Hibs star man Bowie on family life, football, coming home - and ambition to become Scotland's starting striker

Bowie in Scotland Under-21 action earlier this year. He hopes Hibs can help him vault into the senior squad. | SNS Group

The skinny teenager from Kirkcaldy is now a fully developed adult, with grown-up responsibilities and ambitions. The experience of jumping straight from playing SPFL League One football in the Lang Toun to a Premier League club in leafy-but-frantic south-west London, where the pace of life is quick enough to give the casual observer whiplash, has certainly played a major part in Kieron Bowie becoming mature beyond his years.

When he talks openly about his desire to become Scotland’s No. 9, then, the 21-year-old shouldn’t be dismissed as some daft laddie daydreaming about the improbable. His move from Fulham to Hibs, where he’s signed a four-year contract, is motivated in part by a desire to force his way into the senior international set-up.

Aware that he was unlikely ever to break into the Fulham first team and understanding that more loan spells in the EFL would make it tough to attract Steve Clarke’s attention, the former Scotland Under-21 striker jumped at the chance of a move to Easter Road. Especially as it chimed in beautifully with his long-term plans as a youthful, but clearly considerate, family man.

Revealing the part played in his move by partner Brooke, also a Kirkcaldy native, and twin daughters Victoria and Florence, Bowie admitted that his 2021 move south had come as something of a culture shock, revealing: “I would say I had never left home really, I’d just been in Kirkcaldy, I was there my whole life. And then how much of a change it was to go down south to London, probably one of the busiest places in the world. It was sort of surreal going down there not having anyone there, my family. And now to come back up.

“Now I've got two little girls; I've got a family to look after. It's just a totally different side of it that I never expected to see. Off the pitch, obviously you've got that family to go home to after training. And also, you're playing for them as well, you've got to try and make a career for them to provide for your family.

“It's not just about yourself anymore, just playing for the fun of it, it's your career at the end of the day. And you want to do it as best as you can for yourself and for them.

“I'd already bought somewhere up here last season just so I had a base here for an off-season to stay. My partner and the girls were going to stay up here anyway, so I don't think they were going to move down south. All our family's up here and everything as well. But that wasn't really the focus, coming back up here.

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“Brooke said to me: ‘I don't want you to come back home just for me.’ And I told her: ‘It's not for you. It's to play football and that's the main thing.’

“I'm already settled here, I've got a house here, I've got everything I need. So there's not a case of settling in, I'm just ready to go and play football.”

Describing his girls – now almost 14 months – as just a tiny bit ‘wild’, Bowie added: “I've spoken about it before, about wanting to come home for my family. But that wasn't really at the front of my mind, coming home for them.

“It was mainly just about coming to Hibs. They were really keen from the start of the window, wanting to sign me and just telling me why they wanted me to be here, telling me what I would bring and what they would help me improve.

“Obviously I'm only young and I've got a lot to improve on still. They've said that they'll help me improve my game - and hopefully I'll help them out in the future.”

Hibs boss David Gray revealed recently that one of his first conversations with Bowie focused on the forward’s desire to become the answer to Scotland’s problem position at centre forward. A versatile attacker who can play across the front three, the forward certainly sees himself as a natural No. 9 – which creates an interesting dynamic at a club where Mykola Kuharevich is also just in the door.

Speaking about his international hopes, Bowie said: “Obviously, that's the aim. As of when that happens, I don't know - but I'm just trying to do as much as I can and hopefully one day I can get my chance.

“There are a lot of players from the Scottish Premiership who do play for Scotland. Whereas if I was to stay down south in League One, there's not many eyes on that league. So hopefully I see myself breaking through.”

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Acknowledging that the examples set by previous Hibs graduates like John McGinn, Kevin Nisbett and most recently Ryan Porteous had been part of his thinking, Bowie said: “There is a pathway from Hibs to the Scotland first team - and hopefully that can be me in the future. They've said they want to give me the platform to play the best football I can and hopefully I can repay them as well. Scotland's first team, that's in the future and that's what I want to do.

“Obviously when I was up here before I was playing in Scottish League One, playing on the right wing as well. I was a lot smaller then than I am now, I was just a young lad.

“And to come back up now, back up the road, I'm a lot more of a presence now, a bit bigger. I think that's why they brought me in, just because they know I can be that focal point up front. And I can also play off either side. so I'm just quite versatile in my game.

“I've developed out wide and played out wide but now I think it's time to start playing through the middle. I can apply myself well through there and, as long as there's people out wide able to put crosses in, I hope I can get as many goals as possible.”