Bill Owen (footballer)

William E. Owen[2] (17 September 1906 – 26 March 1981)[3] was an English footballer who played as an outside left.

Bill Owen
Personal information
Full name William E. Owen
Date of birth (1906-09-17)17 September 1906
Place of birth Northwich, England
Date of death 26 March 1981(1981-03-26) (aged 74)
Height 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)[1]
Position(s) Outside left
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Northwich Victoria
1932–1934 Macclesfield 52 (15)
1934–1936 Manchester United 17 (1)
1936 Reading 23 (2)
1936–1937 Exeter City 24 (6)
1937–1947 Newport County 39 (2)
1941–1944 → Mansfield Town (wartime) 7 (5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He began his career with non-league sides Northwich Victoria and Macclesfield before making the step up to the Football League with Manchester United in May 1934. He made his debut on 22 September 1934, starting at outside left in place of Tom Manley; Owen scored the opening goal in a 5–0 win, beginning a run of six consecutive appearances, all of which United won by an aggregate score of 18–3.[1] He made nine more appearances that season, as well as another two at the start of the 1935–36 season, but never scored again for the club before leaving for Reading in January 1936.[1] He lasted less than a calendar year at Reading, but made 23 appearances for the Third Division South side before joining Exeter City in December 1936.

Exeter went on a long run in the 1936–37 FA Cup; by the time Owen joined, they had already beaten Folkestone and Walthamstow Avenue to reach the third round, before beating Third Division North side Oldham Athletic and Second Division Leicester City. In the fifth round, they came up against First Division side Preston North End; Owen scored Exeter's first and third goals as they took a 3–2 lead into the final 20 minutes, but Preston scored three times to win 5–3, and went on to lose to Sunderland in the final.[4] At the end of the season, Owen moved to Newport County, where he spent the remainder of his career;[5] he made appearances for the club both before and after the Second World War, during which he also guested for Mansfield Town between 1941 and 1944.[6] At the end of the 1946–47 season, he was appointed as Newport County's trainer, a position he held until the end of the 1948–49 season.[4] He died in Newport on 26 March 1981.[1]

References

Bibliography

  • Dykes, Garth (1994). The United Alphabet: A Complete Who's Who of Manchester United F.C. Leicester: ACL & Polar Publishing. ISBN 0-9514862-6-8.
  • Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: Tony Brown. ISBN 1-899468-67-6.
  • Rollin, Jack (2005). Soccer at War: 1939–45. London: Headline Book Publishing. ISBN 0-7553-1431-X.

Notes

  1. Dykes (1994), p. 291.
  2. McCarthy, James (7 February 2018). "The fascinating story of when Newport County last came close to toppling Tottenham and how the club's dreams were soon destroyed by war". Wales Online. Media Wales. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  3. "William Owen". Manchester United player profiles. www.mufcinfo.com. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  4. Dykes (1994), p. 292.
  5. Joyce (2004), p. 201.
  6. Rollin (2005), pp. 366–7.
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