The word “wonderkid” has been bandied about a lot in football nowadays. Any young player having one or two good games has been described as one. Although, it did used to mean something. In Everton’s case, some prodigies ended up having great careers, such as Dixie Dean, Joe Royle and Wayne Rooney. Some, however, didn’t meet their expectations, such as Michael Branch, Francis Jeffers and Jose Baxter. But one prodigy in particular has been completely forgotten about. A wartime wonderkid who was compared to Everton legend Torry Gillick – Billy Lowe.

Billy Lowe joined Everton from Haydock C&B in 1943. Around that time, Everton and Haydock had an alliance and several Haydock players joined the Blues, including Eric Moore, who went on to play 184 games for the club. After joining, Lowe played a few games for the reserves, and he already impressed Theo Kelly. Kelly then awarded him a chance to impress for the first team, making his debut against Tranmere on 10th April 1943 at the age of just 16.

This match doubled as a wartime league match and a Liverpool Senior Cup semi-final. Lowe wasn’t the only youngster in the game; Tranmere had a 16-year-old called Evans and a 15-year-old called Newton. Lowe was in esteemed company, playing alongside Norman Greenhalgh, Alex Stevenson and Tommy Lawton. Everton beat their Wirral rivals 4-1 with two goals from Lawton, one from Stevenson and one from George Mutch, who was a guest player from Preston. Not a lot was said about Lowe – the Liverpool Evening Express complimented his corner-taking (“Lowe utilised two corners accurately…”) but the Liverpool Daily Post gave him a lot of approval, saying, “though he had obviously much to learn, [Lowe] made a quite promising debut.”

Lowe made his second appearance for the club against the same opposition three weeks later. However, he failed to make as much of an impression as he made on his debut, largely due to being unable to get past experienced left-back and guest player from Leeds, Jack Milburn – the uncle of Bobby and Jack Charlton and also a cousin of Jackie Milburn. That was his last first-team appearance of the season and had played some games for the reserves before returning to the first team in October for a match against Wrexham. Everton won 3-1, thanks to a hat-trick from Tommy Lawton. Lowe was reported to have made a good impression despite having little of the ball and contributed to Everton’s third goal. Lowe crossed the ball into the box and Wrexham goalkeeper Dave Whitelaw claimed it. But as soon as he caught the ball, Lawton was running straight at him. This prompted Whitelaw to walk backwards onto the goalline but he was in quite a predicament as Lawton subsequently charged into him, causing Whitelaw to fall and the ball, and Whitelaw, went into the goal.

Lowe played against Wrexham again the following week. Everton were the victors again, winning 4-2. A 14-minute first-half hat-trick from Cecil Wyles and a goal from Stan Bentham earned Everton the win. Lowe received a lot of acclaim from the local press for his performance. The Liverpool Daily Post said Lowe “gave an excellent display” and the Liverpool Echo also praised his performance, saying, “he has got speed and ball control and can shoot but needs to vary his style occasionally and take the ball through on the inside of the defender.” Early promise for Billy Lowe and it appeared that Everton had a bright player in the making. However, in the next game, Lowe’s career took a dark turn.

On 6th November 1943, Billy Lowe made his fifth appearance for Everton against the team he made his first and second – Tranmere. The match got off to an electric start in Everton’s favour. Everton nearly took the lead in the first minute after Lowe passed the ball to Lawton, only for the forward to hit the side-netting. Lawton made amends for his miss almost immediately after, heading a Jimmy McIntosh cross past goalkeeper Threlfall. Everton then made it 2-0 through another Lawton goal – Sam Jones, a guest player from Blackpool, gave the ball to Lawton and he coolly slotted it past Threlfall with his right foot. Everton could have had another two goals with the game still in its early stages, both shots coming from Billy Lowe crosses. However, neither of them threatened Threlfall. But Everton did score their third goal eventually after half an hour, with Tommy Lawton completing his hat-trick in style. With the ball at his feet, Lawton thunderously struck the ball from outside the penalty area and into the back of the net, leaving Threlfall no chance. Tranmere had a goal back before half-time and at the interval, Everton led 3-1. Four minutes into the second half, Lawton turned provider as he passed to Alex Stevenson and Stevenson converted to regain Everton’s three-goal cushion. Everton had a fifth just a couple of minutes later with another header from a Jimmy McIntosh cross – this time Stan Bentham doing the honours. Just after the hour mark, Everton hit six with Lawton scoring his fourth of the game. The Blues were running riot but the joy soon dissipated on the 64th minute.

