Arthur Rowley
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | George Arthur Rowley Jr. | ||
| Date of birth | 21 April 1926 | ||
| Place of birth | Wolverhampton, England | ||
| Date of death | 19 December 2002 (aged 76) | ||
| Place of death | Shrewsbury, England | ||
| Playing position | Inside left | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1941–1944 | Manchester United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1946–1948 | West Bromwich Albion | 24 | (4) |
| 1948–1950 | Fulham | 56 | (26) |
| 1950–1958 | Leicester City | 303 | (251) |
| 1958–1965 | Shrewsbury Town | 236 | (152) |
| Total | 619 | (434) | |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1958–1968 | Shrewsbury Town | ||
| 1968–1969 | Sheffield United | ||
| 1970–1976 | Southend United | ||
| c.1976 | Knighton Town | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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George Arthur Rowley Jr., (21 April 1926 – 19 December 2002), nicknamed "The Gunner" because of his explosive left-foot shot, was an English football player and cricketer. He holds the record for the most goals in the history of English league football, scoring 434 from 619 league games. He was the younger brother of Manchester United footballer Jack Rowley. He was shortlisted for inclusion into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2008.
He holds the club record for the most goals in a single season at both Leicester City and Shrewsbury Town, scoring 44 goals in 42 league matches at Leicester in 1956–57 and 38 goals in 43 games for Shrewsbury in 1958–59. He is also Shrewsbury's record league goalscorer with 152 league goals. He is Leicester's second all-time top goalscorer, netting 265 times for the Foxes, 8 goals short of Arthur Chandler's record.
George Arthur Rowley was the third son of Mark Rowley, a well known goalkeeper playing semi-professionally in the Birmingham League. Born in Wolverhampton where he was educated at Dudley Road School and later at St Peter's Collegiate School, he started his career originally as a centre-half before moving up front where his prowess in the forward line won him an early selection into the schools first team. He went on to win local honours with Wolverhampton and County honours with both Birmingham and Staffordshire. He was selected for England schoolboys but the outbreak of the war robbed him of the opportunity.
On leaving school in 1940, Rowley went to work for a sheet metal firm doing war work before joining his older brother Jack in Manchester. Thus Rowley began his career at Manchester United, signing as an Amateur just four days after his 15th birthday. The following day, 26 April 1941, at 15 years and 5 days old, he became the youngest ever player to feature in the Manchester United first team when he lined up alongside Jack in a war-time league match against Liverpool at Anfield.
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