Recent from talks
Stan Bowles
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Stan Bowles
Stanley Bowles (24 December 1948 – 24 February 2024) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward. Known for his skills as a player in the 1970s and 1980s, he also gained a reputation as one of the game's great non-conformists and mavericks. He played 315 games for Queens Park Rangers, and earned five England caps.
Born in Collyhurst, Manchester, Lancashire, he began his career as an apprentice at Manchester City, scoring twice in each of his first two games. He was then left out of the side for the next game and reinstated for the following two games without scoring. Bowles was then kept out of the side following the arrival of Francis Lee. He played only one more game during the 1967–68 season, as City won the league title under manager Joe Mercer. He had off-field problems and was considered to have a lax attitude to training, Bowles then had a disagreement with coach Malcolm Allison in a Manchester nightclub. Subsequently, he only played one full League match during the 1968–69 season. He played for 11 more times in League and cup for City in his final season, the 1969–70 season, without scoring and was then released by City after a series of off-field incidents.
After a brief and unsuccessful stay at Bury, he was signed by Ernie Tagg, manager of Crewe Alexandra, then in the Fourth Division. Signed by Tagg on a month's trial, Bowles agreed a two-year contract less than two weeks later; Bowles later said Tagg was a "father figure" who helped him rediscover his touch and appetite for the game.
Tagg is often quoted in respect of Bowles' gambling problems; he used to give the player's wages direct to his wife, saying: "If he could pass a bookie's as well as he passes a football, he'd be a very rich man." Tagg managed a Crewe pub, The Vine. Stan Bowles said:
It was Ernie Tagg who made that crack about my ability to pass a betting shop. It was a bit rich, coming from him. Ernie had a pub [The Vine], and I remember him staying there for a darts match instead of watching a game once. At least I used to turn up!
With 18 goals in 51 league games for Crewe, Bowles' skill caught the eye of a number of bigger clubs. In October 1971, he was signed by Carlisle United, at the time a Second Division club, for a fee of £12,000, well under Crewe's £25,000 valuation. He scored 12 goals in 33 league appearances for the club, including a hat-trick in a 3–0 win over league leaders Norwich City at Brunton Park. He was in the Carlisle side that beat Italian giants AS Roma 3–2 victory in the Stadio Olimpico in 1972, infuriating the home side by performing keepie uppies on the halfway line.
Bowles was sold to Queens Park Rangers for £112,000 in September 1972, after impressing manager Gordon Jago in QPR's penultimate home game of the 1971–72 season, a 3–0 home defeat of Carlisle United. He replaced Rodney Marsh, who had been transferred to Bowles' first club Manchester City six months before. Bowles took over Marsh's number 10 shirt, which other players had been reluctant to wear in fear of being compared unfavourably to the mercurial Marsh. Bowles had no such qualms about taking the shirt, and joked that, coming from the North, he had never really heard of Marsh.
Bowles was often regarded as something of a character both on and off the pitch. Bowles had been known to cite a notable incident in his playing days involving the FA Cup trophy. Having won the FA Cup final four days prior, Sunderland were parading the trophy at Roker Park on 9 May 1973, when they met QPR in the Second Division. The trophy had been placed on a table at the side of the pitch when Bowles tore straight across the park and claims to have kicked the ball at it full speed, sending the Cup flying through the air. According to Bowles' own account, the crowd predictably went ballistic, but he had the last laugh by scoring two goals in the match which ended in a pitch invasion; Bowles said: "There were a couple of us who had a bet on who could knock it off the table with the ball first". However, his version of events has been disputed; according to Jago (QPR's manager at the time), it was Bowles' teammate, defender Tony Hazell, who struck the cup with an accidental clearance.
Hub AI
Stan Bowles AI simulator
(@Stan Bowles_simulator)
Stan Bowles
Stanley Bowles (24 December 1948 – 24 February 2024) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward. Known for his skills as a player in the 1970s and 1980s, he also gained a reputation as one of the game's great non-conformists and mavericks. He played 315 games for Queens Park Rangers, and earned five England caps.
Born in Collyhurst, Manchester, Lancashire, he began his career as an apprentice at Manchester City, scoring twice in each of his first two games. He was then left out of the side for the next game and reinstated for the following two games without scoring. Bowles was then kept out of the side following the arrival of Francis Lee. He played only one more game during the 1967–68 season, as City won the league title under manager Joe Mercer. He had off-field problems and was considered to have a lax attitude to training, Bowles then had a disagreement with coach Malcolm Allison in a Manchester nightclub. Subsequently, he only played one full League match during the 1968–69 season. He played for 11 more times in League and cup for City in his final season, the 1969–70 season, without scoring and was then released by City after a series of off-field incidents.
After a brief and unsuccessful stay at Bury, he was signed by Ernie Tagg, manager of Crewe Alexandra, then in the Fourth Division. Signed by Tagg on a month's trial, Bowles agreed a two-year contract less than two weeks later; Bowles later said Tagg was a "father figure" who helped him rediscover his touch and appetite for the game.
Tagg is often quoted in respect of Bowles' gambling problems; he used to give the player's wages direct to his wife, saying: "If he could pass a bookie's as well as he passes a football, he'd be a very rich man." Tagg managed a Crewe pub, The Vine. Stan Bowles said:
It was Ernie Tagg who made that crack about my ability to pass a betting shop. It was a bit rich, coming from him. Ernie had a pub [The Vine], and I remember him staying there for a darts match instead of watching a game once. At least I used to turn up!
With 18 goals in 51 league games for Crewe, Bowles' skill caught the eye of a number of bigger clubs. In October 1971, he was signed by Carlisle United, at the time a Second Division club, for a fee of £12,000, well under Crewe's £25,000 valuation. He scored 12 goals in 33 league appearances for the club, including a hat-trick in a 3–0 win over league leaders Norwich City at Brunton Park. He was in the Carlisle side that beat Italian giants AS Roma 3–2 victory in the Stadio Olimpico in 1972, infuriating the home side by performing keepie uppies on the halfway line.
Bowles was sold to Queens Park Rangers for £112,000 in September 1972, after impressing manager Gordon Jago in QPR's penultimate home game of the 1971–72 season, a 3–0 home defeat of Carlisle United. He replaced Rodney Marsh, who had been transferred to Bowles' first club Manchester City six months before. Bowles took over Marsh's number 10 shirt, which other players had been reluctant to wear in fear of being compared unfavourably to the mercurial Marsh. Bowles had no such qualms about taking the shirt, and joked that, coming from the North, he had never really heard of Marsh.
Bowles was often regarded as something of a character both on and off the pitch. Bowles had been known to cite a notable incident in his playing days involving the FA Cup trophy. Having won the FA Cup final four days prior, Sunderland were parading the trophy at Roker Park on 9 May 1973, when they met QPR in the Second Division. The trophy had been placed on a table at the side of the pitch when Bowles tore straight across the park and claims to have kicked the ball at it full speed, sending the Cup flying through the air. According to Bowles' own account, the crowd predictably went ballistic, but he had the last laugh by scoring two goals in the match which ended in a pitch invasion; Bowles said: "There were a couple of us who had a bet on who could knock it off the table with the ball first". However, his version of events has been disputed; according to Jago (QPR's manager at the time), it was Bowles' teammate, defender Tony Hazell, who struck the cup with an accidental clearance.