Dowie, 28, played two years under current Breakers head coach Matt Beard while he managed Liverpool. In her three seasons with the Reds (2012-2015), Dowie scored 45 goals in 42 games. She was named the FA Players Player of the Year in 2013, the same year she led Liverpool to its first FA WSL title.
“Tats is an infectious person. Her attitude on the pitch is fantastic, and with her personality, I think she’ll be a great lift to the team, but secondly, she’s a good, honest professional. She works hard, and I think that will rub off on some of the players,” Beard said.
“The players won’t get a rest when she’s in training and in games, but the most important thing is, I know if you get her in goal-scoring situations, she’ll score goals. Obviously that’s been our problem all season. We’ve got ourselves in some real good goal-scoring positions, but we just haven’t taken our chances, and at this top level, you get punished if you don’t take them. For me, it’ll be good to work with her again.”
“We were surprised she became available when she did. She was a player who we wanted to go after in the offseason. To have her become available now, we had to jump and secure her before she signed a long-term contract elsewhere,” Boston Breakers general manager Lee Billiard said.
Dowie, who had a stint with the Melbourne Victory in the Westfield W-League in Australia in 2015, most recently played four matches for Doncaster Rovers Belles, scoring one goal. Prior to Doncaster and Liverpool, Dowie saw time with Fulham, Charlton Athletic, and Everton, where she scored the game-winning goal in the 2010 FA Cup Final against Arsenal.
Capped 14 times for England, Dowie made her debut with the Lionesses in November 2009 at the FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers against Turkey. She came on as a sub in a 3-0 victory. She played for England in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers and scored her first international goal on 2013 in a 6-0 win over Belarus.
“I am delighted to be signing for Boston Breakers. I have always had a strong interest in playing abroad, and this was strengthened more so after my short loan spell in the Australian W-League last year,” Dowie said.
“I have known Matt Beard since the early days of my career at Charlton when I was 17-years-old, and we have cemented our relationship since then with a successful spell together at Liverpool. He knows my game well and is a manager who believes in me, and we work well together. I am looking forward to joining up with former teammates Libby (Stout), Lollo (Louise Schillgard), Whitney (Engen), and Brooke (Elby), and I’m sure having them around will help me to settle in easily. I am hoping I can add something different to the squad, help them improve on their current league position, connect well with the fans, and also looking forward to getting to know the beautiful city of Boston.”
Source – bostonbreakerssoccer.com / Photo – liverpoolfc.com
