John Bowler, MBE (14 February 1937 – 16 February 2022) was an English businessman and the chairman of

Crewe Alexandra Football Club Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

. Elected chairman in 1988, he resigned in March 2021 following criticisms of him and the club in the

Football Association A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...

's inquiry into sex abuse in English football.

Biography

Having joined the board in 1980, Bowler became chairman at Crewe Alexandra in 1988, succeeding Norman Rowlinson. Prior to joining Crewe, he was a marketing director at pharmaceutical company

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. His time at Crewe coincided with the appointment and long tenure of manager

Dario Gradi Dario Gradi (born 8 July 1941) is an Italian-English former football player, coach and manager. He was associated for more than 36 years with Crewe Alexandra, where he was variously manager, director of football and director of the Academy, unt ...

, the most successful period in its history. Under his chairmanship, the club won promotion six times (twice at Wembley). The club reached the second tier, Division One, in 1997, after victory over

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

in the Division Two

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, and finished in 11th position, their highest finishing position, in the 1997–98 First Division season. Crewe also won the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

. It also became renowned for its youth development strategy, generating more than £32 million of income through player sales. In March 2014, Bowler was honoured with the Contribution to League Football Award at The Football League Awards 2014. In December 2014, it was announced that Bowler had been appointed an MBE in the

2015 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2015 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for services to football. Bowler was chairman in late 2016 when Crewe became embroiled in the

United Kingdom football sexual abuse scandal A child sexual abuse scandal involving the abuse of young players at football clubs in the United Kingdom began in mid-November 2016. The revelations began when former professional footballers waived their rights to anonymity and talked publicly a ...

. In 2019, he said Crewe had not appreciated the dangers of football being used as a means for a paedophile to prey on young boys. The FA's 700-page report into the scandal was published on 17 March 2021, identifying failures to act adequately on complaints or rumours of sexual abuse at eight professional clubs including Crewe. Considering whether senior club people knew about Bennell, Sheldon concluded they had not received specific reports of abuse (a conclusion also reached by Cheshire constabulary). However, Norman Rowlinson, John Bowler and Hamilton Smith had discussed concerns about inappropriate behaviour; the club "should have done more to check on the well-being of the boys", Sheldon said. Following publication of the report, there were calls for Bowler to resign, including from the club's own supporters group; Bowler announced his resignation as a director and chairman of the club on 25 March 2021. He died on 16 February 2022, two days after his 85th birthday.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowler, John 1937 births 2022 deaths Crewe Alexandra F.C. non-playing staff English football chairmen and investors Members of the Order of the British Empire