 Stowell pictured in July 2009. | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michael Stowell[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1965-04-19)19 April 1965 (age 60) | ||
| Place of birth | Preston, Lancashire, England[2] | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[3] | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Plymouth Argyle (goalkeeping coach) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1984–1985 | Leyland Motors | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1985 | Preston North End | 0 | (0) |
| 1985–1990 | Everton | 0 | (0) |
| 1987 | →Chester City (loan) | 14 | (0) |
| 1987 | →York City (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 1988 | →Manchester City (loan) | 14 | (0) |
| 1988 | →Port Vale (loan) | 7 | (0) |
| 1989 | →Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) | 7 | (0) |
| 1990 | →Preston North End (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 1990–2001 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 378 | (0) |
| 2001–2005 | Bristol City | 25 | (0) |
| Total | 453 | (0) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2007 | Leicester City (caretaker) | ||
| 2010 | Leicester City (caretaker) | ||
| 2011 | Leicester City (caretaker) | ||
| 2017 | Leicester City (joint-caretaker) | ||
| 2019 | Leicester City (joint-caretaker) | ||
| 2023 | Leicester City (joint-caretaker) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Michael Stowell (born 19 April 1965) is an Englishfootballcoach and former professional player who is the goalkeeping coach atEFL League One clubPlymouth Argyle. As a player, he spent 20 years as a professionalgoalkeeper, 11 of which were withWolverhampton Wanderers. He is married to formerEngland women's international footballerRachel Stowell.
Gaining his chance in the professional game atPreston North End in 1985, he impressed enough to receive acontract with top-flightEverton later in the year. In his five years at the club, he wasloaned out toChester City,York City,Manchester City,Port Vale, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Preston North End. He signed permanently with Wolves in 1990 and was their goalkeeper of choice throughout the decade, making 441 league and cup appearances. He was named as the club's Player of the Year in 1991. In July 2001, he signed withBristol City before retiring in May 2005. He then became a coach atLeicester City and has had six separate spells ascaretaker manager in 2007, 2010, 2011, 2017, 2019 and 2023.
Having played junior football for Kirkham Juniors as a centre-half, Stowell gained his first experience of professional football with a trial forPreston North End, where he played in theirreserve team and was offered a one-yearcontract. He turned this down, though, as the club sat bottom of theThird Division. He was entering his final year's apprenticeship withBT inPreston, the town in which he was raised.
While playing forNorth West Counties League sideLeyland Motors, he was offered a trial atFirst Division sideEverton. Subsequently, he was offered a two-and-a-half-year contract bymanagerHoward Kendall. He signed in December 1985 for what turned out to be a five-year stay atGoodison Park. However, he could not force his way pastNeville Southall into the first team and never made a league appearance, instead playing in the Central Reserve League. His sole outing for the "Toffees" came under the stewardship ofColin Harvey in aFull Members Cup tie againstMillwall on 20 December 1988, in which he kept aclean sheet in a 2–0 victory.
The lack of first-team opportunities at Everton saw Stowell experiencing a string ofloan moves to lower-league sides. In September 1987, he was loaned to Third DivisionChester City, making hisleague debut in a 4–1 win overAldershot on 5 September 1987. He made 15 further appearances forHarry McNally's "Seals" before joining Third Division rivalsYork City for a brief loan spell in December 1987. He played six league games under managerBobby Saxton atBootham Crescent. In February 1988, he joinedSecond Division clubManchester City on loan, playing 14 league and oneFA Cup game for the club during the latter half of the1988–89 season. "Citizens" managerMel Machin allowed goalkeeperEric Nixon to leaveMaine Road on loan after securing Stowell's services for the rest of the campaign.[4]
He joinedPort Vale in a two-month loan deal in October 1988 asJohn Rudge needed cover for the injuredMark Grew. The "Valiants" struggled without their regular custodian, conceding eight goals in Stowell's first three appearances before he settled into his time atVale Park and went unbeaten in the remainder of his league appearances.[5]Wolverhampton Wanderers required his services from March 1989 to the end of the1988–89 season. He kept goal in seven league games as Wolves ended up as Third Division champions. His final loan spell was with Preston North End in February 1990, and he played just the two Third Division games atDeepdale.
Stowell's two-month loan spell at Wolverhampton in the spring of 1989 made a good impression on managerGraham Turner, who took him toMolineux permanently in July 1990 for a fee of £275,000. He was named Player of the Year for the1990–91 season, ahead of fan favouriteSteve Bull, after making a total of 44 appearances in his debut season.[6] He featured 51 times in the1991–92 campaign, though was limited to 29 appearances in the1992–93 season, with back-up goalkeeperPaul Jones and loaneeDave Beasant filling in for the remainder. He became an ever-present throughout1993–94, however, playing 55 matches as Wolves posted a fifth-successive mid-table finish in the Second Division. They improved to a fourth-place finish under new managerGraham Taylor in1994–95, Stowell featuring 45 times, before being eliminated from theplay-offs after losing the semi-finals 3–2 onaggregate toBolton Wanderers. He played 46 games as Wolves declined in the1995–96 season, causing Taylor to leave the club and be replaced byMark McGhee. Stowell then featured 51 times in the1996–97 campaign, with Wolves reaching third but again failing at the play-off semi-finals with a 4–3 aggregate defeat toCrystal Palace.
Though they only finished ninth in1997–98, they did reach the semi-finals of theFA Cup; Stowell was on the bench in the semi-final, DutchmanHans Segers was between the posts as Wolves lost 1–0 toArsenal atVilla Park.[7] Stowell made 52 appearances in the1998–99 campaign as Wolves posted a seventh-place finish under new bossColin Lee. However, he eventually lost his first-team place toMichael Oakes, who joined the club in October 1999, limiting Stowell to 20 appearances in the1999–2000 season. He was given atestimonial match againstAston Villa in July 2000,[8] and the following summer was released by the Midlanders.[9] He was given a farewell appearance byDave Jones as asubstitute on the last day of the2000–01 season, againstQueens Park Rangers.[10] He made a total of 441 league and cup appearances in his 11-year stay at Wolves and for the final three years he also worked as a goalkeepingcoach at theclub's youth academy.[11]
Stowell joined Second Division sideBristol City on afree transfer in July 2001, having chosen them overWrexham.[12][13] He made 28 appearances forDanny Wilson's "Robins" throughout the2001–02 campaign. Thereafter he was a reserve and part-time goalkeeping coach atAshton Gate, and was an unused substitute at theMillennium Stadium in both the2003 Football League Trophy final victory overCarlisle United and the2004 play-off final defeat toBrighton & Hove Albion.[11][14][15] He retired in May 2005, and turned down the offer of becoming an official goalkeeping coach at the club,[16] having already found employment at Leicester City.
Stowell spent the early part of his coaching career as, firstly, a goalkeeping coach,[17] and then assistant manager[18] atLeicester City, before being sacked alongside managerRob Kelly on 11 April 2007.[19] In July 2007, he was re-appointed goalkeeping coach at Leicester City by Kelly's replacement,Martin Allen.[20] In August 2007, he took over (joint) managerial responsibility at Leicester, following Allen's sacking. He returned to his goalkeeping coaching role when the club appointed Allen's successor,Gary Megson, the following month. He resumed joint managerial duties at Leicester in October 2010, after the sacking of managerPaulo Sousa after less than three months in charge.[21] He then resumed his role as goalkeeping coach. He was appointedcaretaker manager for a second time in twelve months whenSven-Göran Eriksson was sacked in October 2011.[22] After a win and two defeats,Nigel Pearson was re-appointed as Leicester manager and Stowell was made goalkeeping and first-team coach. He was at theKing Power Stadium when the "Foxes" won thePremier League title in the2015–16 season.[23]
He took charge of the first-team for a fourth time on 23 February 2017, as joint caretaker manager with assistant managerCraig Shakespeare, following the sacking ofClaudio Ranieri.[24] He reverted to his position as goalkeeping and first-team coach after Shakespeare was confirmed as the club's new manager on 12 March.[25] He once again was appointed caretaker manager, alongsideAdam Sadler, following the departure ofClaude Puel on 24 February 2019.[26]Brendan Rodgers was named as Puel's successor three days later, taking charge shortly after Leicester beatBrighton & Hove Albion 2–1 in thePremier League.[27] Stowell and Sadler again stood in as joint-caretaker managers after Rodgers was sacked on 2 April 2023.[28] He left Leicester City on 30 June 2023 after the arrival of new managerEnzo Maresca.[29]
In July 2023, Stowell joinedIsraeli Premier League sideMaccabi Tel Aviv as a goalkeeping coach.[30] He returned to the UK in June 2024 after Maccabi won the league title and reached the last 16 of theUEFA Europa Conference League.[31] In October 2024, he was appointed goalkeeping coach atBristol City Women on a short-term basis.[32]
In October 2025, Stowell joinedLeague One clubPlymouth Argyle as goalkeeping coach.[33]
He marriedRachel McArthur in June 2009, who had given birth to his daughter the previous April.[34][35]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Preston North End | 1984–85 | Third Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Everton | 1985–86 | First Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1986–87 | First Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1987–88 | First Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1988–89 | First Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Chester City (loan) | 1987–88 | Third Division | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| York City (loan) | 1987–88 | Third Division | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Manchester City (loan) | 1987–88 | Second Division | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| Port Vale (loan) | 1988–89 | Third Division | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) | 1988–89 | Third Division | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Preston North End (loan) | 1989–90 | Third Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 1990–91 | Second Division | 39 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 44 | 0 |
| 1991–92 | Second Division | 46 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 51 | 0 | |
| 1992–93 | First Division | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 29 | 0 | |
| 1993–94 | First Division | 46 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 55 | 0 | |
| 1994–95 | First Division | 37 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 45 | 0 | |
| 1995–96 | First Division | 38 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 46 | 0 | |
| 1996–97 | First Division | 46 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 51 | 0 | |
| 1997–98 | First Division | 35 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 45 | 0 | |
| 1998–99 | First Division | 46 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 52 | 0 | |
| 1999–2000 | First Division | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 0 | |
| 2000–01 | First Division | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 378 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 41 | 0 | 441 | 0 | ||
| Bristol City | 2001–02 | Second Division | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| 2002–03 | Second Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2003–04 | Second Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 29 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 453 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 48 | 0 | 525 | 0 | ||
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Leicester City (caretaker) | 30 August 2007 | 13 September 2007 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 000.0 |
| Leicester City (caretaker) | 1 October 2010 | 4 October 2010 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 |
| Leicester City (caretaker) | 24 October 2011 | 15 November 2011 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 033.3 |
| Leicester City (caretaker) | 23 February 2017 | 12 March 2017 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 |
| Leicester City (caretaker) | 24 February 2019 | 26 February 2019 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 |
| Leicester City (caretaker) | 2 April 2023 | 10 April 2023 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 000.0 |
| Total[37] | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 050.0 | ||
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Bristol City
Individual
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
