Albert "Bertie" Bowler was an English professional footballer who played as an inside forward

Inside forward

In football, the position of inside forward was popularly used in the late nineteenth and first half of the 20th centuries. The inside forwards would support the centre forwards, running and making space in the opposition defence, and, as the passing game developed, supporting him with passes...

.

Bowler was born in Nottingham

Nottingham

Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...

. He began his career while serving in the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

, playing for Army Cup winners Sherwood Foresters

Sherwood Foresters

The Sherwood Foresters was formed during the Childers Reforms in 1881 from the amalgamation of the 45th Regiment of Foot and the 95th Regiment of Foot...

. He obtained his discharge from the Army in 1911, allowing him to join Southern League

Southern Football League

The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...

 club Plymouth Argyle

Plymouth Argyle F.C.

Plymouth Argyle Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Plymouth, Devon, that plays in Football League Two.Since becoming professional in 1903, the club has won five Football League titles, five Southern League titles and one Western League title. The 2009–10 season was the...

. He made his first team debut in a 1–0 win at New Brompton

Gillingham F.C.

Gillingham Football Club is an English professional football club based in the town of Gillingham, Kent. The only Kent-based club in the Football League, they play their home matches at the Priestfield Stadium...

 on 23 December 1911 and scored his first goal against Millwall

Millwall F.C.

Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...

 in a 2–0 win on 6 January 1912. The following season, Bowler scored 18 league goals in 36 appearances as the club became Southern League champions. He played in five matches for the Southern League representative side and was selected for England in an unofficial international against Scotland in Cairo

Cairo

Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...

 during the First World War. He returned to Plymouth after the war, and was a member of the squad when the club was elected to the Football League in 1920. Bowler continued playing for another three years before retiring from the game in 1923.

Honours

Plymouth Argyle

• Southern Football League
  Southern Football League
  The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...
  
   (1): 1912–13
  1912–13 Southern Football League
  The 1912–13 Southern Football League season was the 19th in the history of the Southern League, a football competition in England. This season saw no First Division teams apply for election to the Football League. Plymouth Argyle won the league championship whilst Brentford and Stoke were relegated...
  
  

External links

• Bertie Bowler at Greens on Screen