Gower: 'I have nothing but fond memories from my time at Southend'
Former Shrimpers midfielder Mark Gower was an Essex boy throughout the golden years with Tilly and Brush, but after five seasons at Roots Hall decided to try his luck over the severn bridge with Swansea, and ended up in the Premiership!
Gower told www.echo-news.co.uk: “Being in the Premier League is brilliant and I know I owe Southend a lot for where I am now. I have nothing but fond memories from my time there and we had a lot of success together. When we first started I remember playing in front of 3,000 to 4,000 but we then went on a real run. We got promotion twice, played at the Millennium Stadium three times and also had some great cup runs to get the crowds up to around 9,000 to 10,000 every week. It was great and doing well there also got me my move to Swansea, where things have also gone really well for me.”
Mark has turned out in seven of the Swans 11 matches in the top tier, more than we felt he would get at the start of the season, and could even be rewarded with a new contract when his present deal ends this campaign.
And of course, playing in every division in the Football League, and the odd one out of it, over his long 15 years as a pro, he's in a good position to spot the differences.
Gower said: “When you give the ball away at this level you don’t get it back for quite some time. If you give the ball away near your own box then within seconds there’s a shot or a cross going in. I’m really enjoying it though and having gone down and played non-league with Barnet and then in the lower leagues with Southend it really does make me appreciate the games an awful lot more.”
So it could be Mark's 100th league appearances for City if picked to play Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday, with the next fixture Fergie & his Manchester United side at the Liberty Stadium, it's another world!
Then again, Mark does rather well against the Red Devils!
Gower concluded: "And their next fixture after that will see them travel to Manchester United. They’re two very big games and are the ones you want to play I’m looking forward to them both and it would be nice to maintain my 100 per cent record against Manchester United. I might even have a chat with the manager and see if we can get Freddy Eastwood in on loan for the game too!”
Good luck on that one mate, if Fred wouldn't travel to Plymouth.........
'That' free-kick: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFysv6je59M
The Gower Files
 |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mark Gower | ||
| Date of birth | 5 October 1978 | ||
| Place of birth | Edmonton, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Swansea City | ||
| Number | 27 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1996–2001 | Tottenham Hotspur | 0 | (0) |
| 1999 | → Motherwell | 9 | (0) |
| 2001–2003 | Barnet | 90 | (15) |
| 2003–2008 | Southend United | 203 | (35) |
| 2008– | Swansea City | 109 | (3) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 May 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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(Player info supplied by Wikipedia, for the full article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Gower)
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