 He made his debut for the Canaries on 19 August 1987 in a league match against Southampton at Carrow Road.Mark Bowen scored his first goal for Norwich City against West Ham United on New Year's Day 1988 in a 4–1 win at home in the first division.Bowen spent much of his first season at Norwich playing on the left of midfield, but when Tony Spearing left the club to join Leicester City in July 1988, Bowen made the left-back spot his own for the next eight years.