James Bowden

James William Bowden (August 1880 – 25 May 1951) was an English footballer who played at centre-half for various clubs in the 1900s.

Football career Bowden was born in Wolverhampton and played his early football for various local clubs before joining Aston Villa on amateur terms in January 1903. He failed to make the grade at Villa and never appeared in the first team, before moving to local rivals West Bromwich Albion in June 1904.

At Albion, he had to compete for the No. 5 shirt with Ted Pheasant and only made eight Second Division appearances in the 1904–05 season. As a result of a shooting accident in which a bullet passed through his left arm, He played the last four matches at left-half, with Frank Thorpe taking over at centre-half, following an injury to Bill Gray.

In the summer of 1907, he returned to the Football League Second Division with Grimsby Town, but in two seasons managed only nineteen games for the Mariners before dropping down to non-league football, firstly with Hyde of the Lancashire Combination and then with Stourbridge of the Birmingham & District League.