Cup-winners Italy in the so-called "Battle of Highbury", during which he injured an ankle. In all Bowden represented his country six times and scored once, against Wales in February 1936; he also played twice for the Football League XI. Bowden and Arsenal won the FA Cup in 1935–36, but by then his ankle was causing him problems, limiting his appearances for the club that season and the next. By the start of the 1937–38 season he had seemingly bounced back, playing ten matches in the first two months of the campaign, but in a reshuffle of the side he was sold to Second Division Newcastle United in November 1937 for £5,000 as Arsenal went on to win the First Division title without him. In all he played 138 matches for the Gunners, scoring 48 goals. Bowden was a regular for Newcastle United for the next two years; the club narrowly escaped relegation in his first season. When first-class football was suspended on the outbreak of the Second World War, the 30-year-old Bowden decided to retire. After the war, he returned to Plymouth where he ran a sports shop with his brother. He died in 1998, aged 89, by which time he was the last surviving player of the great interwar Arsenal side. Honours Plymouth Argyle Third Division (South): 1929–30 Arsenal First Division: 1933–34, 1934–35 FA Cup: 1935–36 FA Charity Shield: 1933 Notes References 1909 births 1998 deaths People from Looe Footballers from Cornwall English footballers England international footballers Association football inside forwards Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players English Football League players English Football League representative players FA Cup Final players