During his playing career, McDowall played for Partick Thistle and St Mirren; he was top scorer for formative club Partick in 1983–84[1] when playing as a striker after replacing his friend Mo Johnston who had left the Jags for England a year earlier,[2] and after transferring to St Mirren soon afterwards (involving a £30,000 cash-plus-player deal involving Alan Logan)[3] he featured in the 1987 Scottish Cup Final as the Buddies defeated Dundee United 1–0.
[4] Later converting to a midfielder (and deputising in an emergency for injured goalkeeper Campbell Money),[5] he made a total of 291 appearances for St Mirren before retiring due to injury in 1993, and was rewarded with a testimonial in 1996[6] after twelve years service at the Paisley club, including the last three as coach and assistant manager.
[7] At the end of the 2010–11 season and with Smith's departure, McDowall went from being first team coach to assistant manager under McCoist.
After McCoist was placed on gardening leave on 21 December 2014, McDowall was given control of the first team until the end of the 2014–15 season.
This biographical article related to association football in Scotland, about a midfielder born in the 1960s, is a stub.