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The name of Stan Bowles is probably the first that people think of when that rather tiresome tale of the numerous so-called 'mavericks' who didn't earn sufficient trust from England coaches in the 1970s is brought up again. Bowles has made a tidy post-game living talking and writing about all the scrapes and scams he got involved with during his playing career, so perhaps it was unsurprising that trust was in short supply on the international stage, and maybe the coaches in question should earn more credit as a consequence. Bowles was a gifted attacker, ideally suited to a 'hole' type role (long before the expression was actually coined) behind a primary goalscorer, and got his debut in the infamous 1974 friendly against Portugal when Alf Ramsey, perhaps aware of his fate after not qualifying for the World Cup, picked a team which included nine players of five caps to their name or less. It ended 0-0 and Ramsey was soon gone.
Bowles was in prolific form at the time for a fast-emerging Queens Park Rangers team, and form had really dictated his inclusion; a feature not lost on temporary replacement Joe Mercer who threw him into the fray for the opening brace of Home Internationals, in which Bowles scored his only England goal in a 2-0 win over Wales in Cardiff. The appointment of Don Revie subsequently did for Stan's international progress, with many more strikers summoned ahead of him - what they perhaps equalled or lacked in goalscoring form they more than made up for in their reliability and team ethic, something which Revie didn't observe enough in the highly individualised Bowles. Such tags were also given to the likes of Frank Worthington, Tony Currie and Alan Hudson, whose England hopes were more reliant on their facility to conform than their abilities on the park, although there is ample reason to believe that the England team under Revie which underperformed so much would not have been enhanced, results-wise, had the supposed 'mavericks' been deployed more often.
Indeed, when Bowles was recalled it was partly due to phenomenal Press pressure, and Revie capitulated by playing him as a lone striker in the all-too-crucial qualifier in Italy for the 1978 World Cup. With no discernible support behind or ahead - Mick Channon started the game on the flank - Bowles was an isolated figure up front as Italy bypassed England's crowded and confused defensive structure and won 2-0. Stan played once more as England were ruined in a friendly by Holland's brand of 'total football' in a 2-0 defeat, and the only thing Bowles did of note that night was to wear different boots on each foot after signing deals with two companies for the game - an anecdote which has served him well, but also summed up the way his footballing life was led. (Matthew Rudd)
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