Joseph Edward Sowerbutts (25 November 1863 - 26 February 1935) was an English footballer who won three FA Cup winners' medals when playing for Blackburn Rovers in the 1880s.
He played with Rovers as a reserve player before his promotion to the first team in 1883, making his debut in the 1883–84 FA Cup first round against Southport as a replacement at centre-forward for Jimmy Brown; Sowerbutts scored one of the goals in a 7–0 romp.
[1] Brown returned for the second round against South Shore but Sowerbutts kept his place at the expense of Tot Strachan, and rewarded the Rovers' selectors by scoring twice, in another seven-goal win.
[2] Strachan returned to the side for the quarter- and semi-final, but Sowerbutts was back in his place[3] for the cup final, played at the Kennington Oval on 29 March, against Queen's Park.
[8] Although he played further matches during the 1886–87 season for Rovers,[9] he appears to have stepped back from the front rank of football as a result of the advent of professionalism, turning out for the lower-key Church in 1887–88.