STAN BOWLES THE ENGLISH MAGICIAN Stan Bowles was the ultimate footballing entertainer; probably the most gifted English player of the Seventies, he was as famous for his off-field activities as on. Here are some of his funnies... A good friend of the bookies, he joked once that while George Best had had a statue of himself erected in Belfast, Bowles had had one erected outside Ladbrokes. At Loftus Road, he was regularly in the bookies until minutes before the game (I never understood why people got ready so early. All you have to do is put your kit on and tie your shoe laces, he said), and often asked the crowd during matches how his horses had got on. A previous manager at Crewe, Ernie Tagg, used to give Stans wages direct to his wife, famously said: If Stan could pass a betting shop like he can pass a football, he would be all right. Bowles own mother also despaired at Stans ability to be so quickly separated from his cash. If he invested in a cemetery, she said, people would stop dying. First division Queens Park Rangers paid £112,000 for his services in September 1972, and he was tasked with filling the gaping hole left vacant by the departure of Rangers fans favourite Rodney Marsh. Players had been reluctant to wear Marshs number 10 shirt in the intervening six months, but Bowles was unruffled; , he claimed never to have heard of Marsh. Bowles quickly became a folk hero at Loftus Road, cementing his maverick reputation on May 9, 1973, at Roker Park with an act of cheek that made the TV news. Sunderland, playing their first game since their unlikely 1-0 victory over Leeds United in the FA Cup final, were proudly displaying the trophy by the side of the pitch. Shortly into the match Bowles received the ball, took a run towards the cup, then pinged it at the famous trophy, knocking it off its perch. There were a couple of us who had a bet on who could knock it off the table with the ball first, recalled Bowles. I wound up their fans even more by scoring a couple of goals and in the end there was a pitch invasion that made it on News at Ten! I played five times for England, for three different managers. Some say I got them all the sack. Tommy Docherty finished his pep talk to Bowles with the words: You can trust me, Stan. I told him I would rather trust my chickens with Colonel Sanders, recalls Bowles. He dropped me into the reserves for six months! A move to Nottingham Forest beckoned and what could have been the highlight of his career, a European Cup final appearance, was missed when he walked out of the camp after manager Brian Cloughs refusal to let Bowles play in his colleague John Robertsons testimonial. But Bowles has no regrets, and no doubt what his priorites were. The greatest achievement in my life was being named QPR’s all time best player by the fans, he says. I was chuffed to bits, as they’re the ones who count. Everybody can’t be wrong, can they?
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 00:02:13 +0000