Jack Rowley
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Frederick Rowley | ||
| Date of birth | 7 October 1920 | ||
| Place of birth | Wolverhampton, England | ||
| Date of death | 28 June 1998 (aged 77) | ||
| Place of death | Shaw and Crompton, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1935–1936 | Cradley Heath | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1937 | Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic | 22 | (12) |
| 1937–1954 | Manchester United | 380 | (182) |
| 1954–1957 | Plymouth Argyle | 56 | (14) |
| Total | 458 | (208) | |
| National team | |||
| 1948–1952 | England | 6 | (6) |
| 1949 | England B | 1 | (3) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1955–1960 | Plymouth Argyle | ||
| 1960–1963 | Oldham Athletic | ||
| 1963–1964 | Ajax | ||
| 1966–1967 | Wrexham | ||
| 1967–1968 | Bradford Park Avenue | ||
| 1968–1969 | Oldham Athletic | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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John Frederick "Jack" Rowley (7 October 1920 – 28 June 1998) was an English footballer who played as a forward from the 1930s to the 1950s, mainly remembered for a 17-year spell with Manchester United. He was nicknamed "The Gunner" because of his prolific goalscoring and explosive shooting, scoring 211 goals in 424 appearances for United. His younger brother, Arthur, still holds the record for the highest number of career goals scored in the Football League with 434.
Rowley started his professional career in 1935 with Wolverhampton Wanderers, although he never found a place in the first team. In 1937, he moved to Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, scoring 10 goals in his first 11 games. His talent soon brought him to the attention of larger clubs and Rowley was purchased eight months later by Manchester United for £3,000. Still only 17, his debut for the club came on 23 October 1937 against Sheffield Wednesday. In his second game, he scored four goals against Swansea Town. By the time senior football was suspended due to the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, he had played 58 times for United, scoring 18 goals and helping them win promotion back to the First Division in his first season.
Initially bought as an outside left, he was to develop into a highly effective centre-forward in Matt Busby's first United team. He was part of the team that won the FA Cup in 1948, scoring two goals in the final, and the 1951–52 Football League. He became one of the club's few players to have scored five goals in a single game, when in February 1949 he scored five goals in an 8-0 win over Yeovil Town in an FA Cup tie.
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