He was a member of that club's 1954 and 1956 NTFA premiership teams and in 1957 won City's best and fairest award.

Howell made his VFL debut with the St Kilda Football Club in 1958 after being signed from Tasmania in 1953.

[2] After his retirement as a player, Howell was appointed Assistant Coach to Tom Hafey at Richmond for three years, taking the reserve team to two grand finals – winning one.

Afterwards he transferred to Western Australia, coaching Claremont for three years and taking them to one losing Grand Final.

Howell then returned to Tasmania for a stint in administration with the Northern Tasmanian Football Association (NTFA in the mid 1970s).