Biography
Strapping six foot tall centre forward William Cowan joined the Tigers in September 1925 after scoring seven goals in three reserve matches during a trial period. He had to wait his turn behind Paddy Mills and George Whitworth in manager Bill McCracken’s thinking, but when called upon he lived up to the reputation carved during his trial by scoring on his debut in a 4-1 win over Nottingham Forest. days after his debut City were fined £75 when it transpired that Cowan’s player registration was already held by Darlington and his signing by City was a breach of FA rules – Cowan himself was also fined five guineas. Cowan’s next call-up came at the end of January 1926 when he got three starts – he scored in the first match, a 2-2 draw against Barnsley.
Retained for the 1926/27 season, Cowan was again behind the consistent Whitworth in the first team pecking order but when called upon in mid-November he again performed well. In a run of six starts ahead of the festive fixtures Cowan scored six times – singles in a 3-2 win over Manchester City, a 1-1 draw at Oldham and a 2-0 defeat of Fulham, plus a hattrick in a 3-0 win over Darlington. Cowan missed the festive period matches when striker George Guyan was signed from South Shields, but returned in early January to score a goal in a 2-1 FA Cup win over First Division side West Bromwich Albion. Despite these impressive scoring feats Cowan was unable to maintain his first team place and left City in the 1927 close season amid some tussling in the pages of the Hull Daily Mail between sports contributor “Vedette” and the Hull City chairman Mr Pullan – which boiled down to manager Bill McCracken thinking that Cowan didn’t do enough defending. In typical fashion Cowan struck a hattrick in his last appearances of the season for City’s Reserves, ending the season with 26 Reserve team goals for the season.
William Cowan born in Gateshead and in his mid-20s he was plucked by Hull City from local football in the Gateshead area. He left the Tigers in the 1927 close season and in June 1927 he signed for Division Two rivals Blackpool. He made only one senior appearances for the Tangerines in September 1927 and moved on to Division Three North side Chesterfield in May 1928. Cowan scored on his Spireites debut in August 1928 against Wrexham but waited until March and April 1929 for further first team starts, scoring in four consecutive games to take his seasonal tally to six goals in 7 appearances. Despite these impressive numbers Cowan was not retained and in August 1929 he joined Division Three North rivals York City, where he was reunited for former Tigers team-mate Jock Collier who was now manager of the Minstermen. He failed to make any senior appearances for York and in 1930 returned to the local football scene in Hull, playing for National Radiator.
By 1939 Cowan had returned to Hull, married and was working in an iron foundry. He died in Hull in February 1979.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 28 November 1900, Gateshead
Hull City First Game: 12 October 1925, Nottingham Forest H (Division Two), 24 years, 318 days old
Hull City Final Game: 15 January 1927, Wolverhampton Wanderers A (Division Two), 26 years, 48 days old
Clubs
Gateshead High Fell, Hull City (1925-1927), Blackpool (1927-1928), Chesterfield (1928-1929), York City (1929-1930), National Radiator
Hull City Record
Career: 12 apps, 9 goals
William Cowan| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1925/26 | 4 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1926/27 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
This is my great uncle! Great to see this biography on here.