Gordon Cowans

Gordon Cowans

Personal information
Full name	Gordon Sidney Cowans
Date of birth	27 October 1958 (1958-10-27) (age 53)
Place of birth	West Cornforth, County Durham, England
Height	5ft 7in (1.69m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1976–1985	Aston Villa	286	(42)
1985–1988	A.S. Bari	94	(3)
1988–1991	Aston Villa	117	(7)
1991–1993	Blackburn Rovers	50	(2)
1993–1994	Aston Villa	11	(0)
1994	Derby County	36	(0)
1994–1995	Wolverhampton Wanderers	37	(0)
1995–1996	Sheffield United	21	(0)
1996–1997	Bradford City	25	(0)
1997	Stockport County	7	(0)
1997	Burnley	6	(0)
National team
1979–1980	England U21	5	(0)
1980–1990	England B	2	(0)
1983–1990	England	10	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Gordon Sidney Cowans (born 27 October 1958 in West Cornforth, County Durham) is an English retired football player and coach.

Cowans started his career at Aston Villa as an apprentice in 1974, and signed as a professional in 1976. During his time at Aston Villa, he won the League Cup, the League Championship, the European Cup and the European Super Cup.

Cowans left Aston Villa for the first time in 1985, signing for Bari. He then returned to Aston Villa in 1988 and left again in 1991 moving to Blackburn Rovers. When he left Blackburn he went back to Aston Villa, before moving to Derby County, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Sheffield United, Bradford City, Stockport County and finally Burnley.

He was also capped 10 times by England at international level scoring two goals, against Scotland and Egypt.

Cowans has returned once again to Aston Villa in a coaching role, first coaching in their youth academy before becoming first team coach.

Playing career

Aston Villa first spell

Although born in County Durham, Cowans came to Villa as an apprentice in 1974 at 15, and was part of the talented youth team that won the FA Youth Cup, an early indication of his talent. He soon made his first team debut, on the 7 February 1976 as a substitute aged 17 whilst still an apprentice. At this time, he became a member of the England youth team. Progress continued and he was soon a regular in the Villa first team during the season Villa won the League Cup against Everton, and in 1979 he was voted PFA Young Player of the Year. In the 1980–81 season, Cowans won the league with Villa, and during the following season, the European Cup, on 26 May 1982. Cowans then broke his leg during a pre-season friendly in Spain and missed the whole 1983–84 season; upon regaining full fitness he was sold to Bari in 1985 for a fee of £250,000.^[1]

In his first spell at Villa he played 286 games scoring 42 goals. He also won the PFA young player of the year award, a league championship, a European Cup and a European Super Cup.

A.S. Bari

Over the course of three seasons in Italy, Cowans made 94 appearances for Bari, scoring three goals.

Aston Villa second spell

During Cowans' transfer to Bari, Villa had retained the option of first refusal to buy him back should Bari decide to sell him; in 1988, Graham Taylor took up this option – much to the pleasure of Villa supporters – and Villa went on to finish as runners-up in the league during the 1989/90 season, before Taylor left the club to manage England.

During his second spell at Aston Villa, Cowans made 117 appearances, scoring seven times.

Blackburn Rovers

Ron Atkinson sold Cowans on 28 November 1991 for £200,000 to Blackburn Rovers. He helped them gain promotion to the new FA Premier League as Second Division play-off winners at Wembley. In his time at Ewood Park he played 50 times, scoring twice.

Aston Villa third spell

He then signed on a free transfer back to his beloved Villa on 5 July 1993. By the time he had left Villa for the last time he had played a total of 453 games scoring 49 goals.

Derby County

Cowans was transferred to Derby County on 3 February 1994 for £200,000. He played a total of 36 times scoring one goal.

Wolves

Cowans was transferred to Wolves on the 19 December 1994 for £20,000. He made his debut on 26 December 1994 in a 4–1 defeat at Oldham Athletic aged 36. He went on to make 37 appearances for Wolves six of which were as a substitute.^[2]

Sheffield United

Cowans played 21 times for Sheffield United, scoring no goals.

Bradford City

Cowans was signed by Chris Kamara in 1996 for Bradford City following their promotion to Division One. He made a total of 25 league appearances (one as substitute) and two League Cup games, without scoring, before being given a free transfer to Stockport County in March 1997.

Stockport County

In his short time with Stockport Cowans made seven appearances, scoring no goals.

Burnley

Cowans played six times for Burnley, scoring no goals.

Coaching career

Cowans started his coaching career at Burnley before moving back to Villa Park for a fourth time to become youth team coach, then going on to become first team coach during Gerard Houllier's reign.

Playing Honours

Aston Villa

• Football League Cup
• League Championship
• European Cup
• European Super Cup

External links

• Gordon Cowans career stats at Soccerbase
• Player profile at Aston Villa Players Database

References

1. ^ "Gordon Cowans – Aston Villa". Sporting heroes. http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=471. 
2. ^ "Gordon Cowans – Wolves". Sporting heroes. http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=472. 

Persondata
Name	Cowans, Gordon
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	27 October 1958
Place of birth	West Cornforth, County Durham, England
Date of death
Place of death