Ebenezer Harold Fuller "Ginger" Owers (21 October 1888 – June 1951) was an English

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

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

. He made over 90 appearances in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

and over 30 appearances in the

Scottish League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 k ...

in the years prior to the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Career

Born in

West Ham West Ham is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Newham. It is an inner-city suburb located east of Charing Cross. The area was originally an ancient parish formed to serve parts of the older Manor of Ham, a ...

, Ebenezer "Ginger" Owers played locally for Bashford and Leytonstone. He joined

Southern Football League The Southern League is a football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from East Anglia, the South and Midlands of England, and South Wales. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven a ...

team Leyton in 1906 and then moved to

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

in 1907. He moved to

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 ...

in November 1907. He joined Chesterfield Town in January 1909 as they tried to retain their Football League status but failed, Owers made 15 appearances scoring 3 goals. Chesterfield Town dropped into the

Midland League The Midland Football League, officially known as the Capelli Sport Midland Football League since January 2025 for sponsorship reasons, is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midl ...

for 1909–10 and won the Midland League championship. Owers made 41 appearances scoring 40 goals including a club record run of scoring in 10 consecutive Midland League games, a spell broken by injury although he was fit enough to act as linesman in the game that he missed through injury. Only

Jimmy Cookson James Cookson (6 December 1904 – 14 December 1970) was an English footballer who played as a centre forward in the Football League for Manchester City, Chesterfield, West Bromwich Albion, Plymouth Argyle and Swindon Town. Life and career Co ...

in 1925–26 with 44 goals has scored more goals in a single season for Chesterfield. When in summer 1910 Chesterfield Town failed in their attempt to be elected back into the Football League it was inevitable that Ginger Owers would move on. He joined

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

in 1909 (but this is disputed in another book which has Owers remaining at Chesterfield until moving to Bristol City in June 1910.)

Harry Thickett Henry Thickitt (or Thickett) (1872 – 15 November 1920) was a professional association football, footballer and Manager (association football), Manager. Born in Hexthorpe, Doncaster he played as a Defender (association football), defender prima ...

signed Owers in July 1910 from Darlington, or more likely Chesterfield, for

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 ...

. Owers made his debut for Bristol City at centre forward in a 0–0 draw v Preston North End on 24 September 1910. He was the leading scorer for Bristol City in season 1910–11 as the "Babes" were relegated from Division One. Owers made 31 appearances scoring 16 goals including a hat-trick in a 3–2 victory over Middlesbrough on 21 January 1911. He rejoined Darlington in July 1911 from Bristol City. Ginger Owers scored 19 goals in the

North Eastern League The North Eastern League was an association football league for teams in the North East of England. The league was founded in 1906 and was initially successful, with teams defecting from the rival Northern Football Alliance to play. Although ...

in season 1911–12 for Darlington who finished in 3rd place. Owers netted hat-tricks v. Carlisle United in a 7–1 win and at Wallsend Park Villa in a 5–2 win. He also scored all four goals in a 4–1 win at Jarrow on 30 December 1911. Owers returned to Bristol City again in March 1912. Owers replaced leading scorer

Jock Butler Jock may refer to: Common meanings * Jock (stereotype), a North American term for a stereotypical male athlete * Jock, a List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity, derogatory term for Scottish people mostly used by the English * Short for jockstrap, an it ...

at centre forward for the final games of the Second Division season scoring 3 goals in 8 appearances. Butler moved to the right wing and Owers retained the centre forward position from the start of season 1912–13 making 23 appearances and ending as leading scorer with 13 goals despite leaving the club in March 1913. Owers moved to Scotland and joined Clyde in March 1913. He had a loan spell with

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

from December 1913, making 13 league appearances and scoring 8 goals to help the ''Bhoys'' win the

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

(although he was dropped for the 1914 Scottish Cup Final replay) before rejoining Clyde in May 1914. Owers served in one of the

Sportsmen's Battalions The Sportsman's Battalions, also known as the 23rd (Service) Battalion and 24th (Service) Battalion (2nd Sportsman's), Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) were among the Pals battalions formed by the British Army in the early stages of the ...

in the

and a war wound finished his playing career.

Honours

;Chesterfield Town *

: 1909–10 ;Celtic *

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...

: 1913–14 *

Career

Honours

References