Rowe joined Stockport County after leaving the youth academy at Bolton Wanderers. He made his first team debut as a 60th-minute substitute for Paul Turnbull in a 1–0 defeat to Leeds United in a League One match at Elland Road on 11 April 2009. He made two further appearances in the 2008–09 season and played four games in the 2009–10 relegation campaign. On 11 November 2010, he joined Andy Preece's Northwich Victoria on loan, and made his debut for the "Vics" two days later in a 1–0 victory over F.C. United of Manchester at the Victoria Stadium. He made three appearances, including one in the FA Trophy, in which he scored his first goal in senior football. He returned to Edgeley Park, and after having struggled to establish himself under Gary Ablett, Paul Simpson or Peter Ward, managed to earn himself a run in the first team under Ray Mathias after impressing for the reserves in the Manchester Senior Cup. He played 21 games in the 2010–11 campaign as the "Hatters" were relegated out of League Two after finishing bottom of the Football League. He scored his first professional goal in County's 2–1 win over Southend United on 26 March 2011. He was only one of five of 16 out-of-contract players to be offered a new one-year deal by the club in May 2011. He ended the 2011–12 campaign with 28 appearances to his name as County finished 16th in the Conference Premier under the stewardship of Jim Gannon.
Non-league
Rowe signed for David Bayliss's Barrow in July 2012. He scored five goals in 38 appearances in the 2012–13 season as the "Bluebirds" were relegated out of the Conference Premier. Rowe joined Macclesfield Town after impressing on trial in the 2013 pre-season. On 26 October, he scored a hat-trick in a 7–0 win over Vauxhall Motors in an FA Cup Fourth Round Qualifying tie at Moss Rose. Macclesfield finished the 2013–14 season in 15th-place, with Rowe totalling 33 league and cup appearances. Having taken some time out of the game, Rowe rejoined Macclesfield Town five months later. He made ten appearances in the second half of the 2014–15 season as Macclesfield narrowly missed out on a place in the play-offs. He signed a new contract with the "Silkmen" in June 2015. He became a key player in the 2015–16 campaign, scoring five goals from 47 games. In January 2017, he was reported to be closely monitored by Derby County, Walsall, Port Vale and Barnet.
On 2 January 2018, Rowe joined League Two side Lincoln City on loan for the remainder of the 2017–18 season. He made 16 appearances in all competitions during his loan spell at Lincoln, scoring twice. On 17 January 2019, Rowe once again joined Lincoln City on loan for the remainder of the 2018–19 season. Rowe again impressed during his second loan spell at Sincil Bank, scoring 4 goals in 17 appearances as Lincoln won the League Two title and promotion to League One.
Return to Ipswich
Following the club's relegation to League One, Rowe returned to the club after a successful loan spell away at Lincoln, and became a regular player for the side during the first few months of the 2019–20 season, making 14 appearances and netting his first goal for the club on 5 November 2019, the winner in a 0–1 away win over Rochdale. However, this run was cut short after he sustained a knee injury in December, which put him out for more than five months. With football suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and with his contract expiring, on 18 May 2020 the club announced they had decided against taking up the 12 month extension in his contract - though the club left the door open for a new deal to be potentially agreed once football had resumed.
Style of play
Speaking in April 2016, Macclesfield Town manager John Askey said that Rowe was "brave, strong, quick, good on the ball and has a good shot on him".
