fullname years youthyears clubs caps birth_place goals height position nationalcaps manageryears nationalyears birth_date managerclubs article_title nationalteams name nationalgoals
john cowan -- 1976 -- 1967 -- 1973 1973 -- 1975 1975 -- -- newcastle united drogheda darlington scarborough 9 10 belfast , northern ireland 0 0 5 9 midfielder 1 1973 -- 1975 1970 8 january 1949 drogheda united -lrb- player-manager -rrb- john cowan -lrb- footballer -rrb-
 northern ireland john cowan 0
john cowan -lrb- footballer -rrb-

john cowan -lrb- born 8 january 1949 -rrb- is a northern ireland international footballer who played as a midfielder .
cowan was born in belfast , and began his senior career with irish league club crusaders before moving to england , where he spent six years with newcastle united but played only ten first-team matches .
two years as player-manager of league of ireland club drogheda preceded a return to england with fourth division club darlington and non-league club scarborough , but a knee injury forced his retirement at the relatively young age of 27 .
he played once for his country , against england in the 1970 home internationals .
after retiring as a player , he set up a sports trophy business in newcastle upon tyne .
