Alfred Bower
From TheChels.info - The Chelsea Football Club Wiki
| Alfred Bower | |
| |
| Full Name | Alfred George Bower |
| Date of Birth | 10 November 1895 |
| Place of Birth | Bromley, Kent |
| Position | Full back |
| Chelsea career | 1923–1925 |
| Debut | 1 March 1924 |
| Games (goals) | 9 (0) |
| Other clubs | Corinthian |
Alfred George "Baishe" Bower (10 November 1895 — 30 June 1970) was an English amateur full back who made nine appearances for Chelsea between 1923 and 1926. He was a member of the Corinthian amateur club and made five appearances for England between 1923 and 1927, three times as captain. [1]
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School and Army
Bower was born in Bromley, Kent, and educated at Charterhouse School; he only began to excel at football after leaving school and joining Old Carthusians. During the First World War, he served in the Army, initially as a second lieutenant in the 4th (City of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) before transferring to the 1st Battalion on 27 July 1915. [2] Later in the war he was a temporary captain. [3]
At the end of World War I he joined Corinthian F.C. and developed into an extremely dependable full back, able to play on either flank.
Corinthians
He made his Corinthians debut an "A" team match in a 10–1 victory over a "Public Schools" XI on 3 January 1920. During the 1920s and early 1930s he played in most of Corinthans' more important matches, including all 16 FA Cup matches played between 1923 and 1930. He was a member of the Corinthian team that defeated Blackburn Rovers 1-0 in the First Round of the cup on 12 January 1924, before going out to West Bromwich Albion in the second round. In 1925–26, Corinthians met Manchester City on 9 January; after a 3-3 draw in the first match Corinthians lost the replay 4-0. They also defeated Walsall 4-0 on 8 January 1927 and Norwich City 5-0 in the third round on 12 January 1929.
Bower was an occasional member of the Corinthians' foreign tours. His last match for Corinthian came in Switzerland on 19 April 1930 in a 7-1 victory over Young Boys, Bern. Between 1920 and 1930, he made a total of 180 appearances for the Corinthians, never scoring.
He wound up his football career with Casuals F.C., a club with which Corinthian would later merge to form Corinthian-Casuals. Between 1928 and 1933 he represented the public schools on the Football Association Council. He had joined the London Stock Exchange at the end of the First World War, and remained a member until 1954. He remains probably the only person to play top flight league football whilst at the same time being a Member of the London Stock Exchange thanks to his appearances for Chelsea. He later became a welfare officer in Croydon until he retired in 1960.
Chelsea career
Bower made three First Division appearances for Chelsea in the 1923-24 season playing at right full back, a campaign which would end with Chelsea being relegated to the Second Division. Two seasons later he made a further six appearances, this time on the left as Chelsea finished in third place, five points adrift of the second promotion position.
International
Bower won 13 amateur England international caps and five full England caps at a time when it was becoming increasingly rare for an amateur to play for the full international team. He was capped by the England amateur team thirteen times and was selected for five full England matches, the last three as captain. His first cap came in the Home International Championship match against Northern Ireland on 20 October 1923, when England were defeated 2-1. He retained his place for the next match in Belgium which was again a draw, this time 2-2.
A year later, he was recalled to the England team and was appointed captain for a match against Belgium at the Hawthorns on 8 December 1924. England won 4-0 with two goals each from Joe Bradford and Billy Walker. He retained his place, and the captaincy, for the next match, in the Home International Championship, against Wales on 28 February 1925. England won by two goals to one, with Frank Roberts scoring England's goals. Two years later, he was the last amateur player to captain England, in a 3-3 draw with Wales on 12 February 1927, with two goals from Dixie Dean.
Statistics
| Season | League | FA Cup | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |
| 1923-24 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 1924-25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1925-26 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Total | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
