Geoff Vowden

Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox football biography Geoffrey Alan Vowden (born 27 April 1941) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward in the Football League for Nottingham Forest, Birmingham City and Aston Villa, and in the North American Soccer League for the New York Cosmos.

Career

Vowden was born in Barnsley, Yorkshire and raised in Jersey. When he was 18, he went to England to join Nottingham Forest, where he signed professional forms at Christmas 1959. After scoring 40 goals in 90 League games for Forest, he was sold to Birmingham City for £25,000 in October 1964.

He spent nearly seven seasons at Birmingham, scoring at a rate of one goal every three matches, and finished as their leading goalscorer three seasons running, from 1964–65 to 1966–67. On 7 September 1968, playing for Birmingham against Huddersfield Town in the Second Division, he became the first substitute to score a hat-trick in a Football League fixture.

In March 1971, Vowden joined Vic Crowe's Aston Villa for a fee of £12,500. In his first full season at Aston Villa, he scored 11 goals which contributed to the club winning the Third Division championship.

In the summer of 1974, he played for the New York Cosmos in the North American Soccer League. On his return, he joined Southern League club Kettering Town as player/manager, succeeding Ron Atkinson, in December 1974. He later coached domestically and in Hong Kong winning honours with both Bulova SA and South China, and Saudi Arabia. Geoff ended his working career supporting adults with physical and sensory impairments in Corby.

Honours

Aston Villa

• Third Division: 1971–72