*Indicates unconfirmed information. Figures in brackets after English team names indicate all appearances made and goals scored in competitive matches for Football League clubs from 1888 onwards. For Scottish League clubs the figures show details of all competitive appearances and goals scored from 1946/47 onwards.
Billy Jowett
Appearances: 87 Goals: 14
Date / Year of birth: 24th June 1928
Position: Winger
Season of first appearance: 1952/53
Season of last appearance: 1955/56
Also played for: Wickersley, Eastwood United, Beighton Miners Welfare, Hull City (0), Weymouth, Deal Town, Betteshanger Colliery Welfare and Sittingbourne
Skilful, energetic left-sided player born in Rotherham who started his career with Wickersley, helping them to win the Rotherham Intermediate League during 1945/46.
Billy then spent the 1946/47 season with Eastwood before moving to Beighton Miners Welfare in the summer of 1947. During his time there the club were runners-up in both the Sheffield Association League and the Sheffield Senior Cup.
In October 1948 Billy was signed by Hull following a successful trial spell with the club. He spent around 18 months with the Tigers but never broke into the first team and at the end of the 1949/50 campaign he was released.
Billy spent 1950/51 with Southern League outfit Weymouth before moving to Kent in the summer of 1951.
He signed for Deal and made his debut for them in a Kent League game against Dover at the Charles Ground on 18.8.51, scoring in a 2-2 draw that was watched by a crowd of 4,200. Dover's goals were scored by future Margate players Len Dolding and Eric Worthington. Billy went on to become a very popular player at Deal and was known for his accurate crosses.
In November 1952 Billy joined Margate for a fee of £100 and he made his debut on 29.11.52, coincidentally in a Kent League game against Deal at Hartsdown Park. The match finished 2-2 and Billy went on to make 28 appearances during the remainder of the 1952/53 season, scoring five times. His tricky performance in a 1-0 win at Canterbury on 28.3.53 prompted the East Kent Times to headline their match report for the game "Super Salesman" with a sub-headline of "Cheeky Billy's Bluffs". The report went on to say that "diminutive Billy Jowett reached the super salesman class at Canterbury on Saturday. He sold the bewildered City defenders so many dummies that they must have left the field convinced the will-o'-the-wisp Margate inside forward could have found a breed buyer for a mongrel pup at Crufts". Billy finished the campaign by playing as Margate drew 1-1 with visitors Folkestone on 9.5.53 to share the Kent Senior Shield.
He became a fixture in the side during the 1953/54 season and made a total of 38 appearances, scoring eight times. Billy's goals included one in the 5-0 Kent League Cup Final Replay win over Canterbury at Hartsdown Park on 6.5.54. His skills gained praise from the local press but he also gained notoriety during the campaign. That was due to him being sent off in a 3-2 win over Ramsgate at Southwood on 3.9.53 after an incident which also saw the Rams player-manager Jimmy Blair dismissed. Ramsgate's supporters felt that Billy was to blame and besieged Margate's dressing room at Southwood for 90 minutes after the game. They broke down the door and the police had to be called to restore order and ensure the Margate team's safety.
The 1954/55 season wasn't such a good one for Billy and he made only nine sporadic first team appearances, spending the rest of the campaign in the reserves. However his 17 goals for the second string made him their second top scorer behind Jimmy Briscoe.
Billy found himself in the reserves for practically the whole of the 1955/56 season too and on 31.8.55 he bizarrely had to play in his socks for the last twenty minutes of a reserve team game against Ashford. He was sent off to have a boot repaired, returned with only one boot, was sent off again and finally returned without any boots. He made 12 further first team appearances during the season but they turned out to be his last for the club. Billy's final match was the Kent League Cup Final against Gillingham Reserves at Hartsdown on 10.5.56, a game which Margate lost 2-1.
In the summer of 1956 Billy joined Betteshanger as they offered him and his new wife a house, the club's ground was at the bottom of his garden. He stayed with them until he retired in 1961. During the 1958/59 season he missed a penalty in a home match against Margate but Betteshanger still ran out 5-2 winners.
Billy later played Sunday football for Deal Wanderers and then had a short spell as manager of Deal. He was in charge there at the start of the 1963/64 season and made one appearance for the reserves - in a 2-1 home defeat against eventual Metropolitan League champions Gillingham Reserves on 18.1.64. It was Billy's only outing as a player and in March 1964 he was replaced as Deal's manager by future Margate player Larry Baxter.
At the start of the 1965/66 campaign Billy accepted the offer of a position on Deal's Executive Committee aged 37 and in October 1965 he was persuaded to become player-coach of Deal's reserve side. They were known as Deal Town 'A' and played in both the Kent Amateur League and the Thames & Medway Combination. In the programme for Deal's first team game against Hinckley on 30.10.65 it was noted "now Bill Jowitt (sic) is able to turn out for the lads his experience and coaxing will certainly be an advantage to the team and already he is holding the defence together and making it a defence that won't give many goals away this season". The fact that Deal's programme editor spelt Billy's surname incorrectly was surprising as he'd been associated with the club for many years, initially as a player and then later as manager.
On 5.3.66 Billy added a new name to his list of clubs when he turned out for Sittingbourne as they were a man short for their Thames & Medway Combination match against Deal 'A'. Although Sittingbourne lost 3-1 Billy scored their goal with a well-judged lob and his guest appearance for the Brickies was mentioned in the programme for Deal's first team game against Kettering the following Saturday. That was ill-advised as if word had got out about Billy helping Sittingbourne out Deal could have been fined by the Kent County Football Association.
In April 2002 Billy was still living in the house that Betteshanger gave him and the East Kent Mercury ran a story on him in which Billy recalled the Deal v Betteshanger local derbies he played in.
He died on 31.5.05 aged 76 and an article in the East Kent Mercury described Billy as being "one of the finest local footballers of the past 50 years". Former Deal groundsman Gilham Thompsett said "he was a great footballer and a lovely man...he loved his cricket as well, and he was always going to watch Kent play." Betteshanger chairman Roy Barlow described Billy as "a legend in local football." He went on to say "anyone you talk to who saw him play always says what a great player he was...he was a really smashing guy."
Billy's son Micky played for Dover, Folkestone and Ashford during the late 1970's and early 1980's.
|
SEASON (CLUB) |
FULL (MAX) |
SUB |
GLS |
|
FAC |
KSC |
KLC |
KSS |
|
|
1952/53 (MFC) |
28 (43) |
N/A |
5 |
KENT LEAGUE DIVISION ONE (11TH OF 17) |
PR |
2R |
RU |
JW |
|
Played in Kent
Senior Shield Final (09.05.53 - drew 1-1 with Folkestone to share
trophy). Played in Kent League Cup Final (06.05.53 - lost 2-0 to Tunbridge Wells). | |||||||||
|
SEASON (CLUB) |
FULL (MAX) |
SUB |
GLS |
|
FAC |
KSC |
KLC |
KSS |
|
|
1953/54 (MFC) |
38 (40) |
N/A |
8 |
KENT LEAGUE DIVISION ONE (2ND OF 16) |
2QR |
1R |
W |
1R |
|
Played in Kent
League Cup Final (01.05.54 - drew 3-3 with Canterbury
City). Played and scored in Kent League Cup Final replay (06.05.54 - beat Canterbury City 5-0). | |||||||||
|
SEASON (CLUB) |
FULL (MAX) |
SUB |
GLS |
|
FAC |
KSC |
KLC |
KSS |
|
|
1954/55 (MFC) |
9 (46) |
N/A |
1 |
KENT LEAGUE DIVISION ONE (5TH OF 17) |
2QR |
2R |
RU |
RU |
|
|
SEASON (CLUB) |
FULL (MAX) |
SUB |
GLS |
|
FAC |
KSC |
KLC |
KSS |
|
|
1955/56 (MFC) |
12 (45) |
N/A |
0 |
KENT LEAGUE DIVISION ONE (2ND OF 17) |
1R |
1R |
RU |
1R |
|
Played in Kent League
Cup Final (10.05.56 - lost 2-1 to Gillingham
Reserves). | |||||||||