DOB: 6 April 1878
Died: 27 December 1959
Debut: Round 1, 1899 against St. Kilda at MCG
Last Game: Round 16, 1906 against St. Kilda at Junction Oval
From: Scotch College/Caulfield
Honours
Captain - 1906
Victorian state representative - 1902
Games: 117
Goals: 13
Career Statistics
| Wins | Draws | Losses | Winning % |
| 44 | 1 | 72 | 37.60 |
After coming to Australia in 1885 as a 7-year-old, Sowden quickly picked up the native game and joined Melbourne in 1899. He was a nippy 5'6" wingman who used stealth, rather than brawn, to get to the ball.
Having played a starring role in the 1900 Semi Final that shockingly put the Redlegs into the Grand Final, an ankle he rolled during the game blew up throughout the week and he was unable to play in the premiership triumph.
He retired after the 1906 season and split his post football life between Caulfield and a beach house in Frankston, but trained for a comeback in 1909 which failed to eventuate.
| Year | Games | Goals | |
| 1899 | 12 | 1 | |
| 1900 | 17 | 3 | |
| 1901 | 15 | 0 | |
| 1902 | 17 | 2 | |
| 1903 | 12 | 0 | |
| 1904 | 15 | 2 | |
| 1905 | 16 | 2 | |
| 1906 | 13 | 3 | |
Lists
Overseas Born Players
Notes
It's not known which country he was born in. Also shown as J. Sowden.
He is incorrectly shown as playing in Round 10, 1900 when listed but played the following week when not shown so retains the same game tally.
Media
Argus - 24/09/1900
Advertiser - 30/07/1909
Links
Australian Football profile
Demonwiki image gallery
Wikipedia profile