William Sowden (8 December 1930 – 13 November 2010) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre forward in the Football League for

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

, Chesterfield and Stockport County and in

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

for

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...

and Altrincham.

Career

Born in Gorton, Manchester, Sowden started his career with junior side Greenwood Victoria before joining

as an eighteen-year-old in April 1949, despite being a

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

supporter. He made his professional debut for City in August 1952 in the Manchester derby. In his next appearance for the club he scored twice against Tottenham Hotspur. He scored the first Manchester City goal under floodlights at Maine Road when he scored a hat-trick against Heart of Midlothian in a friendly in October 1953. He rose to local fame for being one of the first City players to own a car, and he would often offer lifts to supporters attending Maine Road. In November 1954, he transferred to Football League Third Division North side Chesterfield for a fee of £1,500. In his first season for the club he finished as second-highest scorer behind George Smith, scoring 14 goals in 24 matches. In the 1955–56 season he played in all but one game and scored 32 goals, which remains a post-war record haul in a season by a Chesterfield player. His place in the side was less secure during the 1956–57 season, however, he still managed to score 13 goals in 28 matches. He lost his place in February 1957 when the club signed Gwyn Lewis, and his final goal for the club came against his boyhood side Manchester United in a reserve match. In the summer of 1957 he transferred to Stockport County in exchange for Ivor Seemley. He had an impressive record in his only season for the club scoring 8 goals in 16 matches in all competitions. In the summer of 1958 he dropped into non-league football with

Cheshire County League The Cheshire County League was a football league founded in the north west of England in 1919, drawing its teams largely from Cheshire, surrounding English counties and North Wales. Initially the league was dominated by the reserve teams of Footba ...

side

. He made his debut for the Silkmen in August 1958 at home to Buxton. He was top scorer in his first season with the club scoring 19 times. He scored three hat-tricks during his time at the Moss Rose, playing his last match for the club in November 1960. In total he made 89 appearances for Macclesfield in all competitions scoring 51 goals, before transferring to divisional rivals Altrincham in 1961. He made his debut for the club in April 1961, in a 7–0 defeat to Bangor City. He played in all of the last eight matches of the 1960–61 season for the struggling side, as Altrincham lost every match, before retiring from the game.

Personal life

After retiring from full-time football Sowden ran the family's bakery business in Heaton Chapel, where he worked until his retirement. He died on 13 November 2010 in

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

, Greater Manchester at the age of 79, after suffering from dementia in his later life.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sowden, Billy 1930 births 2010 deaths People from Gorton English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Manchester City F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players English Football League players