Paul Michael Anthony Bowles (31 May 1957 – 14 March 2017) 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 ...

. A

central defender 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 scored 26 goals in 346 league appearances in an eleven-season career in the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

of 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 ...

Career

Crewe Alexandra

Bowles spent time as a youth player at

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, before he started his career with

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 scored 20 goals in 178

appearances in four seasons at

Gresty Road Gresty Road or the Alexandra Stadium, currently known as the Mornflake Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Crewe, Cheshire, England. The home ground of Crewe Alexandra, it has an all-seated capacity of 10,153. History Cre ...

. He helped

Harry Gregg Henry Gregg, (27 October 1932 – 16 February 2020), was a Northern Irish professional footballer and manager. A goalkeeper, he played for Manchester United during the reign of Sir Matt Busby, with a total of 247 appearances for the club. He w ...

's "Railwaymen" to finish 16th in 1975–76, 12th in 1976–77, and 15th in 1977–78, before Crewe fell to last place in the 1978–79 campaign under the stewardship of

Warwick Rimmer Warwick Rimmer (born 1 March 1941) is an English former professional football player and coach. In a playing career which lasted from 1960 to 1979, Rimmer made nearly 600 professional league appearances for Bolton Wanderers and Crewe Alexandra ...

Port Vale

He was signed by

Alan Bloor Alan Bloor (born 16 March 1943) is an English former footballer and manager. He made 394 league appearances in the Football League for both Potteries teams. He spent eighteen years as a centre-half at Stoke City between 1960 and 1978, helping ...

at league rivals

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 ...

for a £30,000 fee in October 1979. However, two months later Bloor was replaced by John McGrath, who seemed not to rate Bowles. He was sent out on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in January 1980, although he never played first-team football for the "Saints", and instead made three appearances for the reserves. Back at

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

, he featured just eleven times in the 1979–80 campaign. Despite struggling with his weight, as one of the more experienced players in a youthful squad, he was given the captaincy and featured 49 times in the 1980–81 season, scoring four goals. He played 53 of the "Valiants" 55 games in the 1981–82 season. He was given a free transfer to league rivals

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...

in May 1982.

Stockport County

He played 70 league games for

Eric Webster Eric Webster (24 June 1931 – 24 January 2016) was an English association football player and coach. Career Playing career Born in Manchester, Webster began his career with Ardwick Lads Club, before signing for Manchester City, where he made ...

's "Hatters", helping the

Edgeley Park Edgeley Park is a football stadium in Edgeley, Stockport, England. Built for rugby league club Stockport RFC in 1891, by 1903, the rugby club was defunct and Stockport County Football Club moved in. Edgeley Park is an all-seater stadium hold ...

club to post 16th and 12th places finishes in 1982–83 and 1983–84. However, he picked up a double fracture to his ankle playing against

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 ...

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

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 ...

and was unable to recover from the injury fully. He was released in summer 1985 and moved on to

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

side Barrow.

Style of play

Former Port Vale teammate Peter Farrell stated that Bowles was a good technical

Career statistics

Source:

Family

Paul Bowles was a cousin of

Stan Bowles Stanley Bowles (born 24 December 1948) is an English former professional footballer who as a player in the 1970s was known for his skills as a forward, and also gained a reputation as one of the game's great non-conformists and mavericks. Club ...

, though Stan said they had never met.Bowles, Stan (1975) ''Stan Bowles: The Autobiography'', Orion Books, London. p.43.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowles, Paul 1957 births 2017 deaths People from Crumpsall English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players English Football League players Northern Premier League players