Keith Lowe

Keith Stephen Lowe (born 13 September 1985) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre back.

He made over 634 league and cup appearances in a 19-year playing career.

Manager Dave Jones handed him his first-team debut on 23 August 2004, in a 4–2 win at Rochdale in the League Cup.

He signed his first professional contract of three-and-a-half-years in November 2004, however, he was unable to claim a regular first-team place at Molineux and was first loaned out to Burnley at the start of the 2005–06 season.

At Burnley he scored his first goal in professional football in a 3–0 League Cup win over Barnsley at Turf Moor on 20 September.

A Wolverhampton Wanderers academy graduate, between 2005 and 2008 he was loaned out seven times: Burnley, Queens Park Rangers, Swansea City, Brighton & Hove Albion, Cheltenham Town (twice) and Port Vale.

Following his return in December 2005, he joined Queens Park Rangers on a one-month loan in February 2006, After playing just one QPR match, he had rather more success at Swansea City in March 2006, playing six matches in all, and winning the Football League Trophy.

Lowe played all ninety minutes of the 2006 Football League Trophy final, as Swansea beat Carlisle United 2–1.

He started the 2006–07 campaign on loan at Brighton & Hove Albion, without making an appearance for the first team.

Manager Mark McGhee had Adam Hinshelwood and Guy Butters out injured, whilst Joel Lynch was a doubt, and admitted that he was short of cover on the bench before Georges Santos was signed and said after Lowe arrived that "we don't think for a minute that we are signing Rio Ferdinand".

A two-month loan spell with Cheltenham Town started in September 2006, they appreciated him so much that he was invited back to spend the 2007 end of the season with them.

Lowe spent the whole of 2007–08 with Port Vale and made 31 appearances as the club suffered relegation out of League One in 23rd place.

He then dropped out of the Football League to spend the 2008–09 season as a Kidderminster Harriers player.

In May 2008, Lowe was released by his parent club.

He subsequently signed for Conference Premier club Kidderminster Harriers and played 52 matches in 2008–09 before being released due to budgetary concerns.

In May 2009, he signed with League Two club Hereford United, but was released at the end of 2009–10 after making 25 appearances.

His only goal for the "Bulls" came in a 2–1 win over Darlington at Edgar Street on 31 October.

He then spent a season with Hereford United, before signing with Cheltenham Town in 2010.

His consistency endeared him to the Cheltenham fans who named him as their Player of the Year for 2010–11.

He was voted Cheltenham's Player of the Year in 2011.

Lowe joined Cheltenham Town permanently in June 2010, becoming the club's first choice right back before his season was prematurely ended by an ankle injury in the home defeat to Gillingham on 27 March 2011.

He made 31 league appearances in 2011–12 to help Mark Yates' team book a place in the League Two play-off places.

He was an unused substitute in the final at Wembley Stadium, as Cheltenham lost 2–0 to Crewe Alexandra.

An appearance clause in his contract also ensured he would remain at the club until summer 2012.

On 27 October 2012, he scored two goals in a 3–0 win over Exeter City at Whaddon Road to earn himself a place on the League Two team of the week.

He joined League Two club York City, initially on loan, in November 2013.

On 21 November 2013, Lowe joined Cheltenham's League Two rivals York City on a loan until January 2014, with a view to a permanent transfer.

The Press voted him 'Press Player of the Year' in 2013–14.

He made his debut two days later in a 2–1 defeat away to Southend United, and made nine appearances for York before signing permanently on 7 January 2014 on a two-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee.

Lowe played in 49 of York's 50 matches in 2014–15, missing just the one League Cup match.

On 23 August, he scored in a 1–1 draw at Exeter City and was named in the Football League team of the week.

He won a place on the team of the week for a second time after scoring a brace in a 3–1 victory at Hartlepool United on 22 November.

He was once again included after scoring the only goal of the game against Accrington Stanley on Boxing Day.

He was voted by York supporters as the club's Clubman of the Year for 2014–15.

In January 2016, he rejoined Kidderminster Harriers, before moving on to Macclesfield Town in June 2017.

He helped Macclesfield to win promotion as champions of the National League at the end of the 2017–18 season.

He started the 2019–20 season at Nuneaton Borough, before moving on to Bradford (Park Avenue) in September 2019.

He returned to Kidderminster Harriers again in January 2020.

In summer 2022, Lowe announced he would be moving to part-time football in order to facilitate a career in teaching, and subsequently played for Rushall Olympic and Hednesford Town.

Born in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, Lowe was a product of Wolverhampton Wanderers' academy.