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Signing Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler gives A-League newcomers North Queensland Fury “instant credibility,” according to their coach Ian Ferguson.
And it may also deliver the 2009-10 debutants another big name – Socceroos midfielder Scott Chipperfield.
After confirming Fowler had signed a two-season deal as their inaugural marquee player, Ferguson hoped arguably the A-League’s biggest coup would also help lure the Switzerland-based Chipperfield to Townsville.
“I think so. But I would like players to come here because he wants to, not because I have a certain player,” he told AAP.
“But I am sure at the back of some player’s minds they will be thinking ‘they’ve got Robbie Fowler, how good is it’.
“I spoke to Scott a couple of days ago and he is definitely still interested.”
But the name on everyone’s lips at North Queensland on Wednesday is the 33-year-old Fowler, still known as “God” by Liverpool fans.
“It gives us instant credibility,” Ferguson said of the former England striker.
“People take you seriously when you announce someone like that.
“When guys like Dwight Yorke came out for Sydney FC (in 2005-06) people started looking up at the A-League.
“When he (Yorke) left it was disappointing and I don’t think we have ever replaced someone like Dwight Yorke.
“But this boy is on a par with Dwight, actually I think he is better, but I am biased.”
The Fury had been sweating on a decision from Fowler since he returned to England on January 22 to discuss a potential move to Australia with his family after spending a week in Townsville.
“I had nothing but good things to tell my family about the football side of things and the lifestyle opportunities North Queensland can offer us,” Fowler said in a statement.
“From a football perspective everything Fury coach Ian Ferguson put on the table and showed me was first class and the enthusiasm and drive of everyone at the club is fantastic.
“It’s a huge decision for my family, but it’s also an opportunity to continue my football career in a truly wonderful part of the world.”
Fowler – currently overseeing business interests in Dubai – will arrive in Townsville in March, a month earlier than expected in order to help acclimatise for the sometimes humid north Queensland conditions.
Ferguson and chairman Don Matheson had been in talks with Fowler since he was released by English Premier League side Blackburn recently.
After meeting a two-page list of demands that arrived as late as Tuesday night, Ferguson and Matheson proudly announced they had got their man at Townsville on Wednesday morning.
“He’s happy about it. When he was out there, he was obviously impressed,” Fowler’s agent George Scott said.
“He’s looking forward to going back and playing football because he has been frustrated for about a year.
“They weren’t playing him at Blackburn and he was injured before that, so he’s just looking forward to going back to playing football.
“It’ll be a great lifestyle for him and his family.”
Since making his professional debut at 17, Fowler has been hugely popular, but has had his share of controversy.
He made world headlines in 1999 when he taunted Everton fans by pretending to snort cocaine on the touchline while celebrating a goal for Liverpool in a Merseyside derby.
Fowler will become the second high-profile English Premier League star to play in the A-League after Yorke.
Coincidentally Sydney tried to lure Fowler to Australia in 2007.
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