Born on this day in 1968 in Nottingham is Marco Gabbiadini, one of the most highly regarded strikers in our recent history. Raised in York, Marco turned pro at Bootham Crescent in 1985, and became sort of familiar with North East football fans thanks to scoring goals for a relatively nearby club, and having an exotic name. When his York mentor Denis Smith took on the Sunderland job following our drop into division three in 1987, Marco followed a few months later for £80,000.
Following a 3-1 loss at Brighton which left us in tenth place, Marco made his debut at home to Chester – and we lost 2-0. Away at Fulham, though, a few days later, he started alongside Keith Bertschin and scored in the first and last minute to set his Roker career away. For the next game, Eric Gates was recalled, and the G Force was born. Marco scored twice in that game as well, and the next one, and for the next two seasons we were witness to one of the most potent partnerships in the club’s history as Marco’s strength and pace were perfectly augmented by Gatesy’s nous and vision. Gates told Marco that all he wanted to see was his backside disappearing towards the opposition goal, and that was the magic of their partnership. The pair grabbed forty league goals between them that campaign, and Marco another 21 the next season.
His temperament was at time called into question (the Latin influence, perhaps?), as he’d been sent off at Oxford in a cup defeat in early 1989 then repeated the sin a few months later by chinning an Ipswich player while celebrating a hat-trick that included two in the final two minutes. Earlier in the season his kid brother Ricardo, who’d joined us in 1988, had replaced Marco in a game at Leeds, meaning that the brothers had played in the same game without being on the field at the same time.
We might have called him Marco Goalo, but opposing clubs struggled a bit with his name, the most famous programme miss-spelling being Marvo Gabbiacline (Notts County, I think) but no matter, he frightened his opponents with his direct running and thighs Chris Hoy modelled himself on. In 1989-90, he played a ridiculous total of 58 games, grabbing 26 goals, the most famous of which came in the second leg of the playoff semi-final at Sid James Park – set up, inevitably, by the scorer of the game’s first goal, Eric Gates. With the club back in the top flight, Marco and his new partner, Peter Davenport, couldn’t click as he and Gates had. Marco managed nine goals, and we were back down, but he seemed rejuvenated for the 1991-92 campaign, and his six-minute hat-trick against Charlton in September was both spectacular and featured his last Sunderland goal. After one more appearance, we sold him to Palace for £1.8 million, much to the chagrin of the fans, and that was the end of the Gabbiadini legend at Sunderland.
He never really settled at Palace, and moved to Derby a few months later, his third club that season, and his 68 goals in 227 games mean that he’s still highly regarded in those parts. The end of his time at the Baseball Ground included loans at Birmingham and Oxford before he moved to Panianios in Greece in 1997. That lasted just eleven games before a brief spell at Stoke, a year at York, another at Darlington, and three at Northampton before his final nineteen games – at Hartlepool. In 1999 he bagged another Sunderland hat-trick when appearing as a guest in Jimmy McNab’s testimonial at the SoL – actually, it was for a Sunderland XI against Sunderland, but who’s counting? Marco hung up his boots in 2004 after nearly 800 games and 276 goals, and moved in to the hotel trade in York. He’s been a regular on Fans Forum on Radio Newcastle for years, and retains, quite justifiably, a big place in the hearts of our fans thanks to his 87 goals in 185 games.
