Alfred Bower
Encyclopedia
Alfred George "Baishe" Bower (10 November 1895 – 30 June 1970) was an English
amateur footballer who played at full back. He made five appearances for England
between 1923 and 1927, three times as captain. He was a member of the Corinthian amateur club and made nine appearances for Chelsea
between 1923 and 1926.
, Kent
and educated at Charterhouse School
; he only began to excel at football after leaving school and joining Old Carthusians
. During the First World War, he served in the Army, initially as a second lieutenant
in the 4th (City of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) before transferring to the 1st Battalion on 27 July 1915. Later in the war he was a temporary captain
.
At the end of World War I
he joined the Corinthians and developed into an extremely dependable full back, able to play on either flank.
During the 1920s and early 1930s he played in most of Corinthans' more important matches, including all 16 FA Cup
matches played between 1923 and 1930. He was a member of the Corinthian team that defeated Blackburn Rovers
1–0 in the First Round of the cup on 12 January 1924, before going out to West Bromwich Albion
in the second round. In 1925–26, Corinthian met Manchester City
on 9 January 1926; after a 3–3 draw in the first match, Corinthian lost the replay 4–0. They also defeated Walsall
4–0 on 8 January 1927 and Norwich City
5–0 in the third round on 12 January 1929.
Bower was an occasional member of the Corinthians' foreign tours. His last match for Corinthian came in Switzerland
on 19 April 1930 in a 7–1 victory over Young Boys, Berne
. Between 1920 and 1930, he made a total of 180 appearances for the Corinthians, never scoring.
He wound up his football career with Casuals
. Between 1928 and 1933 he represented the public schools on the Football Association
Council.
in 1923–24 playing at right back, but was unable to prevent Chelsea being relegated to the Second Division. Two seasons later, he made a further six appearances, this time on the left as Chelsea finished in third place, five points adrift of the second promotion position.
He remains probably the only person to play top flight league football whilst at the same time being a Member of the London Stock Exchange
.
He was capped by the England amateur team thirteen times and was selected for five full England
matches, the last three as captain. His first cap came in the Home International Championship match against Northern Ireland
on 20 October 1923, when England were defeated 2–1. He retained his place for the next match in Belgium which was again a draw (2–2).
A year later, he was recalled to the England team and was appointed captain for a match against Belgium at The Hawthorns
on 8 December 1924 which England won 4–0 with two goals each from Joe Bradford
and Billy Walker
. He retained his place, and the captaincy, for the next match, in the Home International Championship, against Wales
on 28 February 1925, when England were victorious by 2 goals to one, with Frank Roberts scoring England's goals.
Two years later, he was the last amateur player to captain England, in a 3–3 draw with Wales
on 12 February 1927, with two goals from Dixie Dean
.
at the end of the First World War, remaining a member until 1954. He then became a welfare officer in Croydon
until he retired in 1960.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
amateur footballer who played at full back. He made five appearances for England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
between 1923 and 1927, three times as captain. He was a member of the Corinthian amateur club and made nine appearances for Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
between 1923 and 1926.
School and Army
Bower was born in BromleyBromley
Bromley is a large suburban town in south east London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Bromley. It was historically a market town, and prior to 1963 was in the county of Kent and formed the administrative centre of the Municipal Borough of Bromley...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
and educated at Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
; he only began to excel at football after leaving school and joining Old Carthusians
Old Carthusians F.C.
Old Carthusians Football Club is an association football club whose players are former pupils of Charterhouse School in Godalming, Surrey, England...
. During the First World War, he served in the Army, initially as a second lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
in the 4th (City of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) before transferring to the 1st Battalion on 27 July 1915. Later in the war he was a temporary captain
Captain (OF-2)
The army rank of captain is a commissioned officer rank historically corresponding to command of a company of soldiers. The rank is also used by some air forces and marine forces. Today a captain is typically either the commander or second-in-command of a company or artillery battery...
.
At the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
he joined the Corinthians and developed into an extremely dependable full back, able to play on either flank.
