West Brom boss Tony Mowbray opens up on cancer battle in sobering interview
Tony Mowbray made a surprise return to West Brom this season, but it has not been an easy few years for him.
Mowbray was a hero at West Brom as he helped the Baggies achieve promotion to the Premier League in 2008 as champions of the Championship, with his squad employing an entertaining style of play.
He has since managed several different clubs, including Celtic, and joined Birmingham City last year. However, his time there was brief for health reasons.
Within two months of taking the role, Mowbray had to step aside as he was diagnosed with bowel cancer, and required medical treatment. He spent most of 2024 dealing with his cancer, but sensationally returned to The Hawthorns in January.
Tony Mowbray reveals the difficulties of cancer treatment
Mowbray returned to West Brom in January after the departure of Carlos Corberan, who joined La Liga side Valencia.
This came after a year of cancer treatment, and he has now told The Times about how difficult it was to deal with, both physically and mentally.
“Lots of things go through your mind. Am I going to wake up?” Mowbray explained.
“I feel very humble. I have been in the hands of some amazing people. I’ve spent a lot of time in hospital, I’ve spent a lot of time on medication. I’ve spent a lot of time in chemotherapy. It’s a medicine to treat cancer. It ravages your body.
| Manager | Played | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals | Conceded | Points |
| Tony Mowbray | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 15 | 13 | 16 |
“It was the first time I have ever really been in hospital other than when I had a hernia as a young Middlesbrough player.”
“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’s cancer eventually forced him to leave Birmingham to take care of his health, and he explained why it was necessary to stop managing for a while.
“I remember catching myself in a glass door and I didn’t even recognise it was me in the reflection,” he added.
“I was a shell of a man really. My cheeks were sunk in. I had lost 4½ stone, I was hunched over and I made the decision then.
“I phoned Garry Cook [the Birmingham chief executive] that day and said I wouldn’t be going back because I needed to get well.”
West Brom promotion would be a fairytale return for Mowbray
The fact that Mowbray has returned to better health is already a dream for his family, as he was given the all-clear in January shortly before rejoining West Brom.
Now he has overcome the most difficult year of his life, he is now aiming to go full circle when it comes to his dream West Brom return.
The Baggies are currently sixth in the Championship, and are on course to reach the play-offs. They do have Middlesbrough and Bristol City breathing down their necks, and will need to be consistent in the final few weeks of the season.
Should West Brom reach the play-off final, a victory at Wembley would be the perfect way for Mowbray to cap off his return to football, and would be a truly special moment given what he has gone through in the past year.