Peter Poole Cowper (1 September 1902 – 26 September 1962) was an English professional

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 an outside-forward in the 1920s and 1930s. Something of a

journeyman A journeyman is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that field as a fully qualified employee ...

, he played for ten clubs in his adult career, rarely spending more than two seasons with one club and only making a significant number of appearances for one

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

club, New Brighton, for whom he made 71 appearances from 1928 to 1930.

Football career

Cowper was born at

Tyldesley Tyldesley () is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Lancashire, it is north of Chat Moss near the foothills of the Wes ...

, near

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

and played for the nearby Atherton Collieries team before he had an unsuccessful trial in 1921 at

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

. He joined

Wigan Borough Wigan Borough Football Club was an English football club from the town of Wigan, Lancashire. their forerunners were Wigan A.F.C., Wigan County, Wigan United and Wigan Town, County and Town having folded. Beginnings According to the Wigan Ob ...

in 1923 before briefly moving on to Rossendale United the following year. In June 1924, he moved to east London and signed with

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

of the

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 ...

, where he made his Football League debut on 11 October 1924 in place of

Tommy Yews Thomas Peace Yews (28 February 1902 – August 1966) was an English footballer, playing as a winger. Yews was born in Wingate, County Durham and played for NER Durham before joining Hartlepool United in 1920. Yews joined West Ham United for a ...

, playing at

outside-right 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 bein ...

in a 1–1 draw with Bury. Cowper retained his place for the next match before Yews returned. Although Cowper remained with the Hammers for another two years, he made no further first-team appearances. In June 1927, Cowper moved to

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

, where he made four league appearances. After a brief spell at Lancaster Town in the summer of 1928, Cowper moved on to New Brighton in August. Cowper stayed for two years for the

Football League Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated t ...

side in which he made 71 league appearances, scoring 19 goals. He moved to the south coast in June 1930, to return to the Second Division with

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. He made his debut for the Saints when he took the place of Irish international

Laurie Cumming Laurence Stanley Slater Cumming (10 April 1905 – 19 November 1980) was a professional footballer and journalist, born in Derry, Ireland. Cumming played for Alloa Athletic, Huddersfield Town, Oldham Athletic, Southampton, Queen of the South, ...

inside-right 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 bein ...

in a 3–0 home defeat by

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

on 26 December 1930. Cumming returned for the next match; later in the season, Cowper made three appearances at outside-right in place of Bert Jepson, followed by a single first-team appearance in February 1932. In his two years at The Dell, Cowper only managed five first-team appearances without scoring, although he scored 33 goals in 50 matches for the reserves. Cowper was transferred to

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

in March 1932 where he only stayed four months before moving on to

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

in July. After a year at Carlisle, he dropped out of the Football League and had spells in non-league football. He spent one season at

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

, scoring 13 goals in 37 Cheshire League games, and went on to play for

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

and

Prescot Cables Prescot Cables Football Club is a supporter-owned football club based in Prescot, Merseyside. It was established in 1884 and has also been known as Prescot and Prescot Town. They compete in the and play their home games at Valerie Park. They ...

References

External links

Career details on www.11v11.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowper, Peter 1902 births 1962 deaths Sportspeople from Tyldesley Footballers from Greater Manchester English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Atherton Collieries A.F.C. players Wigan Borough F.C. players Rossendale United F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Lancaster City F.C. players New Brighton A.F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Southport F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players Prescot Cables F.C. players English Football League players 20th-century English sportsmen