How Liverpool Legend Robbie Fowler Became ‘Britain’s Richest Sportsman’

· GiveMeSport

Following his retirement in 2012, former Liverpool and England striker Robbie Fowler has enhanced his net worth beyond Virgil van Dijk.

A Liverpool legend of the highest order, Robbie Fowler turned out for the Reds – and scored bucketloads of goals – across two stints on Merseyside. And his post-retirement life, since 2012 that is, has been arguably even more fruitful, especially from a financial perspective.

A Melwood academy graduate, Fowler got his first taste of Anfield action between 1992 and 2001 before moving elsewhere – Leeds United first, before joining Manchester City. He returned to Merseyside five years later but lasted a mere 18 months.

Not only did Fowler – widely regarded as one of the greatest strikers to ever grace the Premier League – earn millions throughout his 572-game career, but the money continued to pour in upon calling it a day and hanging up his boots.

His career began to peeter out – as evidenced by his stints in Australia, Thailand and India – in its latter stages, but he always had his wealth to fall back on. That said, how did the former line-leader become renowned as ‘Britain’s richest sportsman’?

Of course, given that he spent a large chunk of his illustrious career leading the line for one of the Premier League’s greatest clubs, it should come as no surprise that Fowler earned millions of pounds through his goalscoring exploits.

But that hasn’t stopped as his net worth, according to Celebrity Net Worth, stands at an eye-watering £38 million – which is nearly double that of Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk, who put pen to paper on a new two-year deal at Anfield just a couple of years ago after leading them to league glory.

After the Dutchman extended his stay, Van Dijk is now estimated to be worth £22.6 million – highlighting that he still has a way to go before he catches up with the former England centre-forward’s financial vigour.

GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: With 128 strikes to his name, Fowler is Liverpool's second-highest goalscorer (behind Mohamed Salah) in the Premier League.

And, of course, he’s lined his pockets through post-retirement avenues, but he has his forward-thinking approach to thank. The former England international, who chalked up 26 appearances between 1996 and 2002, made some careful investments on the side of training and playing.

Following in the footsteps of his former teammate and fellow countryman Michael Owen, Fowler has cemented himself in the very top echelon of footballing superstars by hedging his bets in the unpredictable world of horse racing.

Alongside his love for the sport, he has owned a sports promotion company since the 1990s. Fowler’s biggest moneymaker, however, is property as he reportedly owns north of 100 properties in the northwest of his homeland, England.

Another source of income during his post-football days has been in the world of management: he began at Muangthong United, moved to Liverpool before managing in Australia with Brisbane Roar, in India with SC East Bengal and in Qatar for Al-Qadsiah.

At the time when he moved to the Australian A-League outfit, the now-51-year-old had a reported fortune of £31 million, thus how he solidified a position on The Sunday Times' Rich List – in 2005 and 2009, while he also boasted the title of "richest sportsman living in Britain" from The Observer.

As we've come to find out, Fowler's unimaginable wealth isn't all down to his innate penchant for finding the back of the net - but along the way, he receives guidance aplenty, which ultimately allows him to stay on track.

Crediting ex-Reds manager Graeme Souness in an exclusive interview with The Mirror in 2015, three years following his retirement, Fowler waxed poetic about the footballer-turned-manager-turned-pundit’s financially driven wisdom.

> “As a young kid, I wasn’t really interested at that stage – getting financial advice was far from my mind. I was focused on playing football. But, I got on board with this financial advisor and heeded his advice, which was my wisest money decision,” he said.

> “I would have been 18, probably. Don’t get me wrong; everything went into property then. And I didn’t just invest on my own, because when I was 18, I was on next to nothing, and I couldn’t afford it, regardless of what people think about football players."

“I invested with partners,” the Englishman, who has also worked as in the punditry sphere in yesteryear, added before concluding: “It was all through the advice I was given, not because I knew anything or wanted to know it; it was totally by accident.”

Robbie Fowler - Club Career Statistics

Born to plunder goals at an alarming rate, Fowler enjoyed a career at the top of the beautiful game – the zenith of his career, however, was playing up top at Anfield, widely regarded as one of the greatest stadiums in Premier League history.

Alas, he also boasted a knack for earning heaps of money – and, more importantly, keeping on top of said avenues of revenue. Souness’ early guidance allowed Fowler to remain at the top of the game while also keeping his financial status under wraps.

In fact, it's a well-known fact that Manchester City supporters – thanks to their star striker's status as a property tycoon – would chant "We all live in a Robbie Fowler house" to the tune of Yellow Submarine as a means of highlighting his vast collection of money-making properties.

All statistics per Transfermarkt - correct as of 13-10-26.

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