SYDNEY, June 29 (Reuters). Former English striker Robbie Fowler will not return to take over Brisbane Roar when the A-League season starts again next month, the Australian club told local media on Monday.
The Liverpool native and his assistant Tony Grant went to England in March when the season was interrupted due to the outbreak of the corona virus.
“The world has changed, we never expected that. It’s a shame because the way we built was beautiful, ”said Chris Fong, vice chairman of Brisbane, to the Sydney Morning Herald.
“We are very disappointed, but that is the circumstances of this pandemic.”
The club is expected to officially announce the end of its reign on Monday.
Fong told the newspaper that Welsh assistant coach Darren Davies and club academy manager Warren Moon would share the janitorial coaching duties and that the next permanent coach would be Australian.
Fowler had the experience of the 2011/12 season as a player coach with the Thai club Muangthong United only in his resume when he took over the roar at the beginning of the season.
He led the club, which had taken second place last season, to fourth place when the games were interrupted with six rounds of the regular season and the remaining championship playoffs.
Fowler said on British television last week that he had “resigned” from his post and the club had failed to fulfill his request to secure a flight to Australia.
Australia has been relatively successful at curbing the spread of COVID-19, but travel restrictions between states remain, and anyone arriving from abroad has to isolate themselves for 14 days.
The A-League will resume behind closed doors on July 16. The regular season will be completed by the end of August. (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editor of Peter Rutherford)
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