The Bowleys are split right down the middle on football allegiances today with two of them supporting Hull City and the other two backing The Boro
The Bowley family – Dave and George in their Boro shirts and Jacqueline and James in their Tigers shirts(Image: Submitted)
It won’t just be a battle on the pitch at Wembley today – this family is split right down the middle. The Bowleys headed down to Wembley in the same car last night – two of them in the Tigers’ orange and black and the other two in Boro’s red and white.
Hull City and Middlesborough FC will fight it out on the pitch this afternoon for the final place in the Premier League. Dad Dave, 43, is a lifelong Boro fan and season ticket holder while his wife Jacqueline, 47, is rooting for Hull.
Their eldest son George, 18, is Boro through and through but brother James, 16, supports the Tigers. After securing tickets for today’s play-off final, the family headed down to Wembley in the same car on Friday. Once they reach the stadium this afternoon, they’ll split up and head off to the two different ends.
The family lives in Consett and Dave works at Coulby Newham. His love for The Boro was passed down from his dad Ian Bowley who worked at British Steel in the 70s and 80s.
“It was his fault,” laughed Dave. “I got my first season ticket when the Riverside opened, the first season there.
“We’ve got season tickets and George has been to 46 Boro matches this season. He was born in Scarborough when we lived down there so he supports Boro with me because I sort of brainwashed him!
“But my youngest was born in Hull because we lived in Bridlington when he was born, so he supports Hull and my wife has decided to even the numbers up. They don’t get to go to the Hull City games very often because of the distance but they had enough points on their Hull accounts to get tickets no bother.”
Regarding the obvious question about friendly rivalry and banter, he said: “We’re all a little bit cautious of going too far because somebody is going to regret it! I think Middlesbrough has been the better team over the season but we’ve been the better team in loads of games and then not scored goals so we’ll see.”
The Bowleys travelled down to Milton Keynes on Friday evening and are catching the train into London today. Once they reach the stadium they will say “goodbye” but perhaps not “good luck”!
The play-off final kicks off at 3.30pm.