Alex James Mowatt (born 13 February 1995) is an English professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...
who plays as a
midfielder
In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...
for club
West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...
.
Club career
Leeds United
Mowatt was born in
Doncaster
Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...
and attended
Don Valley Academy, whilst playing for junior club Bentley Pumas
Doncaster
Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...
, Mowatt's talents were recognised by Leeds in 2003 and Mowatt was signed to Leeds United's academy at the age of nine. After progressing through Leeds youth ranks, including captaining Leeds Under 18s, Mowatt signed a professional deal at Leeds.
Mowatt captained Leeds Under 18s team managed by
Richard Naylor
Richard Alan Naylor (born 28 February 1977) is an English former association football, footballer who played as a centre-back.
Naylor started his career at Ipswich Town F.C., Ipswich Town, where he played as a striker (association football), ...
and led the Under 18s to win the Under 18 League Championship during the 2012–13 season. He captained Leeds Under 18s during a 3–1 loss against Liverpool Under 18s on 1 March 2013 at
Anfield
Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...
in Leeds' Under 18s in the FA Youth Cup run. The ''
Yorkshire Evening Post
The ''Yorkshire Evening Post'' (''YEP'') is a regional daily newspaper covering the City of Leeds. Founded in 1890 it is published by Yorkshire Post Newspapers, National World.
Despite being having coverage and being sold across West Yorkshire ...
''s Phil Hay said that Mowatt's performances and style of play was reminiscent to a young
Barry Ferguson
Barry Ferguson (born 2 February 1978) is a Scottish football coach, former player and pundit who was most recently caretaker manager of Scottish Premiership club Rangers.
Ferguson spent most of his playing career at Rangers, in two spells ei ...
.
2013–14 season
After his impressive performances in the academy and
Neil Redfearn
Neil David Redfearn (born 20 June 1965) is an English football coach and former player who was most recently the manager of Farsley Celtic.
Redfearn, a midfielder, played 790 matches in the Football League, the sixth highest total of all time, ...
's Development Squad, Mowatt broke into the Leeds team during the 2013–14 season during the pre-season training with the first team. He was named on the bench for Leeds' first team in a 2–1 win against Chesterfield in the League Cup.
On 27 August 2013, Mowatt made his debut for Leeds when he started his first professional game in Leeds 3–1 victory against
Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...
in the League Cup. After the match, Leeds manager
Brian McDermott praised his performance.
Mowatt was given his second start for Leeds in the match against
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...
in the League Cup and put in another impressive performance despite a 2–0 loss for Leeds.
His performance was rewarded when he was named in the starting line-up to make his league debut in a 2–0 defeat away to
Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...
. On 5 December 2013, he signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract with the club.
On 1 February 2014, only the day after the alleged sacking of the man who gave Mowatt his debut, Brian McDermott, Mowatt scored his first goal for Leeds in a 5–1 victory against local rivals
Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football.
Huddersfield Town we ...
.
Mowatt won the Leeds United Young Player of the Season Award at the club's annual awards, on 2 May. He also finished third in the voting for the Fans' Player of the Year Award.
2014–15 season
On 1 August, Mowatt was assigned the number 27 shirt for the 2014–15 season.
After picking up an injury against
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...
on 26 April 2014 and a long spell out injured, he returned to the Leeds starting 11 making his first appearance of the season against
Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...
on 30 August 2014.
On 13 September 2014 Mowatt scored his first league goal of the 2014–15 season against
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...
in a 1–1 draw. he badly bruised his toe during the game which ruled him out of the following fixture against
Bournemouth
Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...
. He followed this up with a goal in a 3–1 loss against
Cardiff City
Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...
on 1 November in Neil Redfearn's first game as permanent head coach, in the following game on 4 November he scored a brace with two long range efforts in a 2–2 draw against
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system.
Their home ground is ...
. After getting three goals and two assists in November, on 4 December Mowatt was shortlisted for the Championship's Player of the Month award, but lost out to
Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross.
Its economy has dive ...
's
Andre Gray
Andre Anthony Gray (born 26 June 1991) is a professional footballer who plays a striker for Fatih Karagümrük. Born in England, he represents the Jamaica national team.
A product of the Shrewsbury Town youth system, Gray came to prominence ...
. He was handed the Football League's Young Player of the Month award for November on 18 December 2014.
Mowatt scored a free kick in a 1–0 win against Millwall on 14 February; he followed this up with a long range strike in a 1–0 victory against Middlesbrough on 21 February. He scored another free kick on 4 March in a 2–1 victory against
Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football.
Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...
before following this up with a right footed volley from outside the box in a 1–0 victory against
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, they have p ...
on 7 March. His ninth goal of the season came on 6 April in a 4–3 loss against
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...
with Mowatt scoring a curling long range effort.
