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Ian Bowyer (born 6 June 1951) is an English former footballer who played mostly as a midfielder, best known for many honours in his career at Nottingham Forest. At Nottingham Forest he won the 1977–78 Football League and 1977–78 Football League Cup. The following season he won the 1979 European Cup final and 1978–79 Football League Cup. He was part of Forest's successful retaining of the European Cup the season after. Other honours at Forest included the 1976–77 Anglo-Scottish Cup, 1976 promotion from the English second tier to the top flight, the 1978 FA Charity Shield and the 1979 UEFA Super Cup. At all clubs, in the league alone he played 599 first team games scoring 102 goals in a playing career spanning four decades.
He started his professional career at Manchester City winning EFL Cup and European Cup Winner's Cup Finals both in 1970. He then played two seasons at Orient before his lengthy career at Forest. His playing days at Forest were interrupted with a season at Sunderland. After Forest he went to Hereford United who he player managed winning the 1989-90 Welsh Cup. He has also been involved after playing at Plymouth Argyle, Rotherham United, Birmingham City, Nottingham Forest and Rushden and Diamonds.
The following season, as an 18-year-old, Bowyer made 33 full league appearances and one as substitute for City as they finished 11th in the First Division. He was also a regular in Manchester City's League Cup run and scored twice in their two-legged semi final against local rivals United. In March he came on as a substitute for Mike Summerbee in the 1970 Football League Cup final beating West Bromwich Albion 2–1. Manchester City also won the Cup Winners Cup that season and Bowyer played his part in that European success too. City overcame Athletic Bilbao in the first round, 6–3 on aggregate with Bowyer playing in both and scoring in the second leg 3–0 home win. He also played in both second-round games against Belgian club Lierse S.K. but missed out on the next two rounds. He replaced Mike Doyle after 23 minutes in the 1970 European Cup Winners' Cup final against Górnik Zabrze in Vienna. City won 2–1.
The following season he made 13 appearances for City, including six as substitute and one in the cup. His last game for the club was on 1 May 1971, against Tottenham Hotspur. In total he scored 13 goals in his 57 City first team appearances. Ian Bowyer, Blue Moon After Peter Swales' takeover of the Manchester City and the exclusive appointment of Malcolm Allison, Bowyer was out of favour and was sold to Orient under the management of George Petchey for £25,000.
In their first season back in the top flight Forest were Football League champions finishing seven points above Liverpool (at a time when two points were awarded for a win). Forest beat Liverpool in a replay in that season's 1978 Football League Cup final.
Forest retained the League Cup the season after beating Southampton 3–2 with Bowyer an unused substitute in the final. They were drawn against Liverpool in the first round of the 1978–79 European Cup progressing 2–0 on aggregate. In the semi-final Bowyer scored the decisive goal against FC Köln in the 1–0 win in Germany after a 3–3 draw in Nottingham. Bowyer played in the 1–0 1979 European Cup Final win against Malmo just as he did the following season against Hamburger SV.
In 1994, he became assistant manager to Peter Shilton at Plymouth Argyle, and he later moved to Rotherham United until September 1996. He later became a coach at Birmingham City.
He returned to Forest as coach in 2002, and stayed for three years. In 2006, he was appointed assistant manager to Paul Hart at Rushden & Diamonds, and he later scouted for Portsmouth.
| Hereford United | 1987–1990 | |
| Career Total | ||
Nottingham Forest
Playfair football annuals
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