John Cowan (12 December 1870 – 1937) was a Scottish

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 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

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

and

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 ...

Career

Cowan was born in

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

; he began his football career with

Vale of Leven The Vale of Leven (Scottish Gaelic: ''Magh Leamhna'') is an area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in the valley of the River Leven. Historically, it was part of The Lennox, the name of which derives from the Gaelic term ''Leamhnach'', meaning ' ...

and joined the stream of Scottish footballers playing in the English League in the summer of 1892, when he joined First Division

, making his Football League debut at

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

that September. He missed only four matches as Preston finished runners-up in the League Championship and played for the club in the 1893 FA Cup semi-final replay, scoring in a 2–2 draw, and its second replay in which they were ultimately defeated 2–1 by Everton. He was a near ever-present in 1893–94, missing only one match and scoring four goals in Preston's 18–0 FA Cup first round rout of Southern League

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

in January 1894. After 16 goals in 64 appearances for The ''Lilywhites'' he joined Rangers in the 1894 close season, making his debut against

that August. He scored four goals in 17 appearances for the

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

club and played in a trial match for the Scotland national team which ultimately did not lead to any full

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

before a return to England to join his elder brother James Cowan at

the following August. Villa won the League in 1895–96; Cowan scored nine goals in 22 games that season and was part of a forward line that included Johnny Campbell,

Jack Devey John Henry George Devey (26 December 1866 – 11 October 1940) was an English football player and a first-class cricketer. He is considered one of Aston Villa's greatest captains. Football career Devey was born in Birmingham and signed for Asto ...

Charlie Athersmith William Charles Athersmith Harper (10 May 1872 – 18 September 1910), known as Charlie Athersmith, was an English professional footballer who played as a winger. He played the majority of his club career at Aston Villa, making 307 appearances ...

and

Dennis Hodgetts Dennis Hodgetts (28 November 1863 – 25/26 March 1945), commonly known as Denny Hodgetts, was a footballer in the early years of professional football in England. Signed as a Youth player for Mitchell St George's in 1878 and played for three ...

. The following season proved the most glorious for Aston Villa. On 30 January 1897, they beat

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 ...

5–0 in the third round of 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 ...

,and went on to beat

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

(2–0), Preston North End (3–2) and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

(3–0) to reach the final against Everton. Aston Villa retained the League title ahead of the runners-up,

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

, by 11 points. A crowd of over 60,000 arrived at

The Crystal Palace The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibit ...

to watch the

1897 FA Cup Final Events January–March * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a puniti ...

. Athersmith scored the opening goal but Everton hit back with goals from Jack Bell and

Dickie Boyle Richard Boyle (born 24 September 1869) was a Scottish professional footballer. Career Boyle played club football in Scotland and England for Dumbarton, Everton, New Brighton Tower and Dundee. Honours ;Dumbarton * Scottish League: Champions ...

. Aston Villa continued to dominate the game and added two more goals from

Fred Wheldon George Frederick Wheldon (1 November 1869 – 13 January 1924) was an English sportsman. He was sometimes known as Fred or Freddie Wheldon. In football, he was an inside-forward with good footwork and an eye for goal who played for England and ...

and

Jimmy Crabtree James William Crabtree (23 December 1871–18 June 1908) was a gifted English footballer of the end of the 19th century. Career Crabtree began his career at Burnley, but left in 1890 and played in non-league football for two years before ret ...

. That finished the scoring and therefore Aston Villa had emulated the great ' Invincibles' of Preston North End that achieved the FA Cup and Football League double in 1888–89. Villa scored 73 goals that season with Cowan scoring seven in 15 games. However 1897–98 proved a disappointment, and Villa finished only sixth in the League, crashing out of the FA Cup in the first round, although Cowan still featured regularly. The following season however, as a result of the form of Stephen Smith, Cowan was unable to obtain a regular place in the 1898–99 League Championship winning team, only playing seven games that season. After 27 goals in 71 appearances for Villa,Cowan, John
Aston Villa Player Database Cowan moved to Dundee Harp in June 1899 before his eventual retirement in May 1901.

Career statistics

Source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, John 1870 births 1937 deaths Scottish men's footballers Footballers from Dumbarton English Football League players Scottish Football League players Men's association football forwards Vale of Leven F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Dundee Harp F.C. players Place of death missing