[5] Lowe arrived in San Sebastián at the end of 1930 to coach Real Sociedad, replacing coach Benito Díaz, who had had to emigrate to France; in the summer of 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was established, this club was forced to change its name to Donostia Club de Futbol.
[6][7] He brought to Sociedad the most advanced English tactics, and as a result, they finished in third place in the 1930–31 La Liga.
[6][9] On 24 March 1935, Sociedad, who was in penultimate place in the standings, traveled to Valencia for its away match against Valencia CF at the Mestalla Stadium, but they did not bring any substitutes to the away game for financial reasons, because in order to reduce expenses, it was common at the time for modest clubs to bring only the eleven players who were going to play.
[7][9][8] Lowe thus made his competitive debut in Spanish football that day, which was also the last match that he ever played,[10] and in doing so at the age of 48 years and 226 days, he became by far the oldest player to play a match in the Spanish top division,[9][8] a record that he still holds by a large margin, since the next closest are Joaquín and Diego López in 2023, and Ricardo in 2013, aged 41.
Lowe had not yet finished the season when he left for England for private matters, being replaced by Patricio Caicedo.