Bowyer prepared for Birmingham farewell

Birmingham midfielder Lee Bowyer is preparing himself to depart St Andrew’s at the end of the season, even though he would like to stay.

The 34-year-old won the first medal of his career in Birmingham’s shock 2-1 Carling Cup final victory over Arsenal on Sunday but has been told he will not receive a new deal from the club.

Bowyer was one of the stars in the win and maintains he can still play at the highest level.

“People, because of your age, question whether you can still get box to box, if you can still do what you used to,” Bowyer said.

“But I showed at Wembley that I can. I loved winning at Wembley and hopefully the fans appreciate the effort we put in because we definitely appreciate their support.”

“My deal is done in the summer here at Birmingham. I am 34 and can still do it, so we’ll see what happens. At the moment the club have said no, that is not going to happen, that I’m not going to stay on. So I will be looking elsewhere.”

Bowyer’s experience in Europe could be a reason why his contract is re-evaluated, with the midfielder having scored 13 goals in 38 matches in the Champions League and UEFA Cup for Leeds United between 1998 and 2003.

“I want to stay with Birmingham. I have scored quite a few goals in Europe. They might want to keep me on – you never know. But it is not up to me, it is up to the club. All I can do is try to put in performances,” he said.

“I have scored three important goals this season – beating Chelsea, the draw with Manchester United and then West Ham in the Carling Cup semi-final second leg.”

“I have been doing that all my career. Nothing has changed because of my age, I have just got older and wiser and tried to calm down a bit.”

Bowyer was delighted to win the Carling Cup, his first final of his career, and insisted that Birmingham ‘really deserved to win’.

He said his seven-season stint at Leeds was disappointing in the fact that he never won anything, but was pleased to break the hoodoo on Sunday.

“I feel like I have missed a lot in my career by not winning anything. In the past I was at Leeds and everyone put us down to win this, that and the other trophy and it never happened,” he said.

“I’m just thankful this has happened and that I have had a taste of it.”