Gavin Gregory McGowan (born 16 January 1976) is an English retired 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 played as a defender. McGowan featured for

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

and for

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

in the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

Career

McGowan was born in Blackheath, England. He joined Arsenal's youth team in 1992 at the age of 16. In 1994, he won the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

with Arsenal when they beat

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 ...

5–3 in the final. He only played one game against

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

as Arsenal won the

1997–98 FA Premier League The 1997–98 FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the sixth season of the FA Premier League. It saw Arsenal lift their first league title since 1991 and, in so doing, became only the second team ...

, meaning he did not qualify for a winners' medal. In all McGowan made seven appearances for Arsenal with six caps coming in the Premier League, and one in the

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 ...

for the London side. Unable to win a first-team place at Arsenal, McGowan moved to Luton Town in the summer of 1998, having already spent two periods on loan there. McGowan was initially a first-team player but an injury during the 1999–2000 season limited his appearances. He left the club on a free transfer in 2002 after a clearout by then recently employed manager

Joe Kinnear Joseph Patrick Kinnear (27 December 1946 – 7 April 2024) was an Irish professional football manager and player. As a defender, Kinnear spent the majority of his career spanning ten seasons with Tottenham Hotspur and one with Brighton & H ...

Personal life

After retiring from Football, McGowan attended Greenwich University where he studied as a PE Teacher passing with BA Honours. McGowan joined Orchard Park High School in 2007 in the borough of Croydon. He was Head of Football at King's College School in Wimbledon. McGowan is a qualified UEFA B coach. He is now Director of Sport and Assistant Principal at Ravensbourne school in Bromley.

Honours

Arsenal *

: 1993–94

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGowan, Gavin 1976 births Living people English men's footballers Footballers from the London Borough of Lewisham People from Blackheath, London Men's association football defenders Arsenal F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Premier League players Redhill F.C. players