Marco Gabbiadini

Marco Gabbiadini (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmarko ɡabbjaˈdiːni]; born 20 January 1968) is an English former footballer whose career lasted 18 years from 1985 to 2003. He played for 12 different clubs, scoring a total of 226 league goals.

Marco Gabbiadini
Personal information
Full name Marco Gabbiadini[1]
Date of birth (1968-01-20) 20 January 1968[2]
Place of birth Nottingham,[2] England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[3]
Playing position(s) Striker
Youth career
Poppleton Juniors
1984–1985 York City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1985–1987 York City 60 (14)
1987–1991 Sunderland 157 (74)
1991–1992 Crystal Palace 15 (5)
1992–1997 Derby County 188 (50)
1996 → Birmingham City (loan) 2 (0)
1997 → Oxford United (loan) 5 (1)
1997 Panionios 11 (4)
1997–1998 Stoke City 8 (0)
1998 → York City (loan) 7 (1)
1998–2000 Darlington 82 (47)
2000–2003 Northampton Town 120 (25)
2003–2004 Hartlepool United 15 (5)
Total 670 (226)
National team
1989 England U21 2 (0)
1990 England B 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

York City

Gabbiadini was born to an English mother and an Italian father in Nottingham, and was educated at Nunthorpe Grammar School in York. He started his professional career at York City after being signed as an apprentice by Denis Smith at the age of 16 in 1982. His talent was spotted immediately and shortly afterwards he was quickly drafted into the England under-18 team in order to avoid being tied to playing for Italy, the birthplace of his father. By the time Gabbiadini was 17 he had made his York City debut in a 3−0 defeat to Bolton Wanderers. From then on he quickly established himself in the first team and went on to notch 18 goals in 50 starts and 21 sub appearances for the Minstermen. He also scored his first hat-trick at the age of 18 during York's 4−1 Freight Rover Trophy victory against Darlington.

Sunderland

However the departure of manager and mentor Denis Smith would see him leave York in order to follow Denis Smith to Sunderland for a transfer fee of £80,000 on 23 September 1987. Sunderland had been relegated to the Third Division and needed a goalscorer to help fire them back to the Second Division and Gabbiadini was seen by Smith as the perfect signing. Despite this Gabbiadini's signing was seen as risky, as in order to raise funds to sign him, Smith had to sell one of Sunderland's most popular players, midfielder Mark Proctor, to Sheffield Wednesday. Gabbiadini made his Sunderland debut in a 2−0 defeat to Chester City at Roker Park. His first goals for Sunderland would come only three days later in a 3−0 victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage as he scored twice, a feat he would match in the next two games. He would quickly establish himself as a key player and a crowd favourite for Sunderland by scoring on a regular basis, and is known in Wearside folklore as part of The G-Force thanks to the partnership he struck up with Eric Gates. In his first season at the club Gabbiadini scored 21 goals in 35 league appearances to help fire Sunderland to the Third Division championship.

Gabbiadini