Edward Michael Rowell (15 June 1876 – 21 July 1965) was a professional athlete, and an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played for the

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The club w ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL).

Family

The son of William Rowell (1836-1903), and Johanna Rowell (1833-1900), née Ahern, Edward Michael Rowell was born in the Victorian goldfields, at

Vaughan Vaughan () (2021 population 323,103) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increas ...

, on 15 June 1876. He married Rachel Johnston (1891-1970), at

Footscray, Victoria Footscray is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Maribyrnong local government area. Footscray recorded a population of 17,131 at the . Footscray ...

on 4 March 1908.

Early life

As a teenager in the 1890s Rowell was attracted to the

goldfields Goldfield or Goldfields may refer to: Places * Goldfield, Arizona, the former name of Youngberg, Arizona, a populated place in the United States * Goldfield, Colorado, a community in the United States * Goldfield, Iowa, a city in the United State ...

in Western Australia and as a youngster was proficient in

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, foot

running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

and

. Playing in the Kalgoorlie-based

Goldfields Football League The Goldfields Football League is an Australian rules football league based in the Goldfields region of Western Australia. Founded in 1896 as Hannans District Football Association, the league enjoyed a seat and full voting rights on the Austra ...

for five years, Rowell booted over 250 goals, which earned him representation in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

in the first Australian rules goldfield representative side in 1896.

Football

Rowell made his VFL debut with the

during the

1901 VFL season The 1901 VFL season was the fifth season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured eight clubs, ran from 4 May until 7 September, and comprised a 17-ga ...

(at 24 years of age), and he played 189 games for 175 goals. He was not an overly tall player at 178 cm and weighing 80 kg but his great advantage was his speed (which had also been useful in his career as a professional runner). Rowell scored 31 goals in the 1901 season and 33 goals in 1902, playing as a

key position Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (ma ...

forward. Rowell played in the 1903 Collingwood premiership side before moving back to Western Australia in 1904, however this was only a one-off and he attempted a return to Collingwood in

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

, but for the League not allowing a permit for him to play. He sat out the 1905 season but returned in 1906. In 1907 Rowell was switched to defence where he became one of the first truly attacking full-backs. Prior to this full-backs did not create run out of defence and acted more like a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He remained a full-back until

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

. Trademarks of his play would be to "tap the ball to himself and run along the wing" as well as his placekicking, which travelled 60 yards. In 1907 and 1908 Rowell was the acting playing-coach of Collingwood. He added to his 1903 success as a player with another premiership in 1910. In 1914 Rowell retired but made a surprise return in the

1915 VFL Grand Final The 1915 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Collingwood Football Club and Carlton Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 18 September 1915. It was the 18th annual Grand Fi ...

where he was among the best players in a loss for the Magpies. During a

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ...

match for Collingwood against

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCracken family in their A ...

, Rowell was involved in an unusual incident when he got his foot stuck in a drain pipe on the ground while running for the ball against his opponent. While Rowell struggled to free himself, his opponent casually picked up the ball and easily goaled. A year earlier, in a match against

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, Rowell was attacked by a small dog during play.

Representative

Rowell played 7 games for Victoria for 7 goals.

Athlete

Rowell was also a noted athlete who once raced world record holder Jack Donaldson over 100 yards at halftime of a Collingwood match Rowell played in. Rowell narrowly lost, having just played 50 minutes of football.

Retirement

He later wrote a series of sporting articles.

Death

He died at 89 years of age at the Studley Park private hospital in

Kew, Victoria Kew (;) is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 5 km east from Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Boroondara Local government areas of Victor ...

on 21 July 1965.Deaths: Rowell, ''The Age'', (Thursday, 22 July 1965), p.17
note that the link is to page 19.

Footnotes

References

* Atkinson, G. (1982) ''Everything you ever wanted to know about Australian rules football but couldn't be bothered asking'', The Five Mile Press: Melbourne. . *Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers''. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.

External links

Ted Rowell, at ''Boyles Football Photos
* *

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rowell, Ted 1876 births 1965 deaths People from Kalgoorlie Australian male sprinters Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Australian Rules footballers: place kick exponents Collingwood Football Club players Collingwood Football Club Premiership players Collingwood Football Club coaches Kalgoorlie City Football Club players Kalgoorlie Railways Football Club players Three-time VFL/AFL Premiership players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia)