OTD: GARY ROWELL BORN
- BY HOLDEN CAULFIELD
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
On this day in 1957, former Sunderland forward Gary Rowell was born in Seaham. He made just shy of 300 appearances for the club between 1975 and 1984, scoring over 100 times.
Rowell made his debut in the 1975/76 season, aged just 18, and his first goal came in a 4-1 win at Hull City in April 1976 with a low shot from the edge of the area. However, it took him a good six to nine months to nail down a spot in the first team, as he was in the same position as captain Tony Towers and Gary was seen as Tony’s understudy. A boyhood Sunderland fan, Gary had gone to the 1973 FA Cup final with his mates and watched the likes of Bobby Kerr and Jim Montgomery lift the trophy. They were still at the club when Rowell broke into the first team, which must have been an amazing experience. Ian Porterfield actually scored the winner on Rowell’s debut, too.
The Lads won the Second Division title in his first season in the first team and Rowell showed great potential, being tipped to go right to the top. He was selected for the England under-21 tour of Scandinavia in 1977. Rowell really blossomed in 1977/78, scoring an impressive 18 league goals in 39 appearances. The following season he did even better, finding the net 21 times in just 31 games. It was in this season where Rowell became known as the mag-slayer, scoring a hat trick and getting one assist in our 4-1 win at St James’ Park. He famously had a conversation with fellow youngster Kevin Arnott, debating whether to go for a fifth goal, or just take the piss. In Gary’s words, “we decided to take the piss.”
However, disaster struck just a month later as Rowell suffered a medial ligament injury which ended his season. Ultimately, it would hamper his career until his retirement. In the 1979/80 season, his appearances were restricted to just eight starts and a handful of substitute appearances, although the team didn’t seem to suffer, as they won promotion to the top flight. Gary was a regular in the next four First Division seasons, scoring another memorable hat trick against Arsenal in 1982. An effective and clinical goal scorer, Rowell’s 103 goals in red and white surpassed Len Shackleton as Sunderland’s top post-World War Two scorer.
Rowell spent over a decade on Wearside (first joining as an apprentice in 1972), and became one of Sunderland’s most popular players post-war. He had finished as the club’s top scorer in six separate seasons but was sent to Norwich City by new Sunderland gaffer Len Ashurst in 1984. He was trying to put his stamp on the team by implementing a complete overhaul, a fatal mistake which led to the side being relegated from the First Division before being relegated again to the Third Division soon after. Gary was already at Norwich by then though but couldn’t replicate his goalscoring exploits in East Anglia. He suffered massively with injuries, starting just twice and making four substitute appearances in the league.
Ironically, the year after he departed, Rowell's new club would face his old team Sunderland in the 1985 League Cup final, although he didn’t play due to injury as the Canaries lifted the cup, beating the Lads 1-0 due to an own goal. Still a Sunderland boy at heart, Gary came over to salute the Sunderland fans after the final whistle in an enormously emotional game. Of his subsequent moves, 10 goals in 27 league appearances for Middlesbrough was his best goal return since leaving Sunderland, also playing for Brighton and Hove Albion, Dundee (loan), Carlisle United and Burnley. He retired in 1990 and ALS voted him as our best player of the 1980s. In the following decades we would still sing his name on the terraces.
Everyone involved with SAFC was saddened to hear of Gary's death on 13th December 2025 at the age of 68, in Burnley, after a battle with leukaemia. The day he passed away was 50 years to the day he made his Sunderland debut. His death was followed by countless heartwarming tributes, including a mural by artist Frank Styles on the side of a local building. Rowell's death actually came the day before Sunderland played Newcastle United at the Stadium of Light. Ahead of the match an image of Rowell was displayed on the big screens and a minute's applause took place with both sets of fans joining in. It was somewhat poetic that the Lads went on to defeat Newcastle that day, with Nick Woltemade becoming our new (unintentional) Mag Slayer.
Number one is Gary Rowell...
