On this day, Bobby Gurney made his Sunderland debut against West Ham United. The Silksworth born centre forward signed for Sunderland professionally in 1925 and would remain at the club for 22 years, including the war period.
Gurney first signed for Sunderland in 1924 as a youth player from Bishop Auckland after catching the eye of another Sunderland legend of the day, Charlie Buchan. Local lad Bobby would establish himself in the Sunderland professional squad towards the back end of the 1920s, playing all three of the forward positions, although his natural place was in the centre. As the Sunderland team of the 1930s begun to take shape, Gurney became the centre forward with Raich Carter and Patsy Gallacher becoming the inside men. He made his Sunderland debut on the 3rd of April 1926 against West Ham United, he scored once in a 3-2 defeat.
Gurney is Sunderland's all time top scorers but it could have been so different, he broke both of his legs over the course of his career, one as a 19 year old amateur whilst at Wokingham and the other towards the twilight of his career, nevertheless, it didn't seem to affect his ability to find the back of the opposition net!
Gurney claimed the accolade of top scorer for seven consecutive seasons during the 1930s which saw a First Division title and an FA Cup win in 1937, he notched 228 goals in 388 league and FA Cup games for the Lads. He was joint top scorer with Carter as Sunderland lifted the First Division in 1936 and would score a last gasp equaliser against Wolves in the 1937 FA Cup run before scoring Sunderland's first ever goal at Wembley against Preston North End in the 1937 FA Cup final. He is our all-time record goalscorer, with an astonishing 228!
Gurney’s final game in red and white was in the League War Cup against Hartlepool at Roker Park. It wasn’t a serious game, and Sunderland’s team was mostly made up of guest players from other clubs. This meant that his last game’s attendance was low and took place in an unimportant match.
Perhaps the greatest injustice is that Bobby Gurney only ever won one England senior cap, although he did represent his country unofficially in a few friendlies against Scotland in the mid 1930s.
Bobby sadly passed away in April 1994, aged 86. He will live on forever in Sunderland’s history books, and remains one of Sunderland’s greatest ever players.
