Nathan Peter Lowndes (born 2 June 1977) is an English former

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. He began his career with

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

but failed to break into the first before his move to

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

in 1995. After making little impact at Watford, he moved to Scotland to play for St Johnstone in 1998. Three years later, he

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies * ...

red to Livingston. In 2002, he was

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

ed out to

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

, before he moved back to England permanently with

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

later in the year. In 2004, he joined Port Vale, where he would stay for three years. He finished his professional career with Chester City at the end of the 2007–08 campaign, though he came out of retirement to join Scone Thistle in May 2012.

Career

Lowndes began his career with

in April 1995 but did not make any first-team appearances in his time at

Elland Road Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...

. On 3 October 1995, he was signed by

for a fee of £40,000. Despite being seen as a promising player in three years with Watford, he only made three starts and was unable to score a goal. He played only a cameo role in the club's 1997–98 Second Division winning season. On 21 August 1998, he joined Scottish club St Johnstone, who were in their second season back in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. In his first season in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, he helped "Saints" to a third-place finish (which qualified them for the following season's

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

), an appearance in the League Cup final, and the last four of the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,the final of the League Cup at

Celtic Park Celtic Park is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic F.C., Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest List of football stadiums in Sco ...

, he was a late substitute for

George O'Boyle George O'Boyle (born 14 December 1967) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer and now manager. Playing career Club football O'Boyle, a striker, began his career in 1984 as a youth-team player with Manchester City. He was part of th ...

, as

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 ...

celebrated a 2–1 win. He was the club's top scorer in 1999–2000 with eleven goals, which included a goal in the preliminary rounds of the

that helped the club reach a first round tie with

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the French Football Federation (FFF) and currently ...

. After the first leg, the striker told of how opponent

Marco Simone Marco Simone (; born 7 January 1969) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. As a player, he was a striker and winger. He most prominently played for Milan, with whom he won four Serie A championships and two UEFA Ch ...

came into the away dressing room and asked Lowndes for a signed shirt. Despite the striker's fortunes the club could not replicate the success of the previous campaign. He made just twelve appearances in the 2000–01 season as the club flirted with

relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

. In his three years at

McDiarmid Park McDiarmid Park is a stadium in Perth, Scotland, Perth, Scotland, used mainly for association football. It has been the home ground of Scottish Premiership side St Johnstone F.C., St Johnstone since its opening in 1989. The stadium has an All-seat ...

, Lowndes made 63 appearances and scored 14 goals. In May 2001, Lowndes signed for Livingston, for whom he made 21 appearances and scored three goals. Livingston enjoyed a highly successful season, finishing the league campaign in third place. In March 2002, he returned to England with

, then managed by

Paul Sturrock Paul Whitehead Sturrock (born 10 October 1956) is a Scottish former football coach and former player. As a player, Sturrock spent his entire senior career with Dundee United, making more than five hundred appearances between 1974 and 1989. He w ...

, who had signed him to St Johnstone four years earlier. He helped the club to the Second Division title in 2003–04, scoring ten goals in 33 games. Over his two years with Plymouth, Lowndes made 57 appearances and scored twelve goals, playing mostly as a substitute or out of position at wide midfield. He joined Martin Foyle's Port Vale in November 2004, but was released in May 2007 after failing to make an impact at the club. He was though a first-team regular in the 2005–06 campaign, in which he made 41 of his 67 Port Vale appearances, and scored six of his seven Vale goals. He subsequently joined League Two side

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

, who were managed by

Bobby Williamson Robert Williamson (born 13 August 1961) is a Scottish football player and manager. Williamson played as a striker for Clydebank, Rangers, West Bromwich Albion, Rotherham United and Kilmarnock. He then became manager of Kilmarnock, winning ...

, Lowndes's

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

at Plymouth for a short time. In January 2008 he was the subject of interest from

Conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

side

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

. The move did not go through but Lowndes did not play again for Chester due to injury. On 23 April 2008 his

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

was cancelled by mutual consent. In May 2012, Lowndes came out of retirement when he signed for Scottish Junior side Scone Thistle; he balanced his playing duties with his job serving

Tayside Police Tayside Police was a territorial police force covering the Scottish council areas of Angus, Dundee City and Perth and Kinross (the former Tayside region) until 1 April 2013, at which point it was subsumed into Police Scotland. The total area co ...

Personal life

His sister, Emma Lowndes, is an actress.

Career statistics

Honours

Watford *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

: 1997–98 St Johnstone *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

runner-up:

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Plymouth Argyle *

: 2003–04

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowndes, Nathan 1977 births Living people Footballers from Salford English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Watford F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Livingston F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Chester City F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Junior Football Association players Tayside Police officers