Ronald William Charles Bower (17 November 1911 – December 1998) was a Welsh professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for New Brighton and

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

. Bower began his career as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, a position in which he played 24

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

games for New Brighton between 1932 and 1934. He then joined non-League side South Liverpool, before continuing in the Football League with

, where he made three appearances. He then moved south to Millwall in the Southern League. The onset of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

limited the number of games that Bower could play, but he did make guest appearances for Southend United, New Brighton and

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

. He joined Colchester United as a guest in 1945, but signed professional terms in November 1945, remaining with the club until 1949 and making 55 Southern League appearances. He wound down his playing career with Sudbury Town.

Career

Born in

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

, Bower began his professional career as a

with

club New Brighton. He made 24 appearances between 1932 and 1934 before joining non-League outfit South Liverpool in 1935. He returned to the Football League one year later with

, where he was converted into a

- a position he would remain in for the rest of his career. Bower made three appearances for Bolton before moving to London to play for Millwall in the Southern League in 1937. The outbreak of

curtailed his professional career, but Bower did make guest appearances for a number of clubs. He made 39 appearances for Southend United, 40 appearances in addition to one goal for his first club New Brighton, and 44 appearances for

, scoring five goals. Bower joined Colchester United as a guest for their 1945–46 campaign, where he made ten appearances prior to signing a professional contract with the club. He signed on 28 November 1945 and was ever-present for an entire season where Colchester used 80 players, playing all 20 league fixtures and 10 cup ties. He was one of only four players to be retained at the end of the 1945–46 season. With Colchester's squad already possessing two players by the name of Ronald,

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Syd Fieldus decided to refer to Bower as Bill, owing to his middle name of William. In his second season with the club, Bower made a further 30 league appearances, seven Southern League Cup games and two

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

outings, missing just one game all season. Bower stepped aside to allow the developing

Digger Kettle Albert Henry "Digger" Kettle (3 June 1922 – 1 March 1999) was an English footballer who played for Colchester United. Career Born in Colchester, Kettle served in the Royal Air Force in Rhodesia and Italy during World War II. After playing fo ...

to progress in Colchester's first-team for the 1947–48 season, acting as cover whilst captaining and coaching the reserve team in the

Eastern Counties League The Eastern Counties Football League, currently known as the Thurlow Nunn League for sponsorship purposes, is an English football league at levels 9 and 10 of the English football league system. It currently contains clubs from Norfolk, Suff ...

. After failing to make an appearance in the 1948–49 season, Bower undertook an FA coaching badge during the 1949–50 season, while spending the summer months providing local schools with his coaching knowledge. He made his final two Colchester United appearances during the season, replacing the injured Kettle for games against

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...

and

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...

on 1 October 1949. Bower left Colchester to join Sudbury Town, where he played until 1956. Outside of football, he worked in the dispatch department for Woods in

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

. He died in the town in December 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bower, Bill 1911 births 1998 deaths Footballers from Wrexham Welsh men's footballers Men's association football forwards Men's association football fullbacks New Brighton A.F.C. players South Liverpool F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Southend United F.C. wartime guest players New Brighton A.F.C. wartime guest players Aldershot F.C. wartime guest players Colchester United F.C. players Sudbury Town F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players Chelmsford City F.C. wartime guest players