It was as soon as stated of Stan Bowles that he had spent all his cash on betting, booze and ladies, to which he responded, “Effectively, at the very least I didn’t waste it.” Bowles, who has died aged 75, was a goalscoring midfielder of breathtaking pace and contact, a down-to-earth avenue genius with lengthy flowing hair – he may win a recreation with one transfer.
His golden years, within the mid-Nineteen Seventies, had been spent at Queens Park Rangers, when a well-known sight outdoors the Loftus Highway floor had been the badges on sale bearing the legend, “Stan Bowles and his superb dancing toes”. One other acquainted sight was Bowles, in his package, 20 minutes earlier than kick-off, within the betting store up the highway. Quickly after the match he may very well be noticed in one of many pubs near the stadium.
At Loftus Highway he changed a membership nice, Rodney Marsh, taking up the No 10 shirt that none of his new teammates had dared to put on. Bowles simply shrugged and put it on, claiming he was from Manchester so had by no means heard of Rodney Marsh. Whereas Marsh had been a showman, the clown prince, Bowles was one thing way more intriguing, a star participant virtually utterly with out ego, an unselfish staff man who rapidly established a near-telepathic rapport with Gerry Francis, the QPR and England captain.
He grew to become a key element of QPR’s biggest facet, the facet of Don Givens, Frank McLintock, Don Masson and David Webb, which got here inside a hair’s breadth of the 1975-76 league title when Bowles scored what may have been the clincher in opposition to Leeds United of their final recreation of the season. Liverpool, their rivals, wanted solely a degree to turn into champions and, 10 days later, shattered the euphoria with a goal-burst at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
In 1974 he made his worldwide debut in opposition to Portugal. It was to be Sir Alf Ramsey’s final match in cost, and between then and 1977 Bowles made solely 4 extra appearances for England despite his distinctive expertise and constantly excellent performances within the league. His solely worldwide purpose got here in opposition to Wales in England’s 2-0 win at Ninian Park in 1974.
He was born simply earlier than midnight on Christmas Eve in a prefab within the Manchester district of Collyhurst; his father, a window cleaner, used to say, “For those who’d left it one other 5 minutes you possibly can have been Jesus.” Despite the fixed battle to make ends meet it was a loving household, and Collyhurst a tough however stimulating setting that gave Bowles a lifelong relish for the corporate of spivs and dangerous tons.
He was educated briefly at a Church of England main faculty, then on the native Catholic St Mary’s junior faculty, the place his expertise at soccer was already up to now upfront of his teammates that he was made to play in purpose to make sure matches had been evenly balanced.
On the age of 11 he moved to New Moston secondary fashionable faculty, the place he was picked to play for Manchester North Space staff and later Manchester Boys. In October 1962, throughout the Cuban missile disaster, his headteacher took him to 1 facet and stated: “Look, Stanley, if nothing occurs I believe you’ll make it as a footballer.”
He left faculty as early as potential for a job in a raincoat manufacturing unit, working the press, for which he was paid £10 per week. It was so scorching, he stated, that he thought it was hell come to life. He lasted three weeks, after which he joined his father on the window-cleaning spherical. He preferred cleansing the home windows of Dorothy Perkins finest, as a result of he may “watch all of the birds”. However his head’s prophesy was borne out when, at 17, he signed for Manchester Metropolis as an apprentice skilled after which, two years later, full-time.
He made his first-team debut within the League Cup in September 1967 in opposition to Leicester Metropolis, approaching as substitute to interchange the injured Neil Younger in midfield, and scored twice in Metropolis’s 4-0 victory.
His League debut was in opposition to Sheffield United the next Saturday, when he scored twice once more. However Bowles, an unassuming, happy-go-lucky character who paradoxically possessed a fiery mood, quickly fell out with Malcolm Allison, the first-team coach, and after a collection of clashes throughout the 1969-70 season he was despatched on mortgage to Third Division Bury. After 5 appearances there he was sacked for breaches of membership self-discipline.
That very same season, Crewe Alexandra, within the Fourth Division, provided him a lifeline. By now on his uppers, he needed to borrow the prepare fare to get there, but it surely was at Crewe that he recovered his contact and urge for food for the sport. After 18 targets in 13 months he was successful acclaim because the best midfielder outdoors the First Division, and the perpetually cash-strapped Crewe put him in the marketplace. In October 1971 he moved to Carlisle United, then within the Second Division, and inside a 12 months he was bought to QPR in September 1972 for £110,000.
Bowles devoted as a lot consideration to his exploits off the pitch as these on it, however he was extra profitable at kicking a soccer round than he was at backing horses and canines. When he married Ann Kyte in 1968, his father paid for the wedding licence as a result of Bowles had gambled away his £20 per week wages.
Later, Jim Gregory, his long-suffering however indulgent chairman at QPR, consistently needed to provide advances on his wage to settle up money owed earlier than the bailiffs got here to the door. His mom used to inform him that if he ever purchased a cemetery, individuals would cease dying.
In 1979, after seven years at Loftus Highway, Bowles left for Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest after falling out with QPR’s new supervisor, Tommy Docherty. The transfer was not successful – Bowles had all the time operated on the correct however Clough tried to transform him right into a left-sided participant – and one season there was adopted by spells at Leyton Orient after which Brentford, earlier than he lastly stopped taking part in in 1984.
In retirement there was media work, together with betting columns within the nationwide press. “Individuals might consider me as a footballer who gambled an excessive amount of,” he as soon as stated. “However I’m a playing addict who occurred to be a superb footballer.”
In mid-2015 it was introduced that he had been recognized with Alzheimer’s illness. In 2022 QPR renamed the Ellerslie Highway Stand in his honour.
He’s survived by his spouse, Diane Bushell, and by his youngsters, Andria, Carl and Tracy, from his first marriage, to Ann.
