Aloysius "Ally" McGowan (22 January 1930 – 5 July 2005) was a Scottish former

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 played as a defender.

Career

After playing for his village's youth team, McGowan was signed to Fauldhouse United. He played there for two years before being approached by the manager of Scottish Division Two side

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...

to play for the team. Whilst at St Johnstone, McGowan would play for Scotland B. In 1953, new St Johnstone manager

Johnny Pattillo Johnny Pattillo (17 October 1914 – August 2002)Biography of J ...

wanted to reduce the number of players in the squad, so let McGowan leave to Welsh club

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

on a free transfer. Whilst there, he got over 400 league appearances for Wrexham, and has the 4th most appearances by any player for Wrexham. McGowan retired in 1963 due to ongoing problems from an ankle injury at the age of 33, after a brief spell at Bethesda Athletic. After retirement, McGowan served as the Wrexham groundsman for between seven and eight years.

Personal life and death

McGowan was the brother of former

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

left-back Jimmy McGowan.My advice to Thistle
Evening Times, 6 July 1957 (via Partick Thistle History Archive) McGowan died on 5 July 2005 in Wrexham.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGowan, Ally 1930 births 2005 deaths Men's association football defenders Scottish men's footballers English Football League players Fauldhouse United F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Bethesda Athletic F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. non-playing staff Scottish Football League players Scotland men's B international footballers Footballers from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire Scottish Junior Football Association players 20th-century Scottish sportsmen