Recently appointed manager of Dundee, Gary Bowyer has been speaking to the Scotsman about his past.
And so the story of both him and his father playing for Hereford United came up. And his father being sacked by then chairman Peter Hill.
As the son of a two-times European Cup winner, it is advisable to do something spectacular to mark your own entrance as a footballer. Bowyer’s approach was certainly eye-catching.
He scored a last-minute overhead kick equaliser while still a teenager to salvage a 3-3 draw for Hereford United at Scunthorpe in April 1990 – it is on YouTube to enjoy.
On the same afternoon Dundee were being relegated from the top flight – not for the first time, not for the last time – after a 1-1 draw with Celtic at Parkhead.
At the time Bowyer was a long way from worrying about their fortunes. He was feeling rather pleased with himself in the away dressing room at the Old Show ground.
Then his dad – who also happened to be Hereford United player-manager – walked in. He had subbed himself on during the second half with his side trailing 3-1 to create a little bit of history. It was the first time since the early 1960s that a father and son had played in the same side in the Football League.
But that was for historians to ponder. Bowyer senior sensed a son getting above his station.
“After the game I couldn’t stop smiling," the younger Bowyer recalls. "I was 18. I don’t know how I did it, it was an overhead kick. I think that’s what did my back in! But I couldn't stop smiling. He looked at me and said: ‘it was your fault for the first goal. We would have won that if it wasn’t for you!’
It was his way of bringing me back down to earth.”
It was a natural enough reaction from a father towards his son. But life could be relied upon to take the wind out of Bowyer junior's sails. Even signing for Nottingham Forest, where his dad had won two European Cups in 1979 and 1980, triggered some unwanted drama.
It should have been another proud day in the family's history.
And it undoubtedly was. It's just that an unhappy consequence of the deal left a slightly bitter taste. Not that it was Brian Clough or Nottingham Forest's problem. Nor should it have been a problem for Bowyer, whose father was sacked because of the deal. Hereford United chairman Peter Hill claimed Bowyer snr had put his son's interests over those of the club. Hill said he had instructed his manager to sign Gary on full professional terms.
That didn't happen and Forest made their move. "My dad lost his job over it," he says. "That wasn't great."
Bowyer snr, who also won the Cup-Winners' Cup and League Cup at Man City, was out of work for the crime of wanting his son to better himself. Some salvation arrived in the unlikely form of an offer to coach at Dundee United in the 1991-92 season.
The link was Jim McInally, Bowyer snr's old Nottingham Forest teammate. An added attraction was Jim McLean, viewed by many as a version of Brian Clough if Clough had been brought up in a household raised on Plymouth Brethren values in Lanarkshire.
"From talking to him, he loved his time here," says Bowyer. "I did not ask him about it until I signed for Dundee really.
"I asked him about where he stayed, how he found it. Those conversations happened in the last couple of weeks. But at the time I was 18,19 … my dad was living in Scotland, I was living in England. Great!"
Tannadice Street could not have been further from Bowyer's thoughts as he sought to make the same impact as his friend and flatmate Roy Keane at Forest.
Having a legendary player as a father meant Bowyer was on a hiding to nothing. He is brutally honest about his own abilities as a full back/midfielder. "I wasn't a great footballer. I could compete, I had passion. But I had to run around and compete. I just had to give my all. If I did not give my all I was worse than the average player I was.”
It is unlikely Clough was drawn to Bowyer solely on account of his father's status as Forest’s second-highest appearance maker. He didn't tend to sign average players. But he did ask him what he was good at.
"I was 18. I was dumbstruck. Brian Clough asking me what I was good at …
“I said ‘running’.
"He turned around straight away and said: ‘if I wanted to sign someone good at running, I would have signed a racehorse’.”
What Bowyer would have done for just one of his father’s 564 appearances for Forest over two spells.
Plagued by injuries, he was unable to break into the first team. He endured two stomach operations and an operation on his back in a three-year spell. He moved to Rotherham in search of regular football but was forced to call it a day at the age of just 25 when his back problem flared up once more.
“I look back now with the benefit of the knowledge and resources which were not available in those days, and I think I was unfortunate. But I would not be sitting here now if it hadn’t happened. That's how I look upon it,” he says.
Another bonus is that he’s now able to give something back to his 71-year-old father. After Hereford, Bowyer snr never worked as a manager in his own right again. He left Tannadice after six months due to family commitments.
But now for some breaking news: Dundee are set to employ their most decorated-ever scout.
“Dad lives about 10-15 mins from Crewe, 25 mins from Port Vale," says Bowyer. "Manchester is an hour away. Guaranteed I will have him out and about looking for players to help us up here.”