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Jack Fowler (footballer, born 1899)

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This article is about the Welsh international footballer. For the English footballer who played for Bradford City and Torquay United, see Jack Fowler (footballer born 1902). For other people with this name, see John Fowler (disambiguation).

Jack Fowler
Personal information
Full name John Fowler
Date of birth (1899-12-03)3 December 1899
Place of birth Cardiff, Wales
Position(s) Centre forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1919–1921 Mardy
1921–1924 Plymouth Argyle 37 (25)
1924–1930 Swansea Town 167 (102)
1930–1932 Clapton Orient 75 (15)
International career
1925–1928 Wales 6 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Jack Fowler (3 December 1899 – 26 February 1975)[1] was a Welsh professional footballer, who played as a centre forward for Plymouth Argyle,[2] Swansea Town and Clapton Orient as well as making six appearances for his country.

Football career

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Plymouth Argyle

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Fowler was born in Cardiff[1][2] and started his football career with Mardy, who were then playing in the Southern League Second Division before transferring to the Welsh Section.[3] Whilst with Mardy, Fowler was selected to represent the Southern League (Welsh Section) in a match against the Football League.[1] In 1921 he turned down a move to Brighton & Hove Albion as he was unable to agree terms, but signed for Plymouth Argyle in May.[1]

Initially he found it hard to break into the first team, with Frank Richardson leading the forward line.[4] Fowler made his debut replacing Tommy Gallogley at inside right on 17 December 1921, scoring in a 4–0 victory over Southend United. He retained his place for the next three games before Gallogley returned on New Year's Eve.[5] Plymouth finished the season as runners-up in the Third Division South to Southampton, but with only one team being promoted missed out on promotion on goal average. This was the start of a run of six consecutive seasons in which Plymouth finished as runners-up but were denied promotion.

For the following season, Fowler was used intermittently until mid-March, generally playing as an inside forward, until Richardson left to join Stoke City. Fowler then took over as the recognised centre-forward and, despite making only 22 league appearances, he was the club's top scorer for the season with 17 goals,[6] including a hat-trick in a 5–1 victory over local rivals Exeter City on 30 March 1923.

In the summer of 1923, Plymouth signed Percy Cherrett from Portsmouth[7] and Fowler once again found himself second choice at centre forward, making only ten league appearances (scoring seven goals) in the 1923–24 season. Fowler became unsettled and in February 1924, he returned to Wales to join Swansea Town for a fee of £1280, then a record for the Welsh club.[1] In his three years at Home Park, Fowler scored 25 goals in 39 appearances for Argyle.[8]

Despite having left Argyle in February, Fowler accompanied the Plymouth Argyle side on a tour of South America in the summer of 1924, although he did not play in any of the nine matches against various club and scratch sides.[9]

Swansea Town

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At Swansea, Fowler replaced Jack Smith at centre forward and made 14 appearances, scoring six goals at the end of the 1923–24 season.

The following season, Fowler was ever-present and with 28 goals he was the club's top-scorer for the season at the end of which Swansea claimed the Third Division South title, one point ahead of Fowler's former club. Fowler's goal tally made him the top-scorer across the Third Division South.[10] Fowler's goal tally included five in a match against Charlton Athletic on 27 September 1924, which remains the club's record for the most goals in a match.[11]

Described as a "player of strength and brain",[1] Fowler was a shrewd and determined leader of the Swansea forward line and continued his goal-scoring exploits in the Second Division, scoring 28 goals for the second consecutive year.[12] Fowler soon became a favourite at the Vetch Field, with the crowd urging him on with their own version of a popular song of the time: "Chick chick chick chicken, score a little goal for me".[1] Between 1924 and 1929, Fowler scored nine hat-tricks for Swansea.

Fowler received his first international call up for the visit of England to Vetch Field on 28 February 1925, with the visitors running out 2–1 winners.[13] The following year, Wales visited London and in the match at Selhurst Park on 1 March 1926, Fowler scored twice to enable his country to claim a 3–1 victory.[14]

By 1930, Fowler had lost his place in the Swansea Town side to Ronnie Williams and after only making one appearance in the 1929–30 season, he was transferred to Clapton Orient.[1] In his seven seasons with Swansea, Fowler scored 113 goals from 183 appearances.

Clapton Orent

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At Orient, Fowler had dropped to the Third Division South, where he made a total of 80 appearances, but was unable to replicate his goal-scoring exploits with Swansea, managing only 15 goals in two seasons, before injury brought his career to a close.[1]

Later career

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On retirement from football, Fowler returned to Swansea where he kept the Rhyddings Hotel in Brynmill for 35 years.[1]

International appearances

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In all, Fowler made sixty nine appearances for Wales in international matches, as follows:[15]

Date Venue Opponent Result[16] Goals Competition
28 February 1925 Vetch Field, Swansea  England 1–2 0 British Home Championship
13 February 1926 Windsor Park, Belfast  Ireland 0–3 0 British Home Championship
1 March 1926 Selhurst Park, London  England 3–1 2 British Home Championship
30 October 1926 Ibrox Park, Glasgow  Scotland 0–3 0 British Home Championship
29 October 1927 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham  Scotland 2–2 0 British Home Championship
17 November 1928 Vetch Field, Swansea  England 2–3 1 British Home Championship

Honours

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Swansea Town

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Davies, Gareth; Garland, Ian (1991). Who's Who of Welsh International Soccer Players. Bridge Books. pp. 66–67. ISBN 1-872424-11-2.
  2. ^ a b "Jack Fowler profile". www.greensonscreen.co.uk. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
  3. ^ Rundle, Richard. "Mardy (Rhondda)". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  4. ^ "Frank Richardson profile". www.greensonscreen.co.uk. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  5. ^ "Tommy Gallogley profile". www.greensonscreen.co.uk. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  6. ^ "Plymouth Argyle season review: 1922–23". www.argylereview.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2 May 2008. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  7. ^ "Percy Cherrett profile". www.greensonscreen.co.uk. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  8. ^ "Jack Fowler". www.argylereview.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 April 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
  9. ^ "Plymouth Argyle South American Tour 1924". www.greensonscreen.co.uk. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  10. ^ "Division 3 (South) 1924–25". Football League tables. www.footballsite.co.uk. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  11. ^ "Facts and figures". Club records. Swansea City F.C. Archived from the original on 9 February 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  12. ^ "Club history". Year-by-year. Swansea City F.C. Archived from the original on 1 January 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  13. ^ "Wales 1 England 2 (28 February 1925)". Welsh Football Data Archive. Archived from the original on 21 April 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  14. ^ "England 1 Wales 3 (1 March 1926)". Welsh Football Data Archive. Archived from the original on 21 April 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  15. ^ Samuel, Bill (2009). The Complete Wales FC 1876–2008. Soccer Books. pp. 25–27. ISBN 978-1-86223-176-4.
  16. ^ Wales score first
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