment Analyst.In May 2024, Bowen was charged by theFootball Association concerning alleged breaches of betting rules. The charge related to bets placed on football matches between April 2022 to January 2024, none of which related to Reading FC.[36] In August 2024, Bowen suspended from football for 4 weeks for breaching Football Association rules.[37]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other[A] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Tottenham Hotspur | 1983–84 | First Division | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 1984–85 | First Division | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| 1985–86 | First Division | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1986–87 | First Division | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| Total | 17 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 2 | ||
| Norwich City | 1987–88 | First Division | 24 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 2 |
| 1988–89 | First Division | 35 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 2 | |
| 1989–90 | First Division | 38 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 47 | 7 | |
| 1990–91 | First Division | 37 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 48 | 1 | |
| 1991–92 | First Division | 36 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 4 | |
| 1992–93 | Premier League | 42 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 1 | |
| 1993–94 | Premier League | 41 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 53 | 6 | |
| 1994–95 | Premier League | 36 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 2 | |
| 1995–96 | First Division | 31 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 2 | |
| Total | 320 | 24 | 28 | 1 | 34 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 399 | 27 | ||
| West Ham United | 1996–97 | Premier League | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 1997 | J.League | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 |
| Charlton Athletic | 1997–98 | First Division | 36 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 42 | 0 |
| 1998–99 | Premier League | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| Total | 42 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 48 | 0 | ||
| Wigan Athletic | 1999–2000 | Second Division | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Reading | 1999–2000 | Second Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Career Total | 410 | 30 | 34 | 1 | 40 | 1 | 22 | 1 | 506 | 33 | ||
Bowen made his senior debut for Wales on 10 May 1986, aged 22, in a 2–0 friendly defeat toCanada inNorth America. His final Wales appearance came 11 years later on 11 February 1997 in a goalless friendly draw withthe Republic of Ireland atCardiff Arms Park. He was capped 41 times as a full international for Wales, scoring three goals.[38][39]
| Wales national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 1986 | 2 | 0 |
| 1987 | 0 | 0 |
| 1988 | 2 | 0 |
| 1989 | 6 | 1 |
| 1990 | 1 | 0 |
| 1991 | 3 | 0 |
| 1992 | 8 | 2 |
| 1993 | 3 | 0 |
| 1994 | 4 | 0 |
| 1995 | 6 | 0 |
| 1996 | 5 | 0 |
| 1997 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 41 | 3 |
| Team | From | To | Record | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Queens Park Rangers (caretaker) | 23 November 2012 | 24 November 2012 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 000.00 | [17] |
| Reading | 14 October 2019 | 29 August 2020 | 43 | 16 | 12 | 15 | 037.21 | [25] |
| AFC Wimbledon | 30 March 2022 | 7 May 2022 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 000.00 | |
| Total | 51 | 16 | 16 | 19 | 031.37 | — | ||
Tottenham Hotspur
Norwich City
Charlton Athletic
