BOWYER MAY DAY!
Manager sees Wembley date as good omen for Blackpool
IT was 37 years ago precisely, on May 28, 1980, that an eight-year-old Gary Bowyer sat in the Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid and watched his dad, Nottingham Forest midfielder Ian, win his second European Cup in two years.
‘I was allowed to go to that one,’ he says. ‘John Robertson’s strike won it [1-0 against Hamburg]. Great day. I hadn’t been allowed to go the previous year, when we beat Malmo. Too young.’
Momentous events on May 28 are a recurring theme for Bowyer. Four years ago today, he hosted his first Blackburn press conference after being confirmed as manager at a ‘crisis club’ he steadied for two years. He was sacked, spent six months unemployed and since last summer has been steadying his current ‘crisis club’, Blackpool.
Seven years ago today he married his wife, Claire. For their anniversary, he jokes: ‘ She’s getting an all- expenses- paid trip to Wembley!’
Today’s big occasion, arguably the most significant of 45-year-old Bowyer’s managerial career, is the League Two play-off final that pits his Blackpool against Paul T isdale’ s Exeter City.
‘When you’re a kid, you grow up wanting to be a footballer, which I was lucky enough to become, and you dream of playing at Wembley,’ says Bowyer.
‘Then you move into coaching or management, and you dream of taking your team out at Wembley. This is a dream coming true.’
Ten days ago, on an evening of drama even by play-off standards, Blackpool came from 3-1 down on the night in their semi-final second leg at Luton — and 5-4 down on aggregate — to score two late goals, including a 95th-minute injury-time winner to advance 6-5. Exeter, astonishingly, also won 6-5 on aggregate, also with a winner in the fifth added minute.
If it wasn’t for Arsene Wenger, approaching his 22nd year in charge of Arsenal, then Tisdale, a month shy of 11 years at Exeter, would be the longest serving current manager at any English club.
Famously — infamously — Blackburn and Blackpool have had rather more bosses through the doors: 12 each in Tisdale’s time at Exeter.
‘I’d been out of work for six months and had missed out on two jobs I’d applied for, one in the Championship, one in League One,’ says Bowyer, explaining how he took charge at Bloomfield Road.
He does not need to justify himself, of course. He is widely regarded as a talented coach capable of making the best of scant resources. If Blackpool’s owners, the Oyston family, are reviled by many fans, it is not Bowyer’s fault.
‘I’ve adopted exactly the same approach I did at Blackburn,’ he says. ‘I take care of what I can control, which is hiring good people, good players, and working hard on the training pitch.
‘I told the players when I arrived, focus on what we can control. We can’t be affected by the rest.’
Average gates this season of 3,581 are testament to the disillusionment of many fans but Bowyer aims to play his part in turning things around.
In a year he has spent just a few thousand pounds — not even 10s of 1,000s — on players, or rather one player, the former Ivory Coast Under 20 forward, Armand Gnanduillet.
‘I just concentrate on the football,’ he says. ‘ And on creating a happy working environment.’
It could be a big day — it is May 28, after all.