Welcome Jason

By Simon Wright

Jason’s first club was step 6 Redditch Borough, quickly moving onto Redditch United but it was at Bromsgrove where he made his name. With striker partner Richard Gregory, the pair of them tore in to the opposition so regularly that Sporting secured three straight promotions. Cowley scored 90 goals in 100 appearances and he was simply one of the most exciting players I’ve ever seen. I’d try to get to their matches just to see him in action. He has pace and uses it all the time to hunt down defenders in possession. His previous manager called him “a pest” in the best sense of the word.

EFL side Stevenage offered Jason a contract. Although Cowley did play bits of 18 games, the move wasn’t a success. He then endured a sticky patch trying to settle at a club as covid impacted on everyone. There was a month on loan to Russ Penn’s Kidderminster and a pre-season match at the Grove playing for Hereford FC where he had to be called “trialist". There was a very curious two days with Macclesfield, signing on 48 hours before they closed down. Assuming that entitled him to a pay out?

Cowley got his career back with our most local rivals. He played alongside Montel Gibson and Rhys Styche with the 3 of them scoring a lot of goals. Jason chipped in with 31 of those. Naturally neither Styche nor Gibson stuck around. Cowley had signed another contract but was happy to join Step 2 Hereford for an undisclosed fee.

The two years at Edgar Street were not a total success. He was popular with supporters and top scored in his first season albeit three months absence through injury really set him back. A year ago at Halesowen in a pre-season friendly, Cowley was on the receiving end of n unfriendly tackle and was out until November. A horrible moment for player and club alike. A plan to re-unite him with Montel Gibson at Hereford fell through because of that injury plus have boots will travel Gibson left after just 5 games.

Jason is 29 now though looks younger, a family man with two young girls all with matching Christmas pyjamas to prove it. The family lives in South Birmingham with Jason working in the motor trade.  He’s an enthusiastic, infectious guy. I recall talking to him at some length on the fast lane of the M5 one evening. As you do. The road was blocked due to an accident. Jason had a toilet need but because all the headlights and arc lights was concerned that he couldn’t find a discreet place to errm.. “deal with things”.

Liked most strikers, he is a confidence player. Get him scoring and Cowley can take on the world.  Firing blanks though is corrosive. There is a decent counter argument that he didn’t get enough game time, just one goal since November last year is telling. Jase was often trying too hard, snatching at chances and taking out his frustrations on opponents’ legs. A new start at a new club is what he needs and what better Place to come to?