Gary Bowyer

Gary David Bowyer (born 22 June 1971) is an English professional football coach and former player who is the manager of Burton Albion.

As a player, he made 52 league appearances for Hereford United, Nottingham Forest and Rotherham United in a professional career that lasted eight years, before retiring due to injury in 1997, aged 25. He won the Football League Trophy with Rotherham United in 1995–96, his only honour as a player.

After working as a coach at a number of clubs, he has managed Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool, Bradford City and Salford City (twice). He guided Blackpool to promotion, via the play-offs, from League Two to League One in 2016–17.

Bowyer was born on 22 June 1971 in Manchester, Lancashire, England. His father, Ian, was also a professional footballer; the two played together at Hereford United.

After playing in 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 did not make a senior Football League appearance for club. Bowyer later signed for Rotherham United, making 38 appearances in the League over the next two seasons, before retiring due to injury at the age of 25. Whilst at Rotherham he was a part of the team that won the 1996 Football League Trophy final.

After retiring as a player, Bowyer began his coaching career working part-time at Ilkeston, before being appointed as under-17s coach at Derby County, where he spent six years as an academy coach. He then became under-18s coach for Blackburn Rovers in 2004. He became their 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 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 Bowyer was summoned to India for a meeting with the club's owners. Bowyer was appointed the permanent manager of Blackburn on 24 May, on a 12-month rolling contract.

In September 2015, he called for goal-line technology to be implemented. On 10 November, 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 EFL League Two. On 28 May 2017, Bowyer guided Blackpool to an immediate return to EFL League One in his first season in charge after his side beat Exeter City 2–1 in the League Two play-off final. He resigned as Blackpool manager on 6 August 2018.