John Frederick Rowley (7 October 1918 – 28 June 1998) 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 forward from the 1930s to the 1950s, mainly remembered for a 17-year spell with

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. He was nicknamed "The Gunner" because of his prolific goalscoring and explosive shooting, scoring 211 goals in 424 appearances for United. His younger brother,

Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

, still holds the record for the highest number of career goals scored 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 ...

with 434.

Career

Rowley started his professional career in 1935 with

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 ...

, although he never found a place in the first team. He soon moved on to Birmingham & District League club

Cradley Heath Cradley Heath is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is in the Black Country, west of Birmingham. The town was known for the manufacture of chains in the first half of the twentiet ...

, from where, in February 1937, he signed for Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, scoring ten goals in his first 11 games. His talent soon brought him to the attention of larger clubs and Rowley was purchased eight months later by

for £3,000. Still only 17, his debut for the club came on 23 October 1937 against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

. In his second game, he scored four goals against Swansea Town. By the time senior football was suspended due to the outbreak of

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 ...

in September 1939, he had played 58 times for United, scoring 18 goals and helping them win promotion back to the First Division in his first season. Initially bought as an

outside left 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 was to develop into a highly effective centre-forward in

Matt Busby Sir Alexander Matthew Busby (26 May 1909 – 20 January 1994) was a Scottish football player and manager, who managed Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 1970–71 season. He was the first manager of an E ...

's first United team. He was part of the team that won 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 ...

in 1948, scoring two goals in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, and the

1951–52 Football League The 1951– 52 season was the 53rd completed season of The Football League. Final league tables The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found aThe Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundationwebsite and in ''Rothmans Bo ...

. He became one of the club's few players to have scored five goals in a single game, when in February 1949 he scored five goals in an 8–0 win over Yeovil Town in an

tie. Rowley is one of only four players in the history of Manchester United to score over 200 goals for the club, the others being

Bobby Charlton Sir Robert Charlton (11 October 1937 – 21 October 2023) was an English professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, left winger or centre-forward. Widely considered one of the greatest players of all time, he was a member ...

Denis Law Denis Law (24 February 1940 – 17 January 2025) was a Scottish footballer who played as a forward. His career as a football player began at Second Division Huddersfield Town in 1956. After four years at Huddersfield, he was signed by Manchest ...

and

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who was most recently the head coach of EFL Championship club Plymouth Argyle F.C., Pl ...

. He left the club in 1955 to become player–manager of Plymouth Argyle. He later went on to manage

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

, gaining promotion to the Third Division in 1963. From there, he went on to manage Dutch club

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

for the 1963–64 season, before returning to Britain to manage

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 ...

and Bradford (Park Avenue) F.C., followed by a second spell at Oldham, where he finished his managerial career in December 1969. Rowley was also capped six times for England scoring six goals, four of which came against Northern Ireland on 16 November 1949 Rowley died in June 1998, at the age of 79.

Career statistics

Player

Manager

Honours

Player

Manchester United *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

: 1951–52 *

: 1947–48 *

FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is Football in England, English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

Manager

Plymouth Argyle *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 Football League, 1920–21 and again from 1958–59 Football League, 1958 until 1991–92 Football League, 1992. When the FA Premier League ...

: 1958–59 Oldham Athletic *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Following the creation of the Premier ...

promotion: 1962–63

References

External links

Greens on Screen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowley, Jack 1918 births 1998 deaths Men's association football forwards English men's footballers England men's international footballers England men's wartime international footballers Footballers from Oldham Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Cradley Heath F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Manchester United F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Aldershot F.C. wartime guest players English football managers Plymouth Argyle F.C. managers Oldham Athletic A.F.C. managers Wrexham A.F.C. managers English Football League managers People from Shaw and Crompton Footballers from Greater Manchester Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham Footballers from Wolverhampton English expatriate football managers English Football League players English Football League representative players Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. managers English expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate football managers in the Netherlands