On 9 April, after rumoured Premier League interest in Mowatt and teammates
Lewis Cook,
Charlie Taylor and
Sam Byram
Samuel Mark Byram (born 16 September 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Leeds United. Mainly a left-back, he can also play as a right-back.
He has also played for West Ham United, Nottingham Forest a ...
, head coach Neil Redfearn challenged Leeds United's owners to keep a hold of their home grown talents.
On 1 May 2015, Mowatt was named the ''
Yorkshire Evening Post
The ''Yorkshire Evening Post'' (''YEP'') is a regional daily newspaper covering the City of Leeds. Founded in 1890 it is published by Yorkshire Post Newspapers, National World.
Despite being having coverage and being sold across West Yorkshire ...
''s Player of the Year for the 2014–15 season.
On 2 May 2015, Mowatt won the Fans' Player of the Year Award and also the Players' Player of the Year award at
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system.
Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...
's official end of 2014–15 season awards ceremony.
2015–16 season
On 31 July 2015, Mowatt was given the number 10 shirt for the upcoming 2015–16 season. He scored the opening goal in United's 2–0 pre-season win over
Everton in what was described by a pundit as a "Barcelona style goal". On 4 November 2015, he scored an unstoppable shot from 25 yards to the top corner of the goal in the 1–0 victory over
Cardiff
Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
. On 7 November, he scored again in the following game with a long-range strike in a 3–0 victory against Yorkshire rivals
Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football.
Huddersfield Town we ...
.
2016–17 season
On 5 August, Mowatt was given the squad number 27 shirt for the 2016–17 season with
Marcus Antonsson
Carl Marcus Christer Antonsson (born 8 May 1991) is a Swedish professional association football, footballer who plays as a striker (association football), striker for Allsvenskan club IFK Värnamo. He can also play as a Forward (association foot ...
taking over the number 10 shirt previously held by Mowatt. On 9 January 2017, he scored his first goal of the season in Leeds' 2–1
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
win against
Cambridge United
Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...
.
Barnsley
On 27 January 2017, Mowatt joined Championship rivals
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...
on a two-and-a-half-year deal, for an undisclosed fee reported to be around £600,000. He retained the number 27 shirt he had worn at Leeds United.
2016–17 season
Mowatt arrived under significant pressure to fill the vacancy left by
Conor Hourihane
Conor Geraroid Hourihane () (born 2 February 1991) is an Irish Football coach (association football), football coach and former Football player, player who played as a central midfielder, midfielder. He is currently the head coach of club Barns ...
who had departed to
Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...
earlier in the transfer window. He made his debut on 31 January, during which he was sent off just before half time. After his return from suspension he featured regularly until the end of the season, scoring his first goal for Barnsley in the penultimate game of the season in a 3–2 defeat to
Bristol City
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...
.
2017–18 season: Loan to Oxford United
Mowatt was sent a season-long loan to Oxford United on 31 August 2017 after failing to make the impact desired by manager
Paul Heckingbottom
Paul Heckingbottom (born 17 July 1977) is an English football coach and former player who is the manager of EFL Championship club Preston North End.
After retiring as a player, Heckingbottom trained as a coach. He obtained a position with Barn ...
. Barnsley instead elected to sign
Gary Gardner
Gary Gardner (born 29 June 1992) is an English professional association football, footballer who plays as a central midfielder and was last at EFL League One side Cambridge United F.C., Cambridge United.
A product of the Aston Villa F.C. Reserv ...
on a season-long loan from Aston Villa to fill the gap in central midfield. Heckingbottom emphasised that Mowatt's loan move was only temporary and that he envisaged a career for him at
Oakwell
Oakwell is a multi-purpose sports ground in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England used
by Barnsley Football Club for home fixtures, and those of their reserves. As of 2023, the Barnsley F.C. Women's team also play at the stadium.
While the na ...
.
2018–19 season
Mowatt returned to Barnsley ahead of the 2018–19 season after their relegation to League One. He formed a key partnership in midfield with teammate
Cameron McGeehan
Cameron Alexander McGeehan (born 6 April 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Northampton Town. Born in England, he also plays for the Northern Ireland national team.
McGeehan began his youth career at Fulham ...
. The pair played together in 39 of Barnsley's 46 league matches, Mowatt appearing in all of them. Mowatt scored his first goal of the season in a 1–1 draw against
Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...
on 2 October 2018. On 27 October 2018, Mowatt scored the only goal of the game in a 1–0 home victory over
Bristol Rovers
Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...
through a left-footed shot from outside the area. On 12 January 2019, Mowatt put in a man of the match performance in a 3–0 victory against
Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander.
The club was founded in 1903 and ...
