RIP Arthur Rowley
Liverpool Football Club was saddened to hear that former player Arthur Rowley has passed away, aged 80.
Rowley made 11 appearances for the Reds' first team during the 1952-53 season.
The Fazakerley-born inside-left joined the club in May 1951 after being spotted playing as an amateur for Florence Melly Boys Club.
A prominent member of the reserve team throughout his four years at Anfield, Rowley also made 77 Central League appearances, scoring 15 goals.
His senior debut came on the opening day of the season in August 1952 when he lined up in the same team as Bob Paisley and Billy Liddell in a 1-1 draw away to Preston North End, a game in which Charlie Ashcroft famously saved a penalty from Tom Finney.
Wearing the No.10 shirt, Rowley figured in the first eight games of that campaign and, despite not scoring, played his part as Liverpool set the pace at the top of the table with five consecutive wins.
He made just three more appearances in the first team, though, and by the time of his last outing, a 3-1 defeat by Manchester United in April 1953, the Reds had plummeted alarmingly and only survived relegation with a victory on the final day.
Rowley moved to Wrexham for £1,600 the next year, scoring nine goals in 62 appearances during three years at the Racecourse Ground, and later played for Crewe Alexandra.
He hung up his boots in 1965 after spells with non-league Burscough and Chorley, and lived in Aintree until his death last week following a short illness.
The thoughts of everyone at Liverpool Football Club go out to his family and friends at this sad time.
RIP Arthur Rowley 1933-2014