Stan Bowles
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Stanley Bowles | ||
| Date of birth | 24 December 1948 | ||
| Place of birth | Collyhurst, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||
| Playing position | Forward, midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1967–1970 | Manchester City | 17 | (2) |
| 1970 | Bury | 5 | (0) |
| 1970–1971 | Crewe Alexandra | 51 | (18) |
| 1971–1972 | Carlisle United | 33 | (12) |
| 1972–1979 | Queens Park Rangers | 315 | (97) |
| 1979–1980 | Nottingham Forest | 19 | (2) |
| 1980–1981 | Leyton Orient | 44 | (7) |
| 1981–1983 | Brentford | 73 | (16) |
| 1983–1984 | Brentford | 8 | (0) |
| Total | 565 | (154) | |
| National team | |||
| 1974–1977 | England | 5 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Stanley "Stan" Bowles (born 24 December 1948 in Collyhurst, Manchester, Lancashire) is an English former professional footballer who gained a reputation as one of the game's greatest mavericks.
Bowles began his career as an apprentice at Manchester City, although his fiery temper resulted in him falling out with coach Malcolm Allison and being released 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, where his 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, scoring 13 goals in 36 appearances for the Cumbrians. After a managerial change at the club, he was sold to Queens Park Rangers (QPR) for £110,000 in September 1972.
He replaced in the team a previous QPR folk-hero, Rodney Marsh, who had been transferred to Bowles' first club Manchester City only 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, joking 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 has been known to cite a notable incident in his playing days involving the famous FA Cup trophy. Having won the FA Cup competition four days prior, Sunderland were parading the trophy at Roker Park on 9 May 1973 when they met QPR in the old Division 2. 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 Stan, the crowd predictably went ballistic, but he had the last laugh by scoring two goals in the match which ended in a pitch invasion. Some reports suggest that some of the QPR players had laid bets as to who could hit the trophy first. However this version of events has been disputed and, according to Gordon Jago (QPR's manager at the time), it was Bowles's teammate, defender Tony Hazell, who struck the cup with an accidental clearance.
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