Paddy Rowan

Percy Edward Rowe (28 May 1889 – 5 December 1916), known as "Paddy Rowan", was an Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood in the Victorian Football League.

Paddy Rowan
"Paddy Rowan" in 1912
Personal information
Full name Percy Edward Rowe
Date of birth (1889-05-28)28 May 1889
Place of birth St Arnaud, Victoria
Date of death 5 December 1916(1916-12-05) (aged 27)
Place of death Somme, France
Original team(s) South Bendigo
Height 179 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight 78 kg (172 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1911–1915 Collingwood 82 (28)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1915.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Family

He married Louisa Marion Newby in 1915; and they had a son, Percy, born on 1 May 1916.[1][2]

Boxing

Rowe, who boxed under the name of Paddy Rowan, was the Victorian amateur champion lightweight boxer, who turned professional in 1910.[3] He was still boxing when in the First AIF.[4]

Football

Although his real name was Percy Rowe he was known at Collingwood as Paddy Rowan, an alias that had originated from his boxing career. The reason for the name change was that he could not play for Collingwod in 1911 because he had already played with the South Bendigo Football Club that year.

In order to allow them to sign him up, the Collingwood club registered him under the assumed name of Paddy Rowan.[5]

Coincidentally another individual, unrelated to Rowe/Rowan, but also named Percy Rowe (I896-1976) played 96 games for Collingwood during the 1920s; also, Rowan's son, also Percy Rowe, played a number of games with the Collingwood Second XVIII.[6]

Rowan played in two losing Grand Finals, the first from the back pocket in his debut season; the other as a half forward flanker in 1915. Rowan, who was in training with the army while at Collingwood, had completed a 10 mile route march on the morning of the 1915 Grand Final but still took the field.

Paddy Rowan was one of the outstanding players of his time.
I feel sure that had he been spared to return from the war, he would have gone down in football as one of the game's greatest exponents.
There was no phase of it in which he did not excel.
A strong, virile follower, he could, with equal effectiveness, play centre half-back or centre half-forward.
Paddy possessed the determination and courage of two men.
          (Former Collingwood teammate Dan Minogue, in 1937.)[7]

Military

He enlisted in the First AIF in July 1915. He died from shrapnel wounds receive in action at the Battle of the Somme on 5 December 1916.[8][9][10][11]

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See also
  • List of Victorian Football League players who died in active service

Footnotes
  1. McMullin, Ross, "True Love, War and Football, The Sydney Morning Herald, Thursday, 27 September 2012.
  2. World War II Nominal Roll: Percy Rowe (V27843).
  3. Boxing, The Bendigo Independent, (Wednesday, 2 March 1910), p.3.
  4. Footballers at Front, The (Melbourne) Herald, (Friday, 12 May 1916), p.3; Pat Rowan's Great Match, The (Melbourne) Herald, (Friday, 30 June 1916), p.3.
  5. Bendigo Association: Rowe or Rohan? A difficult Question, The Bendigo Independent, (Saturday, 10 June 1911), p.8.
  6. Good Junior Withdraws, The Argus, (Saturday, 16 April 1938), p.21.
  7. Minogue, D. (with Millard, P.J.), "Refusing Leave, Officer Tells Dan Minogue He Had Never Heard of Collingwood", The Sporting Globe, (Saturday, 14 August 1937), p.8.
  8. 257th Casualty List: Died of Wounds, The Mildura Cultivator, (Saturday, 30 December 1916), p.14.
  9. On Active Service: Rowe, The St. Arnaud Mercury, (Saturday, 23 December 1916), p.2.
  10. Sergeant Pat Rowan's Death, The Winner, (Wednesday, 7 March 1917), p.8.
  11. In Memoriam: On Active Service: Rowe, The Age, (Wednesday, 5 December 1917), p.1; In Memoriam: Rowe, The St. Arnaud Mercury, (Wednesday, 5 December 1917), p.2.

References
  • World War I Service Record: Percy Edward Rowe (924), National Archives of Australia.
  • Roll of Honour: Sergeant Percy Edward Rowe (924), Australian War Memorial.
  • Paddy Rowan's playing statistics from AFL Tables
  • Boyles Football Photos: Paddy Rowan.
  • Collingwood Forever: Paddy Rowan 1911-1915.
  • Daley, Paul, Collingwood: A Love Story, Victory Books, (Carlton), 2011. 9780522858808 ISBN 9780522858808
  • Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.
  • The Football Season — Collingwood Team, The Leader, (Saturday, 18 May 1912), p.27.
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