Introduction
Gary Bowyer (born 26 June 1971) is an English football coach and former professional player who is the manager of League Two club Blackpool.
Early and personal life
Gary Bowyer was born on 26 June 1971 in Manchester. His father Ian Bowyer was also a professional footballer; the two played together at Hereford United.
Career
Playing career
After playing non-League football for Westfields, Bowyer, a full back, signed for Football League team Hereford United on non-contract terms, making 14 appearances in the 1989–90 season. After the season ended, Bowyer moved to Nottingham Forest, but he never made a senior Football League appearance for them. Bowyer later signed for Rotherham United, making 38 appearances in the League over the next two seasons, before retiring due to injury.
Coaching career
After retiring as a player, Bowyer began his coaching career working part-time at Ilkeston and also had a spell managing non-league side Carshalton Athletic from 1998-2000, before being appointed as Under-17 coach at Derby County, where he spent six years as an academy coach. He then became Under 18's coach for Blackburn Rovers in 2004. He became Reserve Team manager in 2008, and in December 2012 he was appointed as caretaker manager following the dismissal of Henning Berg, steering them to a 3–1 victory over Barnsley in his first game in charge. It was later announced that Bowyer would remain in charge until the end of January.
Bowyer was re-appointed Caretaker Manager on 19 March 2013, following the sacking of Michael Appleton, until the end of the season. However, on 26 March 2013 Bowyer said he was unsure how long he would remain in the position, in case the club hired a new permanent manager, and on 8 April 2013 Bowyer was summoned to India for a meeting with the club's owners.
Bowyer was appointed the permanent manager of Blackburn on 24 May 2013, on a 12-month rolling contract.
In September 2015 he called for goal line technology to be implemented. On 10 November 2015 Bowyer was sacked as manager of Blackburn Rovers.
On 1 June 2016, Bowyer was appointed as manager of Blackpool on a one-year rolling contract, following the club's relegation to League Two.
Managerial statistics
- As of 4 February 2017
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Blackburn Rovers (caretaker) |  | 27 December 2012 | 11 January 2013 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 75.00 |
| Blackburn Rovers (caretaker) | | 19 March 2013 | 24 May 2013 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 33.33 |
| Blackburn Rovers | | 24 May 2013 | 10 November 2015 | 118 | 41 | 43 | 34 | 34.75 |
| Blackpool | | 1 June 2016 | Present | 39 | 14 | 14 | 11 | 35.90 |
| Total | 170 | 61 | 61 | 48 | 35.88 | |||