Walter Gowers

Walter Gowers ( – 11 September 1965) was a professional rugby league and footballer who played in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. He played representative level rugby league (RL) for Great Britain (non-Test matches), and Lancashire, and at club level for Rochdale Hornets (two spells), and St Helens, as a goal-kicking ,

In 1926, during a period of unemployment, he signed for association football club Preston North End, playing as a fullback for their reserve team.

Walter Gowers represented Lancashire while at Rochdale Hornets, winning four County Championship medals.

Post-playing After the Second World War, Gowers worked as a groundsman for Rochdale Hornets until 1957.

He died in Rochdale Infirmary on 11 September 1965, aged 62.

Personal life Walter Gowers was the father of the rugby league footballer; Ken Gowers, and was the great-grandfather of the Middlesex and England cricketer John Simpson (Ken Gowers' grandson).