Tony Mowbray has made a comeback to English football after battling bowel cancer – returning to Blackburn Rovers as manager.
Mowbray, 62, suddenly stepped down as manager of Birmingham in February 2024 after undergoing surgery. He had 15cm of his bowel removed during his treatment.
He took a temporary leave of absence after eight games in charge, before officially resigning from the role in May.
The veteran, who has managed a host of English clubs, has been on the road to recovery following surgery since early last year and opened up publicly about his struggles.
Blackburn confirmed on Friday that he would be their new manager, replacing Michael O’Neill. He has previously managed Rovers between 2017 and 2022.
‘Welcome home, Tony,’ the club wrote upon his appointment. He has signed a long-term contract.
Tony Mowbray has returned to football manager after a battle with bowel cancer
He returns to a club that struggled last season, finishing 20th in the Championship when they had hoped to kick on and fight for promotion.
Mowbray revealed in an interview with The Times last year that his children feared the worst.
‘I had the conversation with my family and you could see they were frightened,’ he said. ‘Was I frightened? My only thoughts were for my family, my three children and my wife and making sure they were OK.
‘I had to put everything in order and I tried to. My wife saw our banking app for the first time in her life. It’s little things like that. She understood. This was serious stuff. I felt she needed to know where we had our money, whether it was ISAs or pensions and what was in the bank.’
Speaking on his diagnosis, which came after he collapsed when trying to answer the door, he added: ‘My wife put me in the car and drove me back to hospital and they wanted to know why I was collapsing and in the condition I was,’ he says. ‘They rehydrated me and put me on a drip overnight.
‘I remember sitting there in bed and my kids’ eyes were watering up. They were scared I wasn’t going to live. How old were they? They were 15, 17 and 19. I could see the fear in their eyes.’
Mowbray has regularly been in the gym, building his strength back up. He has put back on two-and-a-half stone after losing nearly double that during his treatment.
He said in a video after his appointment: ‘Just a short message to the fans of Blackburn Rovers. Just to let you know we will be working every hour of the day to give you a team to be proud of, to give you a team that hopefully starts to head back towards the Premier League where this great club deserves to be.
‘There will be no lack of energy, hard work, integrity, honesty on the training ground to try and give you all the team you deserve.’
