‘I’d black out on the kitchen floor’ Former Celtic boss opens up on health battle and admits he’s ‘not ready’ for return

FORMER Celtic and Hibs boss Tony Mowbray has bravely opened up about his battle with bowel cancer.

The former Hoops defender abruptly left his role at Birmingham City eight games after replacing Wayne Rooney at St Andrews.

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He’d been sacked just a month earlier at Sunderland – but his whole world turned upside down with his diagnosis.

Well-travelled boss Mowbray has taken charge of Hibs, West Brom and Celtic as well as his hometown team Middlesbrough.

In total he’s had nine full-time boss jobs.

As a player he turned out for Boro, Ipswich and Celtic where he is credited with creating the club’s famous pre-match huddle.

And while playing at Parkhead he met first wife Bernadette who tragically died in 1995 after battling breast cancer.

Now, almost 30 years later, Mowbray faced his own fight with the disease when doctors told him he had bowel cancer.

He immediately stepped back from Birmingham duties after a brilliant start with the Blues and began his bid to recover with surgery.

Mogga eventually quit the job at the end of the season.

He said: “It’s been the toughest year of my life.

Out of the blue my illness was diagnosed and my world came crushing down really.

“The way I went to the toilet had changed and so they had a look and I was diagnosed with bowel cancer.

“When you get an illness like I got, it’s about family really.

I remember sitting in a hospital bed, my kids had tears in their eyes – not sure if I was going to get through it or not to be honest.

“I was very, very ill.

“Some days you were feeling great and other days I’d collapse and black out and find myself on the kitchen floor.

The message from me, loud and clear, is if there’s something not normal – don’t be afraid to go and see your doctor.

“It’s worth it because it’s not only you – think about your family.

“If you have got kids they want to see their dad until he is an old man and they can take him on holiday or push him around in a wheelchair or whatever.”

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Mowbray was spotted back at Middlesbrough games at the start of the season, but told BBC Radio Tees he was secretly wearing a stoma bag and was weaker now than he was then, given the nature of his illness.

However he has been buoyed by the support shown in his native north-east as well as across the football spectrum.

He added: “It’s been the football world en masse, not just the people on Teesside – though they have been extra special.

“People have stopped me in the street and given me Mars bars!

“Some gentleman walking his dog saw me, turned around and went to the shop – then he ran after me with his dog and gave me a family bag of Revels.

“It’s really humbling, I thank them all from the bottom of my heart.”

However as much as he’d love a return to football, he admits it may be more difficult and will listen to his body as he continues to recover.

But he’s not ruling it out.

He added: “I love football, and i do want to get back into the game. But I am not ready yet, I haven’t got the energy required to be a football manager.

“I will, I am sure. I am going to take my amazing wife [Amber] on holiday over the next couple of weeks and in the new year maybe I’ll see what’s out there, what opportunities come and hopefully my body’s telling me I’m ready to go.”