About Gordon Cowans
Gordon Sidney Cowans (born 27 October 1958) is an English retired football player and coach. Cowans started his career at Aston Villa as an apprentice in 1974, and signed as a professional in 1976. During his time at Aston Villa, he won the League Cup, the League Championship, the European Cup and the European Super Cup. Cowans left Aston Villa for the first time in 1985, signing for Bari. He then returned to Aston Villa in 1988 and left again in 1991 moving to Blackburn Rovers. When he left Blackburn he went back to Aston Villa, before moving to Derby County, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Sheffield United, Bradford City, Stockport County and finally Burnley. He was also capped 10 times by England at international level scoring two goals, against Scotland and Egypt. According to former Aston Villa team-mate Derek Mountfield, Cowans was the best two-footed player he ever played with, capable of tough tackling and making spectacular assists. Cowans is consistently rated by Villa fans as one of their 3 best ever players. Cowans returned once again to Aston Villa in a coaching role, first coaching in their youth academy before becoming first team coach and later reserve team manager. He soon made his first team debut, on 7 February 1976 as a substitute aged 17 whilst still an apprentice.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.