Editing Robbie Fowler (section)

==== Success and fame ====
During the [[1994–95 in English football|1994–95 season]] Fowler was a constant member of the Liverpool side, playing in all of their 57 competitive matches, including the victory in the [[1995 Football League Cup final|1995 League Cup final]], and a match against [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]] on 28 August 1994 in which he scored what was then the Premier League's fastest hat-trick ever, in four minutes and 33 seconds.<ref>Fowler, p. 128.</ref> His record stood for twenty years until broken by [[Sadio Mané]] on 16 May 2015 for [[Southampton F.C.|Southampton]] against [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]], who scored three goals in two minutes and 56 seconds.<ref>{{cite news |title=Southampton's Sadio Mané hits record hat-trick to rout Aston Villa |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/may/16/southampton-aston-villa-premier-league-match-report |access-date=16 May 2015 |work=The Observer |agency=Press Association |date=16 May 2015}}</ref> He scored braces against Aston Villa, [[Ipswich Town F.C.|Ipswich Town]], [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]] and [[Norwich City F.C.|Norwich City]] in the league that season. Fowler was voted the [[PFA Young Player of the Year]] in two consecutive years in 1995 and 1996,<ref name="MEN factfile">{{cite web |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/robbie-fowler-factfile-1059704 |title=Robbie Fowler Factfile |work=[[Manchester Evening News]] |date=30 June 2005 |access-date=4 December 2013}}</ref> a feat also achieved only by [[Ryan Giggs]], [[Wayne Rooney]] and [[Dele Alli]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/giggs-this-can-be-the-best-united-ever-448588.html |title=Giggs: 'This can be the best United ever'|work=[[The Independent]] |access-date=13 September 2008 |location=London |first=Steve |last=Tongue |date=13 May 2007}}{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.redcafe.net/threads/giggs-this-can-be-the-best-united-ever.155590 |title=Reproduction of ''Independent'' article on Red Cafe |publisher=Red Cafe |date=13 May 2007 |access-date=4 December 2013}}</ref>

Throughout the mid and late 1990s, Fowler was widely considered to be the most natural finisher playing in England.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gripping battle of the red predators |first=Henry |last=Winter |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/3017140/Gripping-battle-of-the-red-predators.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/3017140/Gripping-battle-of-the-red-predators.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=19 November 2001 |access-date=15 January 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Fowler sealed this reputation as he scored more than 30 goals for three consecutive seasons, up to 1997. He remains the only player to have scored 30 plus goals in his first three full seasons in England scoring 98 goals with a total of 116 in just over three years. Fowler's partnership with [[Steve McManaman]] was largely described as the reason why Liverpool had become the club known for being the most potent attacking force in England at the time,<ref>{{cite news |title=Robbie Fowler: Natural born finisher |first=Mark |last=Lomas |url=http://espnfc.com/columns/story?id=707080&cc=5739 |newspaper=ESPNSoccernet |date=9 August 2009 |access-date=4 December 2013}}</ref> and Fowler was renowned for scoring goals of all varieties, from every angle and distance, with McManaman describing him as the "greatest goalscorer of all time".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sport.co.uk/football/mcmanaman-evans-in-charge-fowler-and-ronaldo-up-top/50513 |title=McManaman: Evans In Charge, Fowler And Ronaldo Up Top |publisher=Sport |date=16 February 2011 |access-date=4 December 2013}}</ref>

[[Stan Collymore]], Fowler's regular strike partner for two seasons from 1995, said in his autobiography that Fowler was the best player he has ever played alongside. Fowler and Collymore were among the most prolific goal-scoring strike partnerships in England during the [[1995–96 in English football|1995–96]] season, with £8.4million signing Collymore replacing the veteran Ian Rush as Fowler's regular partner in attack after his arrival in June 1995. In the same season, he scored twice in a 4–3 victory over [[Newcastle United F.C.|Newcastle United]], a match voted the best of the decade in a Premier League poll. 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 F.C.|Manchester United]] were crowned champions. Fowler also played in his first [[FA Cup Final]] that season, but was on the losing side as Manchester United won 1–0. He had scored four goals against United in the league that season, scoring twice in a 2–2 draw at [[Old Trafford]] on 1 October 1995, and twice in a 2–0 win at [[Anfield]] on 16 December.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://espnfc.com/columns/story?id=264175&root=england&cc=5739 |title=Ten years and counting |publisher=ESPN |access-date=4 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019211405/http://espnfc.com/columns/story?id=264175&root=england&cc=5739 |archive-date=19 October 2013}}</ref>

On 14 December 1996, he scored four against [[Middlesbrough F.C.|Middlesbrough]], including his hundredth for Liverpool. This meant he reached a century of goals one game quicker than his first strike partner, Ian Rush, in just 165 games.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ridley |first1=Ian |title=Close-up; Robbie Fowler; The natural in a rush to win |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/closeup-robbie-fowler-the-natural-in-a-rush-to-win-1315684.html |access-date=3 September 2024 |work=The Independent |date=22 December 1996}}</ref> That year, he also won a [[UEFA]] [[UEFA Fair Play ranking|Fair Play]] award for denying that he had been fouled by Arsenal [[Goalkeeper (association football)|goalkeeper]] [[David Seaman]] at [[Arsenal Stadium|Highbury]] after a penalty had been given.<ref>{{cite news |title=Di Canio in line for fair play awards |first=Christopher |last=Davies |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/2994930/Di-Canio-in-line-for-fair-play-awards.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/2994930/Di-Canio-in-line-for-fair-play-awards.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=18 December 2000 |access-date=15 January 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref> After unsuccessfully trying to persuade the referee to change his decision about the penalty, Fowler took it tamely and Seaman saved. However, Seaman failed to hold on to the ball and [[Jason McAteer]] scored from the rebound.<ref>{{cite news |title=Football: Liverpool survive Arsenal revival |first=Glenn |last=Moore |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-liverpool-survive-arsenal-revival-1275000.html |newspaper=The Independent |date=25 March 1997 |access-date=15 January 2011}}</ref> 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. I tried to score. I never missed on purpose. It just happened, it was a bad penalty."<ref>{{cite news |title=Has anyone missed a penalty on purpose? |first1=James |last1=Dart |first2=Benjie |last2=Goodhart |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2007/sep/05/theknowledge.sport |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=5 September 2007 |access-date=4 December 2013}}</ref>