Jason Bowen

Born and raised in Merthyr Tydfil, Bowen began his career at Swansea City, making his debut in the 1990–91 season under manager Terry Yorath, having signed professional forms in July 1990. In his five seasons at The Vetch he played 124 league games, scoring 26 goals, mostly under the management of Frank Burrows and captaincy of John Cornforth and helped the club to victory in the 1994 Football League Trophy final, defeating Huddersfield Town on penalties. He also finished as the club's top goalscorer during the 1993–94 season, scoring 17 times in all competitions. Whilst at Swansea, he progressed from the Welsh schools and youth set-ups through to the full international squad, earning his first full cap from Mike Smith in a 2–1 win in Estonia in May 1994. In July 1995, he then moved to Birmingham City for a fee of £350,000, where he remained for a further three years. He won his second Welsh cap in a 7–1 defeat in the Netherlands in 1996. He had a spell on loan at Southampton in September 1997 under manager Dave Jones, and made three appearances in the Premiership. It seemed that the move would be made permanent but the clubs were unable to agree a fee, so Bowen returned to Birmingham. He then moved to Reading in December 1997 for a fee of £200,000, but he and four other players, including Welsh international teammate Andy Legg, fell out with manager Tommy Burns. The group were dubbed the "gang of five" and were forced to train away from the rest of the first team with the…

Bowen has three sons, including footballer Sam. Jaye played for the Cardiff City under-18 squad before being released, while Sam was previously with the first-team side and made his debut in 2021. On 9 February 2023, it was announced that Bowen has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

Swansea City

Football League Trophy: 1993–94 Cardiff City

Football League Second Division play-offs: 2003 Football League Third Division promotion: 1998–99, 2000–01 FAW Premier Cup: 2002