John Anthony Lowey (7 March 1958 – 5 August 2019) 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 le ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Aside from three seasons in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

, one in the American Soccer League and one in Australia, Lowey spent the majority of his career in the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

with

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

in England.

Career

Lowey joined the

Chicago Sting The Chicago Sting (1974–1988) was an American professional soccer team representing Chicago. The Sting played in the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1984 and in the Major Indoor Soccer League in the 1982–83 season and again from 1 ...

of the

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

and claimed five goals and seven assists from 17 games. He returned to the Chicago Sting for part of the

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

season, but only made five appearances. He spent July to August 1977 with

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 ...

, spent September as a non-contract player at

, and then returned to Port Vale the next month. He returned to the US in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

and signed with the

California Sunshine The California Sunshine was an American soccer club based in Fountain Valley, California that was a member of the American Soccer League. The team was owned by Dr. Robert Everakes and his wife Alexandra, who was the general manager. Their home game ...

in the American Soccer League, before going on to score 10 goals in 21 games for the Sunshine. He returned to England to make his debut for

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

on 17 October 1978. He went on to score five goals from 36 league and

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 ...

matches in the 1978–79 season. However he was limited to just 13 appearances in the 1979–80 season as manager

Jack Charlton John Charlton (8 May 193510 July 2020) was an English footballer and manager who played as a defender. He was part of the England national team that won the 1966 World Cup and managed the Republic of Ireland national team from 1986 to 199 ...

led the club to promotion out of the Third Division, and left Hillsborough after making his final appearance for the "Owls" in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

on 26 August 1980. He signed with Blackburn Rovers in November 1980, who were now managed by

Howard Kendall Howard Kendall (22 May 1946 – 17 October 2015) was an English footballer and manager. Kendall joined Preston North End as an apprentice and stayed with the club when he turned professional. He was a runner-up in the 1964 FA Cup with Preston, ...

. At first he was a back-up striker, with

Norman Bell Norman Bell (born 16 November 1955) is an English former footballer, born in Hylton Castle, Sunderland, who played in the Football League for Wolverhampton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers. He also played in the NASL for New England Tea Men. Ca ...

preferred in the starting eleven. He went on to find success as a

, and was an ever-present during the 1983–84 campaign. He was dropped for

Colin Randell Colin Randell (born 12 December 1952) is a Welsh retired footballer who began his career with Coventry City and went on to play in the Football League for Plymouth Argyle, Exeter City, Blackburn Rovers, Newport County and Swansea City. A v ...

in the 1984–85 season, before returning to favour during the second half of the 1985–86 campaign. He went on to play for

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

(on loan),

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

(on loan),

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 ...

, Chester City, and

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions is a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was formed in late 1996 via a merger of the Melbourne-based 1883 foundation VFL c ...

Later life

After retiring as a player, Lowey lived the rest of his life in Australia and went on to own a Beauty Therapy training school and a licensed securities company.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Sheffield Wednesday *

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 ...

third-place promotion: 1979–80

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowey, John 1958 births 2019 deaths Footballers from Manchester English footballers English expatriate footballers Association football midfielders Association football forwards Manchester United F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Chicago Sting (NASL) players California Sunshine players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players York City F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Chester City F.C. players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players English Football League players National Soccer League (Australia) players Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate soccer players in Australia English expatriate sportspeople in the United States