Joshua Anthony Isaac Gowling (born 29 November 1983) is an English
football manager
''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game bega ...
and 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 ...
, who played as a
centre-back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
. He most recently managed
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town.
In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...
.
Gowling began his career with
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 pla ...
and saw action on the continent when he moved to Danish side
Herfølge
Herfølge is a suburb of the town of Køge, Denmark, located about 5 kilometers south of Køge, and is a part of Køge Municipality. The suburb is connected to Køge and Næstved by the Lille Syd railway line.
Residential areas
Holmebækhuse, ...
, where he also took in a loan spell with
Ølstykke FC
Ølstykke Fodbold Club ; also known as Ølstykke FC or ØFC) is an association football club based in the town of Ølstykke on Zealand, Denmark. The men's team competes in the Series 1, the sixth tier of the Danish football league system and the ...
. He returned to England in 2005 and played professionally for
AFC Bournemouth
AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...
,
Carlisle United
Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...
,
Hereford United
Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...
,
Gillingham,
Lincoln City,
Kidderminster Harriers
Kidderminster Harriers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team compete in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. Formed in ...
and
Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...
. In 2017 he joined
Torquay United
Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...
and had a spell on loan with
Alfreton Town
Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street.
History
The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alfr ...
before joining
Hereford
Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...
. He was appointed manager in January 2020 and left the role in February 2023.
Playing career
Early career
A central defender, Gowling began his career as a trainee at
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 pla ...
aged just 14 under the guidance of
Richard O'Kelly.
Following his release from Albion, he signed for Danish Premier Division club
Herfølge Boldklub
Herfølge Boldklub is a Danish football club founded in 1921. It is based in Herfølge, a southern suburb of Køge in the eastern part of Zealand. In 2009, the club shared its licence, and merged its professional football with Køge BK to form ...
, making 17 appearances in
2003–04 and 13 appearances in
2004–05. He soon became disillusioned with life in Denmark, and returned to England.
AFC Bournemouth
He joined
AFC Bournemouth
AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...
on a trial basis to begin with in the 2005 close season, and signed a one-year contract after impressing in various pre-season friendlies. He began the
2005–06 season in good form before rupturing his knee ligaments after about a minute's play in the away match to
Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross.
Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...
– this serious injury ruled him out for the rest of the season. Having gradually returned to full fitness following his injury, Gowling featured in over 30 league games during the
2006–07 season, scoring his first professional goal in the process in a game against
Rotherham United
Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...
.
His performance in the 2–0 home win against
Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to:
* Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset
* Yeovil Town L.F.C.
Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...
on 15 March 2008 saw him named in the League One Team of the Week. In
2007–08 he made 39 league appearances as Bournemouth were relegated to
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
.
Carlisle United
On 19 June 2008 Gowling, whose contract with Bournemouth had run out, signed for
Carlisle United
Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...
on a free transfer. He agreed a two-year contract with the club, who had lost in the
League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
play-offs the previous season, but spent most of that season on loan at
Hereford
Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...
, against whom he had made his league debut for Carlisle.
Gillingham
In July 2009 Gowling joined
Gillingham on loan, initially for a month, and made his debut on 8 August in a 5–0 home win over
Swindon Town
Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...
. On 26 August 2009, Gowling transferred to Gillingham on a two-year contract, just two days after extending the loan deal for another month.
On 28 October 2010 he agreed to join
Lincoln City on a month-long loan deal with the paperwork being completed the following day. He returned to Gillingham at the end of his loan deal.
In July 2011, he joined
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 ...
on trial playing seventy minutes in the club's 4–0 friendly victory at
Congleton Town on 11 July 2011 but was not offered a contract.
Lincoln City
On 14 July 2011, he agreed a two-year contract to return to
Lincoln City. On 31 August 2012 he left
Lincoln City by mutual consent
Kidderminster Harriers
On the same day he agreed a deal to sign for
Kidderminster Harriers
Kidderminster Harriers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team compete in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. Formed in ...
. Gowling became a key figure in the Harriers defence, ending the
2012–13 season in the Conference team of the year alongside teammates Lee Vaughan and Anthony Malbon,
a season where Harriers finished 2nd, behind
Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional 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 play in a blue and ...
. Gowling took the captain's armband for the 2014–15 season and also took a player/coach role within the club.
Grimsby Town
On 26 March 2015, Gowling joined
Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...
on loan till the end of the season. He scored on his debut for the Mariners on 6 April 2015, from a corner he fired in Jack Mackreth's cross in the 69th minute, breaking the deadlock in the 0–2 victory over
Alfreton Town
Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street.
History
The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alfr ...
, with a right footed shot 3 yards out from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner.
On 28 May 2015, Gowling signed a permanent two-year deal with the club. Gowling played in Grimsby's 3–1 victory over
Forest Green Rovers
Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...
in the
2016 National League play-off final at
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
, seeing Grimsby
promoted to
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
after a six-year absence from
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 ...
.
His efforts over the season earned him a place in the
2015–16 National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
team of the year, alongside the league's outstanding players.
After making 21 appearances for Grimsby in the
2016–17 season he was released by the club on 9 May 2017.
Torquay United
He then signed for
Torquay United
Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...
on 13 June 2017. Gowling made 25 appearances for The Gulls as they were relegated from the
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
.
He was transfer-listed by Torquay at the end of the 2017–18 season.
Alfreton Town
On 13 August 2018, Gowling joined
Alfreton Town
Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street.
History
The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alfr ...
on loan, making 10 league appearances in the
National League 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 ...
.
Hereford
Gowling signed for
National League 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 ...
club
Hereford
Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...
on 7 December 2018.
Managerial career
Hereford
On 21 January 2020, he was appointed as interim manager, following the departure of
Russell Slade
Russell Mark Slade (born 10 October 1960) is an English professional football manager, who was most recently managerial consultant of League Two club Stevenage.
Having had an extended career at reserve team level, Slade entered professional ...
. Hereford encountered mixed form in Gowling's first months as interim manager, with the
2019–20 National League North season eventually curtailed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
In June 2020, he was given the job on a permanent basis, appointing
Steve Burr as his assistant.
On 5 February 2023, Gowling left Hereford by mutual consent.
Darlington
Gowling was appointed manager of
National League 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 ...
club
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town.
In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...
on 19 September 2023, but was dismissed from the role three months later.
Career statistics
Managerial statistics
Honours
As a player
Grimsby Town
*
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
play-offs:
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
*
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 ...
runner-up:
2015–16
Individual
*
Conference Premier
The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...
Team of the Year:
2012–13
*
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
Team of the Year:
2015–16
As a manager
Individual
*
National League 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 ...
Manager of the Month: October 2022
References
External links
Josh Gowling player profileat carlisleunited.co.uk
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gowling, Josh
1983 births
Living people
Footballers from Coventry
English men's footballers
Men's association football defenders
West Bromwich Albion F.C. players
Herfølge Boldklub players
Ølstykke FC players
AFC Bournemouth players
Carlisle United F.C. players
Hereford United F.C. players
Gillingham F.C. players
Lincoln City F.C. players
Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players
Grimsby Town F.C. players
Torquay United F.C. players
Alfreton Town F.C. players
Hereford F.C. players
English Football League players
National League (English football) players
Danish Superliga players
Danish 1st Division players
English football managers
Hereford F.C. managers
Darlington F.C. managers
National League (English football) managers