Jonathan Michael "Jonny" Rowell (born 10 September 1989) is 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 ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Challenger Pro League The Challenger Pro League (previously known as ''1B Pro League'') is the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian First Division A. It was created by the Royal Belgian Football Association in 2016 ...

side Dender EH. Rowell has predominantly spent his career in Belgium and played in the

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

for

Waasland-Beveren Sportkring Beveren is a professional Belgian association football club located in the municipality of Beveren, East Flanders. They play in the Belgian First Division B. History The club was founded in 1936 as Red Star and registered to an amate ...

, as well as lower league sides Olympic Charleroi and Berchem Sport. Rowell has also played in

English 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, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...

for

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartl ...

and in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

for

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as th ...

side

FC Eindhoven FC Eindhoven is a Dutch football club based in Eindhoven, North Brabant. They currently play in the Eerste Divisie (second tier of Dutch football), and are one of two professional clubs which are based in the city of Eindhoven, the other one be ...

Career

Jonny began playing football for

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional Association football, football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football league system, English football. The club was ...

in their

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

since he was nine up until he his was 16. Whilst in the Under-16s, he played alongside future England international

Andy Carroll Andrew Thomas Carroll (born 6 January 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Championship side Reading. He has played in the Premier League and English Football League for Newcastle United, Preston North End, Liv ...

. After being let go by the Premiership club, the midfielder was signed by

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club

after a successful trial in January 2006. He signed an early

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

contract in January 2008 to keep him with North-East club, due to apparent interest from other clubs. Rowell was named in the first team squad in the 2007–08 season against

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

and

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

, however in both games he was an unused sub. Later in the season, an injury in a reserve team match ruled him out for the rest of the season. He went on to win the Youth Team's Player of the Year at the end of the season as voted for by the Hartlepool supporters. Rowell made his first appearance for Hartlepool United the season after in a

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

game against fellow League One side

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the Nation ...

on 2 September 2008, however Hartlepool went on to lose this match 3–0. He made his first ever League start for an injury struck Hartlepool, just three months later against

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

. Hartlepool boss Danny Wilson said that he thought "Rowell's debut was terrific". He was then released by Chris Turner at the end of the 2009–10 season and signed for

Belgian Third Division B The Belgian Third Division B was one of the two leagues at the third level of the Belgian football league system, the other one being the Belgian Third Division A. This division existed from the 1952–53 until 2015–16 seasons and was played ev ...

side Olympic Charleroi on 7 July 2010 where he soon became a fan favourite. Olympic Charleroi finished 8th at the end of the season. At the end of the 2010–11 season, Rowell went on trial with English

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

side Gateshead, however he ended up signing for

Belgian Second Division The Belgian Second Division (known as the Proximus League for sponsorship reasons) was the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was founded by the Royal Belgian Football Asso ...

side

on a free transfer. In his first season with Waasland-Beveren, they won promotion via the play-offs to

. He made his first appearance in the Belgian Pro League in a 1–2 victory against

Beerschot AC Koninklijke Beerschot Antwerpen Club (), simply known as Beerschot AC, was a Belgian football club based in southern Antwerp. Beerschot played in the Belgian Pro League from 1999–2000 (as Germinal Beerschot) until 2012–13, when they were ...

on 24 November 2021. Rowell turned down a new contract with Waasland-Beveren at the end of the 2014–15 season to pursue a deal elsewhere. However, he missed out on a season of football because of deals falling through and broken promises. In August 2016, Rowell signed for

side

. Rowell made 13 appearances for the Dutch side before moving back to Belgium signing for Berchem Sport in January 2018. Rowell signed for

Belgian National Division 1 The Belgian National Division 1, commonly referred to as simply Eerste Nationale (in Dutch) or Nationale 1 (in French) is a semi-professional and the third-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian First ...

side Dender EH in August 2018. In September 2020, Dender coach Regi Van Acker confirmed that he had turned a transfer bid for Rowell from fellow National Division 1 side K.S.V. Roeselare. On 21 April 2021, Rowell signed a two-year contract extension with Dender.

Personal life

Rowell attended Emmanuel College in Gateshead. He has dual British–Belgian nationality. He is a fan of his local side

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

, the side where Rowell spent eight years as a junior but Rowell also follows the results of his former club Hartlepool. In December 2018, he got married and on 1 September 2019, his wife gave birth to their son Jack. Only five days later, Rowell scored in a 2-0 derby win for Dender EH against RWD Molenbeek – a game that his wife insisted he played in.

Career statistics

:A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in the

and play-off games.

Honours

;

*Youth Team Player of the Season: 2007–08 ;

play-offs: 2011–12 ;

F.C.V. Dender E.H. Football Club Verbroedering Dender Eendracht Hekelgem, also simply known as Dender or Verbroedering Dender, is a Belgian association football club based in Denderleeuw. From the 2022–23 season, the club will be playing in the Challenger Pro Le ...

: 2021–22

References

External links

Rowell's Official Hartlepool United ProfileRowell's Official Waasland-Beveren ProfileRowell's Official Dender Profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rowell, Jonny 1989 births Living people Footballers from Newcastle upon Tyne English footballers Association football midfielders Newcastle United F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players R. Olympic Charleroi Châtelet Farciennes players S.K. Beveren players FC Eindhoven players K. Berchem Sport players F.C.V. Dender E.H. players English Football League players Belgian First Division B players Belgian First Division A players Eerste Divisie players English expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Belgium English expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands English expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands