We have all heard the story of ‘Stan the Man’, how he couldn’t pass a betting shop, allegedly had affairs and was a difficult but yet talented person, and should have a number of England caps to his name.
In recent years, it has been reported how his life has descended lower and has even spent nights sleeping on friends floors. In addition to this, how he owned no property of his own and had been coaching at Brentford. I had a different impression of him and although I didn’t know him well, this was different to the public image.
Stan Bowles was transferred to Leyton Orient in 1980 from Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest. I was on holiday in Spain when I read in the newspaper that Orient had signed him and at the time, this was exciting news. Furthermore, some Sheffield Wednesday fans I had met on holiday were immediately envious of the move.
I previously worked in the commercial department of Leyton Orient which was based at the shop on the High Road and the CEO, Rod Erridge, was also based in the same offices. This proved to be very good for me, as we got on exceptionally well.
Stan first came into the offices about a month after he signed and he did not fit the image which was portrayed to the public in my opinion.
He was dressed in a three-piece suit and was extremely polite, opening the door for my wife as she went through to her office. Not what we expected from a footballer who was seen to be a notorious playboy with plenty of issues.
He came up to our offices to meet with Erridge frequently after that and always turned up looking immaculately dressed and was very polite and respectful to all of the staff in the offices, without fail. His charm and charisma was a joy to behold and everybody loved him.
Later down the line, I was invited to a race night at Wembley Stadium by the club sponsors. Personally, I don’t gamble usually but still attended as part of the job.
At the event, I decided to place bets of a whopping 20p each, outrageous I know, at the betting window outside the sponsors lounge.
I was returning to the sponsors lounge from one such trip when I felt a tug on my jacket, I turned to find Bowles on the end of my jacket, smiling. He asked me why I was there and when I told him he immediately asked me if I could get him in to the lounge.
Now, at first I was surprised that he even remembered me, let alone my name. After all, he was this perceived flamboyant playboy, with actress girlfriends and masses of media attention; whereas, I was just the clubs commercial manager.
Then, to my surprise, he wanted me to get him into the lounge! After entering the lounge, I asked the sponsor if he could come in, the reply was, well, no. They felt it was not a good idea as his reputation was not good.
So, awkward moment for me, I returned to where he was waiting and told him that as he was not on the list and the company wouldn’t like it, trying my best to be diplomatic. However, he smiled, shook my hand, thanked me for trying and left saying he would see me at the club.
To this day, I have good memories of Bowles, and he was a totally different person privately, or at least he was to the ordinary staff at the club, to his public image.
I have good memories of him playing up to the opposition fans who were giving him abuse, which he seemed to love. Now, sadly, he has developed dementia at the age of 69.
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