Following a great game from the youngster, Billy Lowe was on the receiving end of a tackle and suffered a broken leg. He was soon whisked off to Walton Hospital. The Liverpool Evening Express said Lowe, as well as Stevenson, “got the Tranmere defence tied up in knots.” Everton eventually beat Tranmere 9-2, with Lawton, Bentham and McIntosh scoring the remaining goals. But the demolition meant little compared to Billy Lowe’s devastating injury.

Lowe, up to the time of his unfortunate accident, was well up to the standard of his colleagues. In fact, I should say this 17-year-old boy is the best outside right Everton have had since the days of [Torry] Gillick.

Liverpool Daily Post

The Everton attack has not played better for an age, and the unfortunate Lowe, who was takes to hospital with a broken leg, was well up to the form of his partners. He filled the outside position better than any since Torry Gillick.

Liverpool Echo

The one sad note was the accident to young Billy Lowe after an hour which brought a fracture of a leg just above the ankle and Lowe removal to Walton Hospital. The irony of it was that Lowe had been demonstrating that he is Everton’s best right wing find of the war. Lowe was thriving on the support and advice of Stevenson – in his merriest vein – Bentham and [Jackie] Grant. Lowe has a broken tibia and fibula.

Liverpool Evening Express

A couple of days after his injury, Tommy Lawton, Theo Kelly and Harry Cooke visited Lowe in hospital.

As he lay bedridden, Everton fans and players alike, and the press as well, were hoping Lowe makes a swift recovery. He left the hospital temporarily a month later, accepting an invite to watch England play Scotland at Goodison Park, arriving at Goodison for the first time since his injury. Lowe watched his teammates Tommy Lawton and Cliff Britton play on their home turf with Lawton scoring in a 2-2 draw. During the game, Lowe earned a hospital-mate as Wolves legend Stan Cullis suffered an injury and stayed at Walton Hospital. This wasn’t for long as Lowe left the hospital as an outpatient with his leg still in a plaster. The matron said Lowe and Cullis were “exceptionally popular” during their stay in hospital.

On New Year’s Day 1944, Billy Lowe arrived at Goodison Park for the first time as an Everton spectator since his injury as the Blues thrashed Chester 7-0. The Liverpool Evening Express said he was “walking with a stick and going along nicely.” Some positive news for Everton as a return on the pitch could be close. The club struggled to find an outside-right to replace Lowe while he was injured until that game. That player was the exquisitely-named Cuthbert Tatters. Tatters was a 23-year-old Geordie amateur player from the Royal Air Force who previously had spells with Spennymoor United and Durham City. He was brought to the club after TG Jones recommended him as a back-up. Billy Lowe watched his replacement make an immediate impression. He created a few chances in the game, assisting Jack Boothway (who was a guest player from Manchester City) to make it 6-0 and almost scored from a volley but was denied by Chester goalkeeper George Scales (another guest player from Manchester City). However, his time at the club was very brief as three weeks later, in only his second appearance for the Blues in their 4-1 win over Liverpool at Anfield, he fractured his ankle. He reportedly played with a broken ankle for an hour, leaving the pitch twice before returning both times, but his bravery proved costly as he never played for the Blues again and his Everton career was in… well, tatters.

Billy Lowe, on the other hand, looked like he was making a lot of progress as at the end of January 1944, nearly four months after his injury, he had his plaster taken off and was about to receive massage treatment for his leg in hope that it would make him fit for the following season. Unfortunately, several weeks later, Lowe had a setback as it appeared the massage treatment as successful as it was hoped to be and his leg was put back in a plaster. During the summer, it looked like a return was beckoning as Lowe began light training. He was still brittle and a long way away from a full recovery, but early signs were promising.

