Career
During his playing career he played for Partick Thistle and Street Mirren and featured in the 1987 Scottish Cup final as Street Mirren defeated Dundee United 1–0. He made a total of 291 appearances for Street Mirren and was rewarded with a testimonial in 1996 after twelve years service at the club After his playing career, he went into coaching and was appointed youth and reserve coach at Celtic in 1997.
At the end of the 2010-2011 season and with Smith"s departure, McDowall went from being first team coach at Rangers, to assistant manager to 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 2014-2015 season. His first game in charge of Rangers was a 4–0 defeat against Hibernian at Easter Road.
On 19 January, McDowall stated his intention to resign. Rangers said that he would work a 12-month notice period before leaving the club
McDowall left Rangers in March 2015, soon after a new board of directors had taken control.