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Stanley Bowles (born 24 December 1948 in Manchester, England) was a leading English footballer who gained a reputation as one of the game's greatest mavericks.

Bowles began his career at Manchester City, although his fiery temper resulted in him being released after a series of off-field incidents. After a brief and unsuccessful stay at Bury, he was signed by Ernie Tagg, manager of Crewe Alexandra, then in the Fourth Division where his skill caught the eye of a number of bigger clubs. In October 1971 he was signed by Carlisle United, at the time a Second Division club, scoring 13 goals in 36 appearances for the Cumbrians. After a managerial change at the club, he joined Queens Park Rangers (QPR) for £112,000 in September 1972.

He replaced in the team another QPR folk-hero, Rodney Marsh, who had been transferred to Manchester City six months before (ironically to Bowles' first club). He took over Marsh's number 10 shirt which other players had been reluctant to wear in fear of being compared to Marsh. Bowles had no qualms about taking the shirt, primarily because he said that coming from the North, he had never heard of Marsh!.

With his flair and undoubted natural ability it was inevitable that international recognition would soon come. He made his international debut against Portugal in April 1974 in Sir Alf Ramsey's last match in charge. Overall he only won five caps for England, all while playing for QPR (playing for three different managers: Sir Alf Ramsey, Joe Mercer and Don Revie) and scored his only international goal in a 2-0 win over Wales at Ninian Park in 1974.

Bowles spent just over seven years at QPR, playing a central role in arguably the club's greatest ever team, that which finished as league runners-up in 1975/76 under Dave Sexton. A 2004 fans poll saw him voted the club's all-time greatest player. He left QPR in 1979 to join Nottingham Forest, although he failed to settle under the management of Brian Clough and was sold in 1981 to Leyton Orient for £100,000. He joined Brentford the following year and remained at the club until his retirement in 1984.

His 1996 autobiography revealed the extent of his drinking, womanizing and gambling during his playing days, and also helped to secure a role as a pundit on Sky Sports, where he again replaced the equally redoubtable Rodney Marsh ^[1].

Something of a cult icon because of his chaotic personal life^[2], he is amongst the few footballers to have a single released bearing his name, in this case the 2004 release by the The Others. He has also written betting columns in the national press and a column in 'lads' mag' Loaded and is also in demand on the after dinner speaker circuit.

Having won the FA Cup four days prior, Sunderland were parading the trophy at Roker Park on May 9, 1973 when they met QPR in the old Division 2. The trophy had been placed on a table at the side of the pitch when Bowles tore straight across the park and kicked the ball at it full speed, sending the Cup flying through the air^[3]. The crowd went predictably ballistic, but cheeky Stan had the last laugh by scoring a brace in the match which ended in a pitch invasion. He later chuckled some of the lads had a bet who could hit the trophy first.

• A Carlisle United fans tribute
• Bowles comments on The Others' tribute song
• Profile and career stats from Crewe Alexandra site