Ebenezer Harold Fuller "Ginger" Owers (21 October 1888 – June 1951) was an English

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 ...

who played as a centre forward. He made over 90 appearances in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

and over 30 appearances in the

Scottish League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sout ...

in the years prior to the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Career

Born in

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancient ...

, Ebenezer "Ginger" Owers played locally for Bashford and Leytonstone. He joined Southern Football League team Leyton in 1906 and then moved to Blackpool in 1907. He moved to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

in November 1907. He joined Chesterfield Town in January 1909 as they tried to retain their Football League status but failed, Owers made 15 appearances scoring 3 goals. Chesterfield Town dropped into the

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History T ...

for 1909–10 and won the Midland League championship. Owers made 41 appearances scoring 40 goals including a club record run of scoring in 10 consecutive Midland League games, a spell broken by injury although he was fit enough to act as linesman in the game that he missed through injury. Only Jimmy Cookson in 1925–26 with 44 goals has scored more goals in a single season for Chesterfield. When in summer 1910 Chesterfield Town failed in their attempt to be elected back into the Football League it was inevitable that Ginger Owers would move on. He joined Darlington in 1909 (but this is disputed in another book which has Owers remaining at Chesterfield until moving to Bristol City in June 1910.) Harry Thickett signed Owers in July 1910 from Darlington, or more likely Chesterfield, for

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 ...

. Owers made his debut for Bristol City at centre forward in a 0–0 draw v Preston North End on 24 September 1910. He was the leading scorer for Bristol City in season 1910–11 as the "Babes" were relegated from Division One. Owers made 31 appearances scoring 16 goals including a hat-trick in a 3–2 victory over Middlesbrough on 21 January 1911. He rejoined Darlington in July 1911 from Bristol City. Ginger Owers scored 19 goals in the

North Eastern League The North Eastern League was an association football league for teams in the North East of England. The league was founded in 1906 and was initially successful, with teams defecting from the rival Northern Football Alliance to play. Although so ...

in season 1911–12 for Darlington who finished in 3rd place. Owers netted hat-tricks v. Carlisle United in a 7–1 win and at Wallsend Park Villa in a 5–2 win. He also scored all four goals in a 4–1 win at Jarrow on 30 December 1911. Owers returned to Bristol City again in March 1912. Owers replaced leading scorer Jock Butler at centre forward for the final games of the Second Division season scoring 3 goals in 8 appearances. Butler moved to the right wing and Owers retained the centre forward position from the start of season 1912–13 making 23 appearances and ending as leading scorer with 13 goals despite leaving the club in March 1913. Owers moved to Scotland and joined

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

in March 1913. He had a loan spell with Celtic from December 1913, making 13 league appearances and scoring 8 goals to help the ''Bhoys'' win the

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

(although he was dropped for the

1914 Scottish Cup Final The 1913–14 Scottish Cup was the 41st staging of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The Cup was won by Celtic who defeated Hibernian in the replayed final. Owers served in one of the Sportsmen's Battalions in the

and a war wound finished his playing career.

Honours

;Chesterfield Town *

: 1909–10 ;Celtic * Scottish Football League: 1913–14 *

Career

Honours

References