[13] His record stood for twenty years until broken by Sadio Mané on 16 May 2015 for Southampton against Aston Villa, who scored three goals in two minutes and 56 seconds.

The match helped prevent Newcastle from winning the league, but it was not enough for Liverpool to clinch the title; they finished third while Manchester United were crowned champions.

[22] That year, he also won a UEFA Fair Play award for denying that he had been fouled by Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman at Highbury after a penalty had been given.

[24] Although many people believe that he deliberately took the penalty kick poorly for reasons of fair play, Fowler said at the time: "As a goalscorer it's part of my job to take it and I wanted to score it.

[26] The term was subsequently used in a derogatory manner, implying Fowler and colleagues such as Jamie Redknapp, Stan Collymore, David James and Steve McManaman were underachieving playboys.

[10] He took part in a fourth-round League Cup hammering of Stoke City, scoring a hat-trick in an 8–0 victory, which was second only to the club's biggest ever win in 1986 – a 10–0 defeat of Fulham.

Fowler's season picked up from there as he scored several important goals including one against runaway champions Manchester United and a free kick in the FA Cup semi-final against Wycombe Wanderers.

Though Fowler had been on a contract extension from 1999 (unlike Steve McManaman – who exercised his Bosman entitlement the very same year), Fowler was linked to Lazio, Arsenal and Leeds United, and Liverpool's management as well as fans and the media constantly reported that what happened with McManaman (regarded as a huge financial loss) would never be repeated and thus the club never rejected those bids without consideration.

This, along with his difficult relationship with Houllier, made him seek regular first-team football away from Anfield in the form of a £12 million move to Leeds United.

Fowler continued to struggle with fitness problems in the 2003–04 season, completing the full 90 minutes only nine times, however, he did score against his old club, Liverpool, in a 2–2 draw at home.

The arrival of close friend Steve McManaman from Real Madrid gave Fowler hope, but the pair failed to rekindle their prolific partnership from their time at Liverpool, and received criticism from the fans and tabloids for their salaries and alleged excesses;[54] they were named and shamed in a sex scandal covered by the News of the World[55] that year.

Despite the slump, Fowler rallied for the following campaign, and showed a marked improvement in the second half of the 2004–05 season, scoring his 150th Premiership goal in the 3–2 win over Norwich City on 28 February 2005.

However, his failure to convert a 90th-minute penalty kick against Middlesbrough's Mark Schwarzer in the final game of the season prevented Manchester City from gaining a place in the UEFA Cup.

Fowler's return against Birmingham City in February 2006 was labelled by the tabloid press as the stuff of fairytales,[citation needed] and he said he felt like "a kid waking up on Christmas morning every day".

Fowler's next Liverpool goal, against West Bromwich Albion, meant he overtook Kenny Dalglish in the club's all-time top scorers.

On 25 October 2006 Fowler was named as Liverpool's captain for the first time since his return in a League Cup tie against Reading, scoring just before half-time in a 4–3 win.

He finished his second run as a Liverpool player with a UEFA Champions League runners-up medal, although he was not named in either the starting eleven or the seven substitutes.

[71] In November, Fowler travelled to Frankfurt, Germany to see Dr. Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt, a specialist sports injuries doctor, to try and resolve a recurring hip problem that had left him lacking fitness in early season fixtures for the Bluebirds.

[73] However he went on to suffer another injury blow just days later after a mistimed tackle in training from club captain Darren Purse left him with damaged ankle ligaments.

[76] On 17 January 2008, it was announced that Fowler could miss the rest of the 2007–08 season for Cardiff after his hip operation revealed that the injury was worse than previously thought.

[77] Despite this, he attempted to make a comeback at the end of the season to play in the FA Cup final against Portsmouth and was included in the 18-man match squad.

The move left Cardiff manager Dave Jones and chairman Peter Ridsdale furious after the club had assisted Fowler's rehabilitation throughout the summer.

[86] Fowler signed with the North Queensland Fury on 4 February 2009 and became their inaugural marquee player; with his family relocating to Townsville for the 2009–10 season of the Australian A-League.

[88] Fowler made his debut in July 2009 in a 2–1 pre-season loss against Wolverhampton Wanderers in Perth after recovering from groin and hip complaints.

On returning to England, Fowler briefly worked with League One side Milton Keynes Dons on an ad hoc basis to assist the club's coaching staff.

He was quickly a hit with Muangthong fans and the Thai public in general; he attended Thailand's World Cup Qualifier against Oman wearing the national team's shirt.

He has since played a handful of scoreless games, both at the Yamaha Stadium and on the road in the AFC Cup, until the Twin Qilins were eliminated from the competition by Al-Kuwait.

[115] Fowler did not feature during England's qualifying campaign for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, mainly due to a serious knee ligament injury late in the 1997–98 season,[116][117] and thus missed out on Glenn Hoddle's 22-man squad for the tournament.

[129] England qualified for the World Cup, and after scoring in friendlies against Italy[130] and Cameroon,[131] Fowler was selected in Sven-Göran Eriksson's 23-man squad for the tournament in South Korea and Japan.

[155] In 1997 he starred in Nike's "Park Life" commercial (set to the tune "Parklife" by Blur) where a group of amateur pub league players playing football at Hackney Marshes in east London are suddenly joined by top Premier League footballers, including Fowler, Eric Cantona and Ian Wright.