Norrie Rowan
{{Short description|Scotland international rugby union player}}
{{Distinguish|Ronnie Cowan (rugby)|Rowen Shepherd}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox rugby biography
| name = Norrie Rowan
| honorific_suffix =
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name = Norman Arthur Rowan
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1951|09|17|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Edinburgh, Scotland
| death_place =
| death_date =
| position = Prop
| height =
| weight =
| allblackid =
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| amatyears1 =
| amatteam1 = Forrester
| amatteam2 = Boroughmuir
| amatapps1 =
| amatpoints1 =
| repteam1 = Scotland 'B'
| repteam2 = Scotland
| repyears1 = 1978-80
| repyears2 = 1980-88
| repcaps1 = 3
| repcaps2 = 13
| reppoints1 = 0
| reppoints2 = 0
| province1 = Edinburgh District
| provinceyears1 =
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| provincepoints1 =
| coachteams1 =
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}}
Norman "Norrie" Rowan (born 17 September 1951) is a former Scotland international rugby union player.{{Cite web|url=http://www.espnscrum.com/scotland/rugby/player/9114.html|title=Norman Arthur Rowan|website=ESPN scrum}}
Rugby Union career
=Amateur career=
=Provincial career=
He played for Edinburgh District.
=International career=
He had 3 caps for Scotland 'B', the first against France 'B' in 19 March 1978.{{Cite news|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000578/19780320/248/0015|title=Register|url-access=subscription|via=British Newspaper Archive}}
He received thirteen caps playing as prop forward for the national team.[https://web.archive.org/web/20181119214946/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-23736564.html "Former Scots rugby star to stand for Parliament"], The Herald, 6 April 1999.
He was nominated for Rugby World's "Unsung Hero" award in 1989 – he was the only Scot to be given an award in that year,Starmer-Smith & Robertson, p100 after playing in all Five Nations matches that year.Starmer-Smith & Robertson, p133
Business and political career
As a businessman he has run a number of pubs and bars in Edinburgh, including the Tron Tavern in the Old Town, where it was traditional for the Scotland team to entertain visiting rugby players after international games.
In 1996, he was fined £250 after threatening to kill a lawyer, after a business deal collapsed. The QC at Edinburgh Sheriff Court stated that: "It won't do, however angry you were about your own personal affairs... this behaviour will not be tolerated."{{Cite web|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12028687.former-scotland-rugby-player-fined-250-over-violent-outburst-to-lawyer-rowan-made-death-threat/|title=Former Scotland rugby player fined #250 over violent outburst to lawyer Rowan made death threat|website=HeraldScotland|date=11 September 1996 }}
Rowan stood for the Scottish Parliament elections in 1999. He is currently semi retired.
In 2019 he was behind a controversial campaign opposed to the creation of a new homeless centre in Edinburgh city. The campaign distributed posters using the slogan "If you want a junkie for a neighbour vote Labour", echoing a controversial Conservative slogan from the Smethwick 1964 general election.[https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/17665290.former-scotland-rugby-star-slammed-over-junkie-labour-poster/ "Former Scotland Rugby Star Slammed over Junkie Labour Poster"], The Herald, 26 May 2019. Retrieved 2019-05-27. The poster said the council was 'bringing 1100 junkies to a street near you'.{{Cite web|url=https://theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2022/05/council-elections-2022-former-scotland-cap-norrie-rowan-frustrated-at-the-way-edinburgh-is-run/|title=Council elections 2022 – former Scotland cap Norrie Rowan frustrated at the way Edinburgh is run|first=Local Democracy|last=Reporter|date=3 May 2022|website=The Edinburgh Reporter}}{{cite web | url=https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/politics/cross-party-condemnation-junkie-neighbour-posters-edinburghs-old-town-546361 | title=Cross-party condemnation for 'junkie neighbour' posters in Edinburgh's Old Town | date=24 May 2019 }}
In 2022 he maintained his anger over homeless people. He stated that 'These homeless people don’t belong in the Old Town'.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/former-scots-rugby-star-says-26875179|title=Former Scots rugby star says homeless people "don't belong" in Edinburgh|first1=Donald|last1=Turvill|first2=Naina|last2=Bhardwaj|date=4 May 2022|website=Daily Record}} He also attacked the Spaces For People measures; and attacked the council decision to ban strip clubs in the area. He ran for Edinburgh Council in May 2022, in the City Centre ward. He received 84 votes, less than 1% of the votes cast.{{Cite web| title=WARD 11 - City centre | url=https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/downloads/file/31141/ward-11-city-centre-results-2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105180524/https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/downloads/file/31141/ward-11-city-centre-results-2022 | archive-date=2023-01-05}}
Edinburgh Vaults
Image:Edinburgh valuts 1.jpg, partly excavated by Norrie Rowan.]]
Rowan helped excavate the Edinburgh Vaults, after he found a tunnel leading to them in the 1980s. From this tunnel he helped Romanian rugby player Cristian Raducanu escape the Romanian secret police and seek political asylum weeks before the Romanian uprising of 1989.Reid, Alisdair. [https://web.archive.org/web/20140611061651/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-10017117.html "Romania comes in from the cold"], The Sunday Herald, 5 November 2006.
References
{{reflist|2}}
;Sources
{{refbegin}}
- Starmer-Smith, Nigel & Robertson, Ian (eds) The Whitbread Rugby World '89 (Lennard Books, 1988 {{ISBN|1-85291-038-0}})
{{refend}}
External links
- [https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/feb/15/ukcrime.stephenkhan Horror tale is stranger than fiction], article mentioning Norrie Rowan.
{{Scotland squad 1987 RWC}}
{{Scotland Squad 1991 World Cup}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowan, Norrie}}
Category:Scottish rugby union players
Category:Scotland international rugby union players
Category:Rugby union players from Edinburgh
Category:Boroughmuir RFC players
Category:Businesspeople from Edinburgh
Category:Forrester RFC players
Category:Edinburgh District (rugby union) players
Category:Scotland 'B' international rugby union players