The following November, almost exactly a year since his injury, he had further treatment on his leg, and the more treatment he had, the sooner he recovered as he was named in a line-up (at least those that were reported by the papers) for the first time in 14 months, appearing for the Everton Colts against Wigan Mining College. He gradually rose through the ranks, playing several games for the reserves, as well as scoring a goal in their 7-1 win over Fazackerley in the George Mahon Cup. The reserve games appeared to do Lowe the world of good as the Liverpool Evening Express said he was “absolutely fit again.”

At the start of the 1945/46 season, on August 29th, Billy Lowe’s long-awaited first-team comeback finally arrived. Everton played Bury at Gigg Lane and were leading 3-2. Everton scored four goals in the game – Jack Boothway twice and George Makin at the right end whereas Matt McDonnell scored at the wrong end. However, the game was abandoned after 75 minutes due to bad light. Lowe appeared to have made a promising comeback, with the Liverpool Evening Express saying, “Lowe did well with his few chances – encouraging this.” As if making a first-team comeback wasn’t good news enough for Lowe, he had even better news nearly a couple of weeks later as he signed a professional contract with Everton, indicating that the club wanted to keep him for the long haul.

Lowe’s first game as a professional was against Preston on September 15th, just a few days after he became a professional. The score was a 1-1 draw, with Cecil Wyles scoring a penalty for Everton. Lowe’s appearance was due to Torry Gillick not arriving back to Liverpool from Glasgow in time for the game. He had a chance to break the deadlock early on but Preston goalkeeper Jack Fairbrother tipped his shot over the bar. When Everton were 1-0 down, Lowe had a bout of nerves as the Liverpool Football Echo said he “too long making up his mind whether to shoot or centre, and was finally crowded out.” His nerviness and indecisiveness stopped Everton from getting back into the game but his lapse in judgement was spared when Wyles converted his penalty for a foul on Wally Boyes. Lowe had another chance to score and give Everton the lead but he headed a Boyes cross wide. He then could have had a hat-trick after a pass from Stan Bentham provided him the opportunity to shoot and hit it in the back of the net, but his shot hit the crossbar instead. The Liverpool Daily Post said Lowe “did quite well and will do better when he gets his centres over more strongly.” Another fairly promising performance from Lowe. But the promise didn’t last long.

Lowe played for the first-team again in the 2-0 defeat to Leeds the following week. The Liverpool Daily Post said he “showed that on the score of physique and experience, he is not yet ripe for first team inclusion but he has good football in him,” implying that reserve football would be better for him as he didn’t appear to overcome his injury yet. The club agreed and he played in Everton reserves’ 5-1 defeat to Aston Villa reserves, but the Liverpool Daily Post called him “very reliable.”

Billy Lowe returned to the first team for their match against Manchester United on October 6th. The Blues travelled to Maine Road (due to Old Trafford being bombed) and went back home with a 0-0 draw, with the Liverpool Daily Post pointing the finger at Lowe for not giving Everton the win.

Had Lowe taken more care with the opportunities created by Lawton in the first half, they might have won. As it was his finishing was weak, and few further chances came his or his colleagues’ way.

The Liverpool Echo pointed the finger in the same direction:

Lowe, well and truly piled with taxable passes, failed to take advantage and having had his chances, the Manchester defence saw to it that such chances were never on offer again.

That game against Manchester United was Lowe’s last ever game for Everton. He returned to the reserves and played some games for the ‘A’ team as well before being placed on the transfer list in April 1946. There are no known reports on whether he joined a new club, so it is very likely that he might have retired at the end of the season.

A wonderkid compared to Torry Gillick who was denied an excellent career due to a horrific injury. Despite showing signs of promise in the short-term in his comeback, in the long-term, he was never going to be the same player he once was. Who knows what sort of player Billy Lowe could have been.