Henry Cowan (5 December 1893 – 1974) was a Scottish

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 for Clyde and

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently compete in the after winning the 2022–23 Scottish League One title. Dunfermline play at ...

in his native country and for several clubs – primarily the

New Bedford Whalers New Bedford Whalers was the name of three American soccer teams based in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The first Whalers played in the Southern New England Soccer League between 1914 and 1918. The second Whalers played in the American Soccer Leag ...

– in the United States, mainly as a full back. Reports from the time indicate that he was

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

and/or

mute Muteness is a speech disorder in which a person lacks the ability to speak. Mute, Mutes or the Mute may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Mute'' (2005 film), a short film by Melissa Joan Hart * ''Mute'' (2018 film), ...

Career

Scotland

Raised in

Eastfield, South Lanarkshire Eastfield is a mainly residential district in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located between the industrial towns of Rutherglen and Cambuslang in the south-east of the Greater Glasgow urban area. It is situated south of the River Clyde, adjoining t ...

, Cowan began his known senior career with local club Clyde in 1916 (he was around 22 years old and it is likely he played for other clubs earlier, but this is unconfirmed). He was ever-present in his first season at

Shawfield Stadium Shawfield Stadium is a venue in the Shawfield district of the town of Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located close to the boundary with Glasgow. Originally a football ground, Shawfield was home to Clyde F.C. from 1898 to 1986. Greyho ...

– 38 league appearances – and continued to feature regularly for the club throughout the duration of

World War I 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 ...

(when many competitions were suspended but the

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 ...

continued for public morale), suggesting that he was employed in a

reserved occupation A reserved occupation (also known as essential services) is an occupation considered important enough to a country that those serving in such occupations are exempt or forbidden from military service. In a total war, such as the Second World War, ...

in addition to being a sportsman, although his later marriage and travel documentation listed him as a dyer outwith football so it may have been his hearing impairment which excused him from active service. A match report from October 1918 stated that Cowan "''was again a dominating personality at pivot''" in a victory over Hearts. His eight years at Clyde also included reaching three finals of the

Glasgow Cup The Glasgow Cup is a football tournament open to teams from Glasgow, Scotland. Operated by the Glasgow Football Association, it was competed for annually by senior Glasgow clubs from 1887 until 1989. It is now (since the 2019–20 amended rule ...

, all ending in defeat (twice losing out to

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 ...

and once to

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

after a replay, in which Cowan conceded a penalty kick for handball which resulted in the only goal). His spell at the club ended at the same time as their relegation from the top division in 1923–24, ending an 18-year run in the top division. A

benefit match A benefit is a match or season of activities granted by a sporting body to a loyal sportsman to boost their income before retirement. Often this is in the form of a match for which all the ticket proceeds are given to the player in question. Howeve ...

was played for him against Rangers in March 1924 to recognise his long service.

United States

Cowan moved on to

for one season before heading to the United States, aged 31, to play in the American Soccer League.Harry Cowan
Stats Crew Initially he was with the

, playing regularly for two seasons and winning the

Lewis Cup The Lewis Cup was an American soccer trophy established in 1914 as the championship trophy for the amateur Blue Mountain League, which was composed of clubs from the Lehigh Valley region of northeastern Pennsylvania. It was later awarded to the win ...

in 1926. He then had short spells with other clubs: he began 1927–28 with the

Hartford Americans The Hartford Americans was an American soccer club based in Hartford, Connecticut that was member of the professional American Soccer League. They joined the league in 1927, but were dropped early in the season to balance the league after the ...

before they were withdrawn from the league, then played a few matches each for the New York Nationals and the Fall River – he was not involved in the later stages of the Nationals' winning run in the

1928 National Challenge Cup The 1928 National Challenge Cup was the annual open cup held by the United States Football Association now known as the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Eastern Division Western Division Final References

{{1927–28 in American soccer ...

. In 1928–29 he played for J. & P. Coats who changed identity mid-season to become the Pawtucket Rangers. By now at the veteran stage, he returned to the Whalers in 1929 and played a handful of games for them, likely as an emergency stand-in, over the next two seasons,Henry Cowan
SoccerStats.us a somewhat chaotic period known as the 'soccer wars', featuring several disputes, teams resigning and rival leagues being created, coinciding with the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

which brought about the end of the system altogether a few years later.

Personal life

His son of the same name was born in Scotland but grew up in

New Bedford New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast (Massachusetts), South Coast region. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, New Bedford had a ...

and became an American citizen in order to serve in the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

; he was killed in action in 1944.Sgt Henry Cowan Jr.
Find A Grave

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, Harry 1893 births 1974 deaths Date of death missing Scottish men's footballers Footballers from Rutherglen Men's association football defenders Scottish emigrants to the United States Deaf association football players Scottish Football League players American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Clyde F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players New Bedford Whalers players Hartford Americans players New York Nationals (ASL) players Pawtucket Rangers players Fall River F.C. (1922–1931) players Scottish deaf people 20th-century Scottish sportsmen