Bowles began his career as an apprentice at Manchester City, although his fiery temper resulted in his falling out with coach Malcolm Allison and being released after a series of off-field incidents. After a brief and unsuccessful stay at Bury, he was signed by Ernie Tagg, manager of Crewe Alexandra, then in the Fourth Division, where his skill caught the eye of a number of bigger clubs. In October 1971 he was signed by Carlisle United, at the time a Second Division club, scoring 13 goals in 36 appearances for the club. After a managerial change at the club, he was sold to Queens Park Rangers (QPR) for £110,000 in September 1972.
He replaced in the team a previous QPR folk-hero, Rodney Marsh, who had been transferred to Bowles’ first club Manchester City only six months before. Bowles took over Marsh’s number 10 shirt, which other players had been reluctant to wear in fear of being compared unfavourably to the mercurial Marsh. Bowles had no such qualms about taking the shirt, joking that, coming from the North, he had never really heard of Marsh.
Bowles was often regarded as something of a character both on and off the pitch. Bowles has been known to cite a notable incident in his playing days involving the famous FA Cup trophy. Having won the FA Cup competition four days prior, Sunderland were parading the trophy at Roker Park on 9 May 1973 when they met QPR in the old Division 2. The trophy had been placed on a table at the side of the pitch when Bowles tore straight across the park and claims to have kicked the ball at it full speed, sending the Cup flying through the air. According to Stan, the crowd predictably went ballistic, but he had the last laugh by scoring two goals in the match which ended in a pitch invasion. Some reports suggest that some of the QPR players had laid bets as to who could hit the trophy first. However this version of events has been disputed and, according to Gordon Jago (QPR’s manager at the time), it was Bowles’s teammate, defender Tony Hazell, who struck the cup with an accidental clearance.
Bowles spent just over seven years at QPR, playing a central role in arguably the club’s greatest ever team, that which finished as league runners-up in 1975â76 under Dave Sexton. A 2004 fans poll saw him voted the club’s all-time greatest player. In 1979, Bowles fell out with QPR’s new manager, Tommy Docherty. Bowles responded to Docherty’s plea of “You can trust me, Stan” with “I’d rather trust my chickens with Colonel Sanders“. Docherty made Bowles train with the reserves for nearly six months, before selling Bowles to Nottingham Forest in December 1979. Despite the fallout between Docherty and Bowles, Docherty continued to play Bowles for QPR right up until he was sold to Nottingham Forest.
At Nottingham Forest, Bowles failed to settle under the management of Brian Clough and he ruled himself out of the 1980 European Cup Final after Clough refused to allow Bowles to play in John Robertson’s testimonial. Bowles was essentially understudy to the world’s first £1 million signing Trevor Francis during his one season at the City Ground, and before the season was out Clough was already targeting Coventry City’s top scorer Ian Wallace as his replacement. Bowles was then sold to Leyton Orient for £100,000 after making only 23 appearances in all competitions. He joined Brentford the following year and remained at the club until retiring at the end of the 1982â83 season. Bowles came out of retirement to briefly rejoin the club on a non-contract basis during 1983â84 season, before retiring again in February 1984.[ He received a testimonial in 1987, earning £17,000. Post-retirement, he continued to play at non-league level for Epping Town. His 1996 autobiography revealed the extent of his drinking, womanising and gambling during his playing days, and also helped to secure a role as a pundit on Sky Sports, where he again replaced Rodney Marsh. Bowles is also the life chairman of the Queens Park Rangers supporters group L.S.A (Loyal Supporters Association).
A cult icon, he had a single released bearing his name, Stan Bowles by The Others. Bowles has also written betting columns in the national press and a column in ‘lads’ mag’ Loaded and also appeared on the after dinner speaker circuit. He was also the personal favourite player of John Barnes.