{{short description|Northern Irish footballer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox football biography | name= Joe Gowdy | image= | fullname= Joseph Gowdy | height= 5ft 9in<ref name=ffh>[http://www.falkirk-football-history.co.uk/2013/11/joseph-gowdy.html Joseph Gowdy], Falkirk Football Historian, 19 November 2013</ref> | position= {{ublist|Half back|Centre forward}} | birth_date= 7 December 1897<ref name=nifg>[http://nifootball.blogspot.com/2006/12/joe-gowdy.html Joe Gowdy], Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats, 11 December 2006</ref> | birth_place= Belfast, Ireland | death_date= | death_place= | youthyears1= | youthclubs1= | years1= 1919–1920 | clubs1= Glentoran | caps1= | goals1= | years2= 1920–1928 | clubs2= Falkirk | caps2= 113 | goals2= 18 | years3= 1922 | clubs3= → Glentoran | caps3= | goals3= | years4 = 1922–1924 | clubs4= → Queen's Island (loan) | caps4= | goals4= | years5= 1928–1931 | clubs5= East Fife | caps5= 73 | goals5= 10 | years6= – | clubs6= | caps6= | goals6= | totalcaps= | totalgoals = | nationalyears1= 1919–1923 | nationalteam1= Irish League XI | nationalcaps1= 4 | nationalgoals1= 0 | nationalyears2= 1919–1927 | nationalteam2= Ireland (IFA) | nationalcaps2= 6 | nationalgoals2= 0 }} '''Joseph Gowdy''' (born 7 December 1897) was a footballer from Northern Ireland who played as a right half, although in his early career he was a centre forward and in latter years was deployed at centre half.<ref name=nifg/><ref name=litsterprewar>{{cite journal|title=A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players|author=John Litster|publisher=Scottish Football Historian magazine|date=October 2012}}</ref>
He came to prominence after World War I as a goalscorer with Glentoran in his native Belfast,<ref name=nifg/> and from there moved to Scotland with Falkirk in November 1920;<ref name=litsterprewar/> however, he failed to lead the attack as had been hoped, with the club bringing in Englishman Syd Puddefoot for a record fee in 1922.<ref name=ffh/> Gowdy is said to have then returned to Ireland without informing Falkirk, intending to play for Glentoran again while the Scottish club tried to have him return to them without success. It was agreed that he would instead play on loan with Queen's Island in Belfast.<ref name=ffh/> The move worked out well for player and club as Queen's Island won the double of Irish Football League and Irish Cup in the 1923–24 season.<ref name=nifg/>
Gowdy then returned to Falkirk, initially playing alongside Puddefoot (who left during that season)<ref name=ffh/> but then in more defensive positions (where he had also been used in Ireland)<ref name=nifg/> to good effect, making close to 100 appearances across the next four seasons.<ref name=litsterprewar/> In 1928 he moved on to East Fife where he played for three years before retiring from top class football, helping the club to secure promotion from the Scottish Second Division in 1929–30, although in the next campaign they struggled in the top tier.<ref name=nifg/>
Gowdy gained six caps for Ireland, the first in 1919 when he was with Glentoran, the second while with Queen's Island in 1924 and four with Falkirk, the last coming in 1927.<ref>[https://www.national-football-teams.com/player/25000/Joe_Gowdy.html Joe Gowdy], National Football Teams</ref> He also played four times for the Irish League representative team.<ref name=nifg/>
His younger brother Bill<ref>[http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Down/Ormeau/Portallo_Street/216141/ Residents of a house 47 in Portallo Street (Ormeau, Down)] (1911 census), National Archives of Ireland</ref> was also a footballer; he too gained six caps for Ireland, but they did not play together for their country (nor any club) – Bill did not get his first cap until 1931.<ref>[http://nifootball.blogspot.com/2006/12/bill-gowdy.html Bill Gowdy], Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats, 11 December 2006</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gowdy, Joe}} Category:1897 births Category:Year of death unknown Category:20th-century deaths Category:Irish League representative players Category:Men's association football wing halves Category:Men's association football forwards Category:Pre-1950 IFA men's international footballers Category:Association footballers from Belfast Category:Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Category:Scottish Football League players Category:NIFL Premiership players Category:Glentoran F.C. players Category:Queen's Island F.C. players Category:Falkirk F.C. players Category:East Fife F.C. players