Hugh Dowd

One of the last players to graduate from the Amateur international set-up to Full honours, Hugh Dowd went on to establish himself as a lower-League stalwart...

Name: Hugh O. Dowd
Born: 19 May 1951, Lurgan
Height: 6.01ft
Weight: 13.03 st
Position: Centre-Half

Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: 3 Caps (1974); 8 Amateur Caps (1972-1974).
Club Honours: (with Doncaster) Football League Division Four Third Place (Promoted) 1980/81.

Club Career:

Clubs	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA Cup	FL Cup	Other
Bessbrook United	-	-	Youth	-	-	-	-
Carnbane Rovers*	-	-	Loan	-	-	-	-
Glenavon	-	-	Amateur	-	-	-	-
Sheffield Wednesday	74/75-78/79	Jul-74	£25,000	83(2)/0	5(0)/0	19(0)/0	-
Doncaster Rovers	79/80-82/83	Aug-79	£15,000	94(0)/3	7(0)/1	10(0)/0	-
TOTALS		£40,000		177(2)/3	12(0)/1	29(0)/0	-

* Carnbane Rovers were the Carnbane League's representative youth team and played in the IFA Youth Cup.

Biography:
Lurgan-born Hugh Dowd made his name with home-town club Glenavon, graduating to become the final captain of Northern Ireland's Amateur side. At the end of the 1973/74 season, with his name linked with a transfer to Luton Town or Celtic, he was called up by Northern Ireland for the first time, making his début in a Home Nations Championship game with Wales.

He was already 23 when signed by Division Two side Sheffield Wednesday that summer and he made his début in a League Cup tie on 20th August 1974. That season he made just one more appearance, in the FA Cup, as Wednesday were relegated to Division Three. He did however win two further international caps that season against Norway and Sweden. Those were to be his final caps.

Over the following few seasons Dowd began to establish himself in the first team at Hillsborough, but he couldn't help Wednesday out of Division Three. Dowd made his final appearance for Wednesday on 30th September 1978, and in August 1979 he joined Doncaster Rovers for £15,000. He captained Rovers to promotion from Division Four in 1981 before retiring from League football during the 1982/83 season due to a knee ligament injury.

Northern Ireland Cap Details:
18-05-1974 Wales... A L 0-1 BC
04-09-1974 Norway.. A L 1-2 ECQ sub
30-10-1974 Sweden.. A W 2-0 ECQ

Summary: 2(1)/0. Won 1, Drew 0, Lost 2.

Northern Ireland Amateur Cap Details:
15-04-1972 Wales... A W 3-0
28-04-1972 Scotland A W 1-0
15-05-1972 England. A W 2-1
06-10-1972 England. A L 1-2
16-03-1973 Scotland A L 0-1
07-04-1973 Wales... A L 1-2
12-10-1973 England. A L 0-2
04-04-1974 Wales... A L 0-1

Summary: 8/0. Won 3, Drew 0, Lost 5.