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 ...

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

journeyman A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson 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 f ...

, 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 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 Engla ...

club,

New Brighton New Brighton is the name of several places, sports teams etc.: Australia * New Brighton, New South Wales, a town near Ocean Shores Canada * New Brighton, Calgary, Alberta, a neighborhood * New Brighton (Gambier Island), a settlement in British ...

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

Football career

Cowper was born at

Tyldesley Tyldesley () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it is north of Chat Moss near the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, southeast of Wiga ...

, near

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

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 football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pik ...

. He joined

Wigan Borough Wigan Borough Football Club was an English football club from the town of Wigan, Lancashire. It was a fifth attempt at establishing football in Wigan, their forerunners were Wigan A.F.C., Wigan County, Wigan United and Wigan Town, County and ...

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 an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium ...

of the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First D ...

, where he made his Football League debut on 11 October 1924 in place of Tommy Yews, playing at

outside-right Forwards (also known as attackers) are Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring Goal (sport)#Association footbal ...

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

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

, where he made four league appearances. After a brief spell at Lancaster Town in the summer of 1928, Cowper moved on to

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 to ...

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 in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

. 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, ...

at inside-right in a 3–0 home defeat by

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

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 town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

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 compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Park ...

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 an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 193 ...

, 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 city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

and Prescot Cables.

References

External links

Career details on www.11v11.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowper, Peter 1902 births 1962 deaths People from Tyldesley Footballers from Greater Manchester Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan 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