Kenneth "Ken" David Bowman (6 March 1937 – 10 October 2013) was an English professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He played at representative level for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, and at club level for

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

and

Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

, as a , or , he died from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

in The Wirral.

Early life

Bowman was born in

Great Ouseburn Great Ouseburn is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated south-east of Boroughbridge. The village of Aldwark, Hambleton, Aldwark is to the north-east. It had a population of 598 according to the 20 ...

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, and attended Fishergate Primary School. He began playing

at school and for Heworth before turning professional in April 1955, aged 17, to sign for

Playing career

International honours

Ken Bowman won

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

s for

while at Huddersfield in 1962 against France, and in 1963 against France, and Australia.

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Ken Bowman played at in

's 6-12 defeat by

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue (Wakefield), Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier o ...

in the 1961–62 Challenge Cup Final during the 1961–62 season at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on Saturday 12 May 1962, in front of a crowd of 81,263.Briggs, Cyril & Edwards, Barry (12 May 1962). ''The Rugby League Challenge Cup Competition - Final Tie - Huddersfield v Wakefield Trinity - Match Programme''. Wembley Stadium Ltd. ISBN n/a

County Cup Final appearances

Ken Bowman played at and scored a try in

's 15-8 victory over

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

in the

1957–58 Yorkshire Cup The 1957 Yorkshire Cup was the 50th occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup (rugby league), Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. Huddersfield Giants, Huddersfield won the trophy by beating York F.C., York by the score of 15-8. Results This seaso ...

Final during the 1957–58 season at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

on Saturday 19 October 1957, and played at in the 10-16 defeat by

in the 1960–61 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1960–61 season at

on Saturday 29 October 1960.

Testimonial match

Ken Bowman's

Testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

took place in 1965. He made 247 appearances for the club before transferring to

in September 1965.

Personal life

Bowman married his wife, Beryl, in 1957, with whom he had two sons, Chris and Paul. He was a salesman and later a

sales manager Sales management is a business discipline which is focused on the practical application of sales techniques and the management of a firm's sales operations. It is an important business function as net sales, through the sale of products and ...

at Leyland Paints, later named Kalon Group PLC, he moved to the Wirral in 1977, he retired from work in 2002. He was captain of Bromborough Golf Club, a regular church goer. Ken was an active Freemason and a member of Noctorum Lodge 5913. He died aged 76 in

Bromborough Bromborough ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England, on the Wirral Peninsula south-east of Bebington and north of Eastham. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, and became part of Merseysi ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, England.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowman, Kenneth 1937 births 2013 deaths Bradford Bulls players English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Huddersfield Giants players Rugby league players from Harrogate Rugby league second-rows Rugby league wingers 20th-century English sportsmen