Corinthians
He made his Corinthians debut an "A" team match in a 10–1 victory over a "Public Schools" XI on 3 January 1920.During the 1920s and early 1930s he played in most of Corinthans' more important matches, including all 16 FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
matches played between 1923 and 1930. He was a member of the Corinthian team that defeated Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....
1–0 in the First Round of the cup on 12 January 1924, before going out to West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion F.C.
West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...
in the second round. In 1925–26, Corinthian met Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
on 9 January 1926; after a 3–3 draw in the first match, Corinthian lost the replay 4–0. They also defeated Walsall
Walsall F.C.
Walsall Football Club are an English association football club based in Walsall, West Midlands. They currently play in League One. The club was founded in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts, an amalgamation of Walsall Town F.C. and Walsall Swifts F.C. The club was one of the founder members of the Second...
4–0 on 8 January 1927 and Norwich City
Norwich City F.C.
Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The...
5–0 in the third round on 12 January 1929.
Bower was an occasional member of the Corinthians' foreign tours. His last match for Corinthian came in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
on 19 April 1930 in a 7–1 victory over Young Boys, Berne
BSC Young Boys
Berner Sport Club Young Boys 1898 is a Swiss sporting club based in the capital city of Bern. The name is often abbreviated to YB . Abroad, YB is often referred to as Young Boys Bern. The club's colors are yellow and black....
. Between 1920 and 1930, he made a total of 180 appearances for the Corinthians, never scoring.
He wound up his football career with Casuals
Casuals F.C.
Casuals F.C. were an amateur football club based in London, formed in 1878.They were founder members of the Isthmian League in 1905 and won the FA Amateur Cup in 1936....
. Between 1928 and 1933 he represented the public schools on the Football Association
The Football Association
The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England, and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1863, and is the oldest national football association...
Council.
Chelsea
He made three First Division appearances for ChelseaChelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
in 1923–24 playing at right back, but was unable to prevent Chelsea being relegated to the Second Division. Two seasons later, he made a further six appearances, this time on the left as Chelsea finished in third place, five points adrift of the second promotion position.
He remains probably the only person to play top flight league football whilst at the same time being a Member of the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
.
England
He won 13 amateur England international caps and five full England caps at a time when it was becoming increasingly rare for an amateur to play for the full international team.He was capped by the England amateur team thirteen times and was selected for five full England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
matches, the last three as captain. His first cap came in the Home International Championship match against Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland national football team
The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...
on 20 October 1923, when England were defeated 2–1. He retained his place for the next match in Belgium which was again a draw (2–2).
A year later, he was recalled to the England team and was appointed captain for a match against Belgium at The Hawthorns
The Hawthorns
The Hawthorns is an all-seater football stadium in West Bromwich, Sandwell, England, with a capacity of 26,484. It has been the home of West Bromwich Albion F.C. since 1900, when it became the sixth ground to be used by the club. The ground was the last Football League ground to be built in the...
on 8 December 1924 which England won 4–0 with two goals each from Joe Bradford
Joe Bradford
Joseph "Joe" Bradford was an English professional footballer who played as a centre forward. Born in Peggs Green, near Coalville, Leicestershire, Bradford made nearly 450 appearances for Birmingham in all competitions, scoring 267 goals...
and Billy Walker
Billy Walker
William Henry "Billy" Walker was a prominent English footballer of the 1920s and 1930s. He is considered by many to be the greatest footballer to ever play for Aston Villa Football Club-Biography:...
. He retained his place, and the captaincy, for the next match, in the Home International Championship, against Wales
Wales national football team
The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...
on 28 February 1925, when England were victorious by 2 goals to one, with Frank Roberts scoring England's goals.
Two years later, he was the last amateur player to captain England, in a 3–3 draw with Wales
Wales national football team
The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...
on 12 February 1927, with two goals from Dixie Dean
Dixie Dean
William Ralph Dean , better known as Dixie Dean, was an English football player. Dean originally started his career with Birkenhead based Tranmere Rovers before moving on to Everton, the club he had supported as a child, where he became one of the most prolific goal-scorers in English football...
.
Life away from football
He joined the London Stock ExchangeLondon Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
at the end of the First World War, remaining a member until 1954. He then became a welfare officer in Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
until he retired in 1960.