Robbie Fowler has admitted that he hated the ‘Spice Boys’ nickname he and Liverpool team-mates were labelled with during the mid-1990s.
The term largely applied to the British core of the time, including Fowler, Jamie Redknapp, Steve McManaman and David James.
It came to the fore in large part thanks to the eye-catching white suits and sunglasses that they donned ahead of the 1996 FA Cup final – which the Reds lost to bitter rivals Manchester United.
After their heavy success during the previous two decades, the Liverpool team of the mid-90s only had only trophy to their name – the 1995 League Cup – despite challenging for the title in 1995-96 and the following season.
Fowler believes the ‘Spice Boys’ nickname – a play on the Spice Girls – stuck with them due to their lack of trophies.
Liverpool’s British core of the mid-1990s were labelled the ‘Spice Boys’ during the mid-90s, largely thanks to the matching white suits they wore ahead of the 1996 FA Cup final
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The Liverpool legend hated the nickname and felt the term stuck with the side at the time due to their lack of success – winning just the League Cup in 1995
In an interview with the Telegraph, he said: ‘I liken it to the movie The Life of Brian.
‘They are all stood around the cross talking about names and say “Brian’s a good one”. People thought – we will throw that [at us]: the ‘Spice Boys’. And it stuck.
‘The Spice Boy thing was a nickname and the fact that we never won anything played a big part in it.
Fowler picked up a reputation as the ‘joker’ in the dressing room, but insists that ‘nobody knows anything’ about him.
‘Stories have grown arms and legs and I have tried to get rid of that. Nobody knows anything about me and that’s something I am quite proud of. No one knows what I am like. People have this perceived idea.
‘What I am now is I am probably quite boring. I understood what a dressing room needed years ago but people still have that idea of me as laughing and joking and not to be taken seriously.
‘That’s my perception… I wore my heart on my sleeve, I wanted to be better than anyone else and there were times when I got carried away on a football pitch.’
Fowler (left) and Liverpool struggled for success in the mid-1990s winning just one trophy
Fowler though was part of the side that won the treble consisting of the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup (pictured) during the 2000-01 season under Gerard Houllier (right)
Despite Liverpool’s struggles during the 90s, Robbie Fowler was regarded as one of the best strikers at a time where the Premier League was full of top players in his position including Alan Shearer, Andy Cole, Teddy Sheringham, Les Ferdinand and more.
Fowler enjoyed more success with the Reds in the following decade, with the Reds winning a famous treble of the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup in the 2000-01 season.
He is eighth in the Premier League’s all-time scoring list on 163 goals, with the nearest Liverpool challengers being former team-mate Michael Owen on 150 and current star Mo Salah on 127.
Since he retired from football in 2012, he has gone to hold managerial roles in Thailand, Australia and India.
Though he occasionally appears as a TV pundit, Fowler hopes to return to management at a club in the UK.
Fowler is Liverpool’s top goalscorer of the Premier League era ahead of Michael Owen