Edward 'Ted' Bowen (born 1 July 1903 – unknown) was an English 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 le ...

who played as an

centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

in the

English 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 Engl ...

Career

Amateur

A free scoring, strong and sturdy 5'8" centre-forward, Bowen began his football career as an amateur with Goldthorpe United, before spells with two other neighbouring sides,

Mexborough Mexborough is a town in the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. Situated between Manvers and Denaby Main, it lies on the River Don close to where it joins the River Dearne, and the A6023 road runs through the town. It is contiguous ...

and Wath Athletic in the

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History Th ...

Arsenal

His goalscoring record impressed

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

enough to sign him for £500 in February 1926, arriving late to the professional game at 22 years old. For the reserves, Bowen scored 56 goals across 61 appearances in the

London Combination The Football Combination was a football competition for the reserve teams of English Football League clubs from Southern England, the Midlands and Wales; other clubs from the Midlands and those from the North playing in the Central League (it is n ...

, along with a further 21 goals in 11 friendly matches. Despite this, itt was more than a year before he made his league debut for Arsenal, against

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

in May 1927; his only league appearance.

Northampton Town

Former

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

player and manager,

Herbert Chapman Herbert Chapman (19 January 1878 – 6 January 1934) was an English football player and manager. Though he had an undistinguished playing career, he went on to become one of the most influential and successful managers in the early 20th ...

, who was Arsenal manager at the time, suggested Bowen to the club and after failing to break into the first team, Bowen joined Northampton Town for £750 in February 1928. At the County Ground he immediately achieved cult status, scoring a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

on his debut during a 4–3 win against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

Carrow Road Carrow Road is an association football stadium located in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship side Norwich City. The stadium is located toward the east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum. N ...

, the first to score a hat-trick since

Fanny Walden Frederick Ingram Walden (1 March 1888 – 3 May 1949) was an English professional footballer who played outside right for Northampton Town, Tottenham Hotspur and at international level for England during the 1910s and 1920s. He also played cric ...

. Bowen scored a further 15 times in the 1927–28 season, as Northampton Town finished runners-up in the

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

. He had his most successful season the following year, going onto score 34 league goals, despite the club finishing a place lower in 3rd. Bowen continued to be top scorer over the following two years scoring 28 league goals in each season. The 1930-31 season included two hat-tricks before

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

, against

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 ...

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...

and his first at home, against

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, 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 ...

. His high standards dropped slightly in the 1931-32 season, but still scored 15 goals before being dropped for

Albert Dawes Albert George Dawes (23 April 1907 – 23 June 1973) was an English professional footballer who played for Northampton Town and Crystal Palace as a forward. He also played one first-class cricket game for Northamptonshire County Cricket Club a ...

in February 1932, which led to the end of his career at the County Ground.

Bristol City

At the age of 29,

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

acquired his services ahead of the 1932-33 season. Bowen again was top-scorer for his new club, scoring two hat-tricks amongst his 32 goals. Towards the end of the 1933-34 season, Bowen was dropped to the reserves after only scoring 5 goals in 18 appearances and according to the

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, he had been placed on the transfer list. No offers arrived and in September he sustained a serious knee injury playing for the reserves against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

and a cartilage operation followed which effectively ended his career.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowen, Ted 1903 births Year of death missing English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Arsenal F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players English Football League players People from Goldthorpe