The midfielder was booed and jeered by the opposing fans in what is almost certain to be the pattern for the season.
Afterwards Sir Bobby said: "Lee's having a tough time with the crowd. Every time he gets the ball he gets booed, it's not nice for the boy.
"He hasn't come all this way to get booed, but it's something he'll just have to fight and we will support him. He needs support because it's not nice.
"He's strong enough to deal with it, and we'll be strong enough to support him. The kid did all right."
Of course if you turn the clock back a couple of years to our 4-3 win at Elland Road then you’ll no doubt remember the barrage of abuse that we subjected Bowyer to for almost the whole game.
If Bowyer had signed for someone else can anyone honestly say it wouldn’t be the same this season?
Unfortunately for Bowyer he has earned himself a reputation that means he will always be a hate figure for opposition fans and rightly or wrongly he will have to deal with it for the rest of his career.
Roy Keane has suffered similar abuse over the years and seems to have used it to inspire himself to even greater performances, and hopefully Bowyer can now learn to do the same.