George Lowrie (19 December 1919 – 3 May 1989) was a Welsh

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

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

for several clubs including

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

and

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

Playing career

Lowrie was born in

Tonypandy Tonypandy is a town, community and electoral ward located in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. A former industrial coal mining town, the town was ...

and started his professional career at Swansea Town in January 1937 before moving on to

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

in December 1937. Injuries restricted his appearances for Preston and in the summer of 1939, he was transferred to

. He made one League appearance for Coventry in 1939–40 before the league was abandoned due to the outbreak 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 ...

. During the war, he made nine appearances for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, although no caps were awarded for wartime international appearances. After the cessation of hostilities, he returned to Coventry City and in an explosive two seasons he scored 44 goals in only 56 league appearances, easily making him Coventry's top scorer in both seasons. He also scored 3 FA Cup goals in only two appearances and made four appearances for Wales. His goal-scoring exploits brought him to the attention of

Stan Seymour George Stanley Seymour (16 May 1895 – 24 December 1978) was a footballer who played for Newcastle United then became manager, vice-chairman and director of the club. Born in Kelloe, Seymour is one of the club's all-time greats, and was known ...

, who signed him for

for a club record fee of £18,500 in March 1948. His final game for Coventry City was on 6 March 1948 at home to

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. During the week, Lowrie moved to Newcastle, who again met Southampton in their next game. In both cases, Lowrie was marked by

Eric Webber Eric Victor Webber (22 December 1919 – 10 December 1996) was an English footballer, playing as a centre-half, and manager. Playing career Early days Although he was born at Shoreham in West Sussex, Webber's family moved into Hampshire w ...

, who prevented Lowrie from scoring. Lowrie was to have "revenge" at the end of the season, however, as Newcastle took the second promotion place ahead of Southampton. Injuries prevented Lowrie transferring his goal-scoring skills to Newcastle, who were now playing in Division 1, and in 18 months at the club he only made 12 league appearances, scoring 5 goals, before moving on to

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

in September 1949 for a cut-price £10,000. Playing in the Third Division (South), Lowrie found goal-scoring easier and scored 21 goals in 48 league appearances for Bristol City, before his career was again interrupted by a broken leg. In February 1952 he returned to Coventry City (now relegated to the lowest division) where Lowrie played out his professional career until retiring in 1953.

Honours

* Coventry City Hall of Fame

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowrie, George 1919 births 1989 deaths People from Tonypandy Sportspeople from Rhondda Cynon Taf Welsh footballers Wales international footballers Swansea City A.F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players English Football League players Association football forwards