Ian Bowling (born 27 July 1965) is an English former 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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He is goalkeeping coach at Staveley MWFC.

Playing career

Bowling started his professional career with Lincoln City whom he joined from

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsbo ...

in November 1988. Prior to that, he had spent some time with

Stafford Rangers Stafford Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional English football team from Stafford which plays in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. The team wear black and white stripes with black shorts. Stafford Rangers' rivals include T ...

and Frecheville CA. During his time with The Imps, Bowling made 51 appearances for the club. He was also sent out on loan to

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

and

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

. Following the successful loan spell with

, Bowling joined them in July 1993. He made 29 appearances joining

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

in the following season. Bowling will probably be most remembered as a Stags legend as he spent the best part of five seasons, making 172 appearances for the club. Bowling left Mansfield Town in July 2000 having not been offered a new contract, and in September 2000, joined

. In February 2002 he suffered a serious head injury in the game against

Tiverton Town Tiverton Town Football Club are an English football club based in Tiverton, Devon. The club are currently members of the and play at Ladysmead. History The club was established in 1913 as Tiverton Athletic, and initially played at the Athle ...

when he collided with a goalpost. The injury caused him to miss the remaining thirteen games of Kettering's triumphant

Southern Football League Premier Division The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English foot ...

season. He made his comeback from injury in July 2002. He subsequently joined

Worksop Town Worksop Town Football Club is an English football club based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. As of the 2021–22 season the team plays in the . They are nicknamed ''The Tigers'' and play their home games at Sandy Lane in Worksop. History First clu ...

in May 2003. He joined

Stalybridge Celtic Stalybridge Celtic Football Club is an English football club based in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the and play at Bower Fold. The team traditionally plays in a blue and white strip. In 1921 Stalybridge Celtic ...

on loan in December 2003. He made his debut in the 1–1 home draw with

Burscough Burscough () is a town and civil parish in West Lancashire in the ceremonial county of Lancashire, England. It is located to the north of Ormskirk and northwest of Skelmersdale. The parish also includes the hamlet of Tarlscough and the Martin M ...

on 6 December 2003 and made a total of five appearances, four in the league, before returning to Worksop at end of the month. He spent a month on loan at

Hucknall Town Hucknall Town Football Club are a football club based in the town of Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, England. The club are members of the and play at Watnall Road. History Hucknall Town were renamed from Hucknall Colliery Welfare in 1987 and for ...

in September 2004 and the first three months of 2005 on loan at

Matlock Town Matlock Town Football Club is a association football, football club based in Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock, Derbyshire, England. Nicknamed 'the Gladiators', they are currently members of the and play at Causeway Lane. History The club was esta ...

before returning to the Worksop Town first team making his final appearance, before retirement, in April 2005.

Managerial career

Bowling remained with Worksop as goalkeeping coach. In early November 2006, Bowling was appointed manager of

. This was after a successful period as caretaker manager, where a renewed emphasis on attacking football was rewarded with results on the pitch, and Bowling himself winning his first Manager of the Month award at the end of October that year. He replaced the previous coach,

Ronnie Glavin Ronald Michael Glavin (born 27 March 1951) is a Scottish former footballer, who played as a midfielder. Glavin played for Partick Thistle, Celtic, Barnsley, Belenenses, Barnsley, Farsley Celtic, Stockport County, Cowdenbeath and St. Louis Ste ...

, who left the club by mutual content at the beginning of October 2006. However, he was sacked at the end of the season after Worksop's relegation from the

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

. In October 2007 he was appointed as goalkeeping coach at

, linking up with his former Lincoln City and

colleague Phil Brown. He will also combine his role with scouting duties. In May 2015 he joined Staveley Miners Welfare as first team goalkeeping coach.

References

External links

*
Stalybridge Celtic F.C. Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowling, Ian 1965 births Living people English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Footballers from Sheffield Stafford Rangers F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Frecheville Community Association F.C. players Worksop Town F.C. players Stalybridge Celtic F.C. players Hucknall Town F.C. players Matlock Town F.C. players