Ian Howat (born 29 July 1958) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played in

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

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

and

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

. He later appeared for several non-league clubs.

Playing career

A product of

Chester's Chester's International, known as Chester's or Chester's Chicken, is a fried chicken quick-service restaurant chain based in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. W.O. Giles founded Chester's in October 1965 and adopted Chester the Chicken as the eme ...

youth policy, Howat made his Chester debut as a substitute in a

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...

fixture against

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 ...

on 16 October 1976. Later in the season he scored twice during the club's run to the

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 ...

fifth round and netted the winner against

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

in the

Debenhams Cup The Debenhams Cup was one of several short-lived football competitions introduced in the 1970s and 1980s, along with the Watney Cup, Texaco Cup, Anglo-Scottish Cup, the Super Cup and Full Members' Cup. It lasted for just two seasons ( 1976–77 an ...

final at the end of the season. In his time at the club, Howat had spells playing in attack alongside fellow forwards including Paul Crossley, Ian Edwards,

Ian Mellor Ian Mellor (born 19 February 1950) is an English former professional footballer. He was born in Sale, England. Mellor, a left-winger, began his career with Manchester City. He played as a substitute as City won the 1972 FA Charity Shield. He ...

, Peter Henderson,

Ian Rush Ian James Rush (born 20 October 1961) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a forward. At club level Rush played for Liverpool from 1980–1987 and 1988–1996. He is the club's all-time leading goalscorer, having scored a to ...

and

Trevor Phillips Sir Mark Trevor Phillips (born 31 December 1953) is a British writer, broadcaster and former politician who served as Chair of the London Assembly from 2000 to 2001 and from 2002 to 2003. He presented '' Trevor Phillips on Sunday'', a Sunday ...

without establishing himself as a first-team regular. He memorably found the target when Chester won 2–1 at

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 ...

in April 1978, ending his hometown club's unbeaten home league record. In February 1982 Howat moved to

, but left the club at the end of the season. This marked the end of his

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 ...

career and Howat joined

Bangor City Bangor City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Bangor) are an inactive Welsh football club from the City of Bangor, Gwynedd. They started the 2021–22 season in the Cymru North the second level of the Welsh football league system, but ...

in the

Alliance Premier League The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in Football in England, England consisting of three divisions, the National League (division), National League, National League Nor ...

. His spell with Bangor included an appearance at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

in May 1984 in the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

final against

Northwich Victoria {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

. A cartlidge operation the following season ruled Howat out of action for a couple of years, but he subsequently returned to play for Welsh non-league sides Oswestry Town,

(second spell),

Caernarfon Town Caernarfon Town Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl Droed Tref Caernarfon) is a semi-professional Welsh football club based in Caernarfon, Gwynedd. The club is nicknamed "the Canaries" because of its yellow and green strip, a nickname that dates from ...

, Newtown, Holywell Town and Llansantffraid. His achievements in later years included scoring 17 times in the first season of the

League of Wales The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 200 ...

for

Holywell Holywell may refer to: * Holywell, Flintshire, Wales * Holywell, Swords, Ireland * Holywell, Bedfordshire, England * Holywell, Cambridgeshire, England * Holywell, Cornwall, England * Holywell, Dorset, England * Holywell, Eastbourne, East Susse ...

Honours

Chester *

winners: 1976–1977 Bangor City *

runners-up: 1983–1984.

External links

Welsh Premier career stats
(surname spelt incorrectly)
Article on Ipswich v. Chester FA Cup tie 1980 (featuring Howat)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howat, Ian 1958 births Living people Welsh footballers Footballers from Wrexham Men's association football forwards English Football League players National League (English football) players Cymru Premier players Chester City F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Bangor City F.C. players Oswestry Town F.C. players Caernarfon Town F.C. players Newtown A.F.C. players Holywell Town F.C. players The New Saints F.C. players