Paddy Rowan
{{short description|Australian rules footballer}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=September 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2015}}
{{Infobox AFL biography
| name = Paddy Rowan
| image = Paddy Rowan 1912.jpg
| caption = "Paddy Rowan" in 1912
| fullname = Percy Edward Rowe
| birth_date = {{birth date|1889|5|28|df=y}}
| birth_place = St Arnaud, Victoria
| death_date = {{death date and age|1916|12|5|1889|5|28|df=yes}}
| death_place = Somme, France
| originalteam = South Bendigo (BFL)
| height = 179 cm
| weight = 78 kg
| position =
| statsend = 1915
| years1 = 1911–1915
| club1 = Collingwood
| games_goals1 = 82 (28)
| careerhighlights =
}}
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.
Family
Rowan married Louisa Marion Newby in 1915; and they had a son, Percy, born on 1 May 1916.[https://www.smh.com.au/national/true-love-war-and-football-20120926-26ldj.html McMullin, Ross, "True Love, War and Football, The Sydney Morning Herald, Thursday, 27 September 2012.][http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/Veteran.aspx?ServiceId=A&VeteranId=622431 World War II Nominal Roll: Percy Rowe (V27843).]
Boxing
Rowe, who boxed under the name of Paddy Rowan, was the Victorian amateur champion lightweight boxer, who turned professional in 1910.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/227624184 Boxing, The Bendigo Independent, (Wednesday, 2 March 1910), p.3.] He was still boxing when in the First AIF.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/242341272 Footballers at Front, The (Melbourne) Herald, (Friday, 12 May 1916), p.3]; [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/242337269 Pat Rowan's Great Match, The (Melbourne) Herald, (Friday, 30 June 1916), p.3.]
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 in the Bendigo Football League that year.
To allow Rowan to play, Collingwood registered him under the assumed name of Paddy Rowan.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/227803889 Bendigo Association: Rowe or Rohan? A difficult Question, The Bendigo Independent, (Saturday, 10 June 1911), p.8.]
Coincidentally another individual, unrelated to Rowe/Rowan, but also named Percy Rowe (I896-1976) played 96 games for Collingwood during the 1920s. Additionally, Rowan's son, also Percy Rowe, played for the Collingwood Second XVIII.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11170641 "Good Junior Withdraws", The Argus, (Saturday, 16 April 1938), p.21.]
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.)[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/180838238 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.]
Military
Rowan enlisted in the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in July 1915. He died from shrapnel wounds receive in action at the Battle of the Somme on 5 December 1916.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/74803246 257th Casualty List: Died of Wounds, The Mildura Cultivator, (Saturday, 30 December 1916), p.14.][https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/92099691Death: On Active Service: Rowe, The St. Arnaud Mercury, (Saturday, 23 December 1916), p.2.][https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/154548328 Sergeant Pat Rowan's Death, The Winner, (Wednesday, 7 March 1917), p.8.][https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/155179802 In Memoriam: On Active Service: Rowe, The Age, (Wednesday, 5 December 1917), p.1]; [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/88057216 In Memoriam: Rowe, The St. Arnaud Mercury, (Wednesday, 5 December 1917), p.2.]
See also
Footnotes
{{Reflist}}
References
{{Commons category}}
- [https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ViewPDF.aspx?B=8072073&D=D World War I Service Record: Percy Edward Rowe (924), National Archives of Australia.]
- [https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1665217 Roll of Honour: Sergeant Percy Edward Rowe (924), Australian War Memorial.]
- {{AFL Tables|ref=P/Paddy_Rowan.html}}
- [http://www.boylesfootballphotos.net.au/Paddy+Rowan Boyles Football Photos: Paddy Rowan.]
- [https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/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.
- [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/21521553 The Football Season – Collingwood Team, The Leader, (Saturday, 18 May 1912), p.27.]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowan, Paddy}}
Category:Collingwood Football Club players
Category:Australian military personnel killed in World War I
Category:Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state)
Category:South Bendigo Football Club players