, assisting the first two goals for
Jacob Brown and
Kieffer Moore
Kieffer Roberto Francisco Moore (born 8 August 1992) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United and the Wales national football team ...
and scoring the third himself. Mowatt scored two goals over Easter weekend, the first in a 2–1 victory over
Shrewsbury Town
Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...
at Oakwell on 19 April 2019, the second in a 3–0 over
Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...
at
Home Park
Home Park is a football stadium in the area of Milehouse, Plymouth, Devon, England. With a capacity of 17,900, the ground has been the home of Plymouth Argyle Football Club since 1903, and was also used between 1900 and 1903 by Argyle Athlet ...
on 22 April 2019.
2019–2021
Mowatt was named the club's player of the season during the
2019–20 campaign as Barnsley avoided relegation from the Championship with a dramatic win over
Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross.
Its economy has dive ...
on the final day of the season.
On 9 April 2021, Mowatt was awarded the
Championship Player of the Month
The EFL Championship Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player adjudged the best for each month of the season in the EFL Championship, the English football league system, second tier of English football. ...
award as Barnsley pushed for play-offs.
West Bromwich Albion
On 2 July 2021,
West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...
announced Mowatt had followed former Barnsley coach
Valérien Ismaël
Valérien Alexandre Ismaël (born 28 September 1975) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of EFL Championship club Blackburn Rovers.
A centre-back, Ismaël played for Strasbourg, Crystal Palace, Len ...
in joining the club. He scored his first goal for West Brom in a 4–0 win against
Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...
on 18 August.
Middlesbrough (loan)
On 13 August 2022, Mowatt joined
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...
on loan for the
2022–23 season.
On 22 May 2024, West Brom announced it had offered the player a new contract.
International career
In October 2013, after being watched by England Under 21s manager
Gareth Southgate
Sir Gareth Southgate (born 3 September 1970) is an English professional Association football, football manager and player, who played as a Defender (association football), defender and midfielder.
A Crystal Palace F.C., Crystal Palace Crystal ...
against Birmingham City, Mowatt was called up to the
England U19 for the fixture against Hungary in November.
On 5 March 2014, Mowatt made his
England U19 debut in a 3–0 victory against Turkey.
Mowatt was watched by
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
's assistant,
Mark McGhee
Mark Edward McGhee (born 25 May 1957) is a Scottish former professional football player and coach. A former forward, McGhee started his career at Greenock Morton in 1975 and had spells at clubs including Newcastle United, Aberdeen, Hamburg, ...
, during Leeds' 2–0 defeat to Brighton on 24 February. Mowatt qualifies for Scotland through his father's side of the family.
On 25 March 2015, Mowatt was named on the subs bench for
England U20
England national under-20 football team, also known as England Under-20s or England U20(s) or England Men's Elite Squad, represents England in association football at an under-20 age level and is controlled by the Football Association, the gov ...
against Mexico, but did not feature in the game. However, four days later Mowatt made his debut against the United States, completing 79 minutes of the match. In December 2015, Leeds head coach
Steve Evans revealed that
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
manager
Gordon Strachan
Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player who is currently Technical Director of Dundee. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Sc ...
had been in touch regarding the possibility of calling up Mowatt for the full
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
national side.
Career statistics
Honours
Barnsley
*
EFL League One
The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...
runner-up:
2018–19
Individual
*
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system.
Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...
Young Player of the Year:
2013–14
*
Football League Young Player of the Month
The EFL Young Player of the Month is an award for young players in all three divisions of the English Football League. To be eligible players must be under-21 or turn 21 during the current season. It was first awarded in December 2009. Victor Mos ...
: November 2014
*Leeds United Players' Player of the Year:
2014–15
*Leeds United Player of the Year: 2014–15
*
EFL Team of the Season: 2018–19
*
PFA Team of the Year
The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...
:
2018–19 League One
*Barnsley Player of the Season:
2019–20[Alex Mowatt is your Player of the Season!]
Barnsley Football Club (www.barnsleyfc.co.uk), Retrieved 19 July 2020.
*
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this sys ...
Goal of the Month: October 2020
*
EFL Championship Player of the Month
The EFL Championship Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player adjudged the best for each month of the season in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Originally named the Football L ...
: March 2021
*
EFL Championship Team of the Season:
2020–21
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...
References
External links
*
England profileat
The Football Association
The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mowatt, Alex
1995 births
Living people
Footballers from Doncaster
English men's footballers
Men's association football midfielders
Leeds United F.C. players
Barnsley F.C. players
Oxford United F.C. players
West Bromwich Albion F.C. players
Middlesbrough F.C. players
English Football League players
England men's youth international footballers
English people of Scottish descent
21st-century English sportsmen