Stowell Back – With Lots To Tell
From an apprenticeship with British Telecom and playing for Leyland Motors to being part of Leicester’s Premier League and FA Cup glories.
Throw in his record-breaking Wolves service, those 18 years in the East Midlands and then a title triumph alongside Robbie Keane in the deeply troubled Middle East and it’s clear Mike Stowell has a spectacular tale to tell.
He shared generous chunks of it with a sell-out audience in Wolverhampton last night – the latest of his occasional returns to the city in which he enjoyed his peak years.
For some 40 seasons, Stowell had been deeply submerged in the game; recommended and then mentored by Neville Southall, signed here by Graham Turner, released 448 first-team games later, part of a multitude of reconstructed Leicester backroom teams for even longer and then a champion last spring in the dug-out with Maccabi Tel Aviv.
“There hasn’t been much chance of coming to nights like this,” he told us at The Mount Hotel in Tettenhall Wood. “I was at the Chelsea game here in August to do some work on the microphone and sit in the crowd. I’ve also reported on a few Leicester games for local BBC radio in the last few months, so it has been a different kind of season for me after everything that went before.”
The last time Stowell had relaxed on centre stage in these parts with a glass in his hand when he was inducted into Wolves’ hall of fame nearly two years ago. At this latest charity fund-raiser in the quite astonishing Jason Guy-and-friends success story, he had his 1990s ‘apprentice’, Matt Murray, asking most of the questions.
Together again….Mike Stowell and Matt Murray.
In no time, the Sky Sports reporter and players’ agent sought an update on where the senior man’s life and career are now. “Doing well in Tel Aviv was a fantastic experience and I want to get back in the game,” Stowell said.
“But you have to wait for your opportunity and if it means coaching at Bristol City Ladies (as he does), where our daughter Ella is a goalkeeper, that is what it is.
“Working for Wolves would be my dream. I applied here after losing my job at Leicester but Neil Cutler was appointed. Positions at Norwich and Derby have also come up but were filled in no time.”
So, looking fit, well and sun-tanned as his 60th birthday approaches, Stowell still feels he has more to offer than keeping the lawns of the family home in Bristol looking immaculate. And, boy, that is some CV he has!
Having ghost-written his Sporting Star column for many years, served on his testimonial committee, been to interview him in the West Country and even made hastily-aborted plans to spend time in Israel with him, I thought I knew him well but was delighted to fill in some gaps about his past. Notably about his upbringing in the game.
“Despite interest in me from Preston, my dad was adamant I should stick with my apprenticeship with BT as he knew not many made it in football. Then Everton sent Neville Southall to watch me in an away game against Colwyn Bay and he apparently told Howard Kendall he should sign me.
“I went for a week’s trial with them and Gordon Banks was the goalkeeper coach, so I thought I’d better listen! They offered me a contract and my dad said: ‘Sign it, son.’ I reminded him about the important BT apprenticeship but you didn’t turn Everton down.
“They were League champions and had just won the European Cup Winners Cup. What a man Howard was as well! It was tough love with Big Nev but he was different class…..absolutely the best.
Jim Barron, seen here at Wolves with Tommy Docherty, and an influence on the young Stowell.
“Jim Barron came in for pre-season training and I ended my first year there by being named in the squad for the (1986) FA Cup final. Nev had broken his ankle in the semi-final and I was left as back-up to Bobby Mimms before we faced Liverpool at Wembley.
“I went from being right up there to being on the floor, though, when the club secretary asked me a week before the big day whether I had played in an FA Cup tie against Colwyn Bay about 15 rounds before. I had, so I was Cup-tied.
“I then basically went out on loan to a string of clubs for two years. By the time I came to Wolves for a few weeks at the end of 1988-89, I’d decided I needed first-team football. I went back to Everton and told them: ‘I love those people at Wolves’.
“I travelled with Everton on an end-of-season tour to Hong Kong, China and Hawaii and played all the games because Nev had refused to go. They offered me a new two-year contract but Graham Turner rang me in Hawaii and said he wanted to sign me.
“So I moved permanently that summer and the next four years were the best of my career. You’ll have heard about the Tuesday Club and some of the silly things we did but that’s what built the team spirit and gave us that bond and energy.
“Even at Leyland Motors, that rapport with team-mates was brilliant. Just playing to enjoy it and win for each other was something that really appealled to me.
“At Wolves, I loved the inter-action with the fans that probably doesn’t exist in the game now. We used to leave our cars at the Goal Post and if we won, there was a pint on the bar for us. If things didn’t go well, going in was your chance to face up to the supporters, promise them you’d done your best and would work hard again the following week to put it right.”
Murray confirmed what a dedicated worker and trainer Stowell was; someone fully worthy of his status as a mentor. And he was someone who hated not playing.
“I had so many injections in my elbows and knees just to get me on the pitch,” he added. “That was the culture then. With the doctors in the game now, I would probably have played around 200 games for this club and nothing like the total I did manage.”
Steve Bull and 1980s Wolves director Doug Hope were in the audience for a rousing, raucous night that raised valuable funds for Breast Cancer Now, The 1P36 Family Trust, Acorns Hospice, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and the Royal Wolverhampton Trust Charities. The proceeds took host Jason Guy closer to the magical and magnificent £500,000 figure in good-cause donations.
There was a hug between he and Stowell at the end, the guest of honour having given generous mentions to the two GTs in his Molineux life after being surprisingly critical of his title-winning Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri.
Graham Taylor pictured at Wolves with Steve Harrison.
And he didn’t let his return to The Mount pass without recollection of some pre-match antics from a well-known former Wolves coach.
“Graham Turner’s man-management was incredible and he brought together a group of players largely from the lower divisions,” he said. “The camaraderie was something else.
“And what a bright man Graham Taylor was, ahead of the game. We talk a lot now about xGs (expected goals) but he was on that then. He was such a good man and his assistant, Steve Harrison, was absolute class.
“He was the coach but also the funny guy, with Graham often in a blazer and tie as the strait-laced one. We had a meal here before one game and things were quite quiet and a bit tense until we saw this figure prancing in these lovely gardens. Not only had Harry taken it upon himself to entertain us but he had dressed up in a bridal gown that had been hanging on a rail upstairs.”