Gerry Bowler
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Gerard Columba Bowler (or Gerry Bowler) (boen 08 June, 1919 in Derry, Ireland (now a part of Northern Ireland) and died 28 March, 2006 in Crawley, England) was a former Northern Irish footballer. He played in the right-back or right-half positions.
Bowler began his senior footballing career with Derry City FC immediately prior to World War Two, having previously turned out for Derry Municipal Training College. On 24 April, 1943 he was signed by Distillery, in an Irish League record £1,000 deal , where he played 122 first-team games, scoring just once (a penalty against Cliftonville FC in 1946). At Distillery, Bowler played in the 1946 Irish Cup final, losing out 3-0 to Linfield FC, and the same season picked up a Co. Antrim Shield winner's medal (defeating Bangor FC Reserves 3-0 in a replayed final).
In the summer of 1946 Bowler was signed by Portsmouth FC (at the time one of the top teams in the Football League), but made just eight league appearances in three seasons, missing out on a championship medal in 1948-49.
Signed by Hull City FC for the 1949-50 season, Bowler made 38 Division Two appearances, and found his way into the IFA's "Irish" squad. That season he played in all three Home Nations/World Cup qualification matches. Normally a centre-half, all three of his international appearances were made in unfamiliar positions - two at right-back, and one at right-half.
In 1950, Bowler moved on again, signing for Division Three (South), Millwall FC. He helped the club to runners-up position in 1952-53, but in those days that was not good enough for promotion. Although he never added to his collection of international caps, Bowler was a member of the IFA's touring party to North America in the summer of 1953. After 165 league appearances for the Lions, Gerry Bowler was forced to retire due to injury in 1955, although he did continue to turn out as player-manager for his work team, the Crawley based APV Chemical Company, until the 1962/63 season. Having settled in the south of England, Bowler passed away in Crawley in March 2006.
