Middlesbrough great Tony Mowbray eyeing up return to football after cancer diagnosis

Boro legend Tony Mowbray is eyeing up a return to football as he continues his recovery from bowel cancer.

The 60-year-old, who was born in Saltburn, resigned from his post as Birmingham manager in May three months after initially taking temporary sick leave. Former Middlesbrough, Hibernian, West Brom, Celtic, Coventry, Blackburn and Sunderland boss Mowbray is not yet ready to step back into management but has revealed he will assess his options in the new year.

He told BBC Sport Tees: "I love football, I do want to get back into the game. Today I stand here, I'm not ready, I haven't got the energy that's required to be a football manager. But I will, I'm pretty sure.

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"I'm going to take my amazing wife away on holiday in 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 is telling me that I'm ready to go."

Mowbray, who led Middlesbrough to back-to-back promotions in the late 1980s, stepped back from football in February after a shock diagnosis which brought his world "crashing down".

He said: "It's been the toughest year of my life. Out of the blue, my illness was diagnosed and my world came crashing down, really. The way I would go to the toilet had changed and so they had a look and I got diagnosed with bowel cancer.

"When you get an illness like what I got, it's about the family, really. I remember sitting in a hospital bed, my kids had tears in their eyes not sure whether 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 would collapse and black out and find myself on the kitchen floor."

Former Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich defender Mowbray has been moved by the support he has received from the people of his native Teesside and the football family and has urged others not to be afraid of having symptoms investigated.

He said: "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've got kids, they want to see their dad until he's an old man and they can take him on holiday or push him around in a wheelchair, or whatever it might be."

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