McDowall was the longest serving manager in Manchester City's history, his tenure spanning 13 years.
He briefly moved to Wrexham's Racecourse Ground to take up the managerial post before being brought back to Maine Road in 1950 and installed as manager.
Solid if unspectacular progress was made in the early 1950s, with some notable results along the way; the most significant being a handful of derby victories against Manchester United.
McDowall was an innovator, undoubtedly ahead of his time, inspired by the great Hungarian side of the era he pioneered the use of wing backs and the deployment of a forward playing between the strikers and midfield.
McDowall's tactical brainstorming and tinkering, which had generally been met with scorn and derision from the majority of fans at Maine Road, eventually bore fruit and the club was rewarded with consecutive appearances in the FA Cup finals of 1955 (lost 1–3 to Newcastle United) and 1956, winning the latter against Birmingham City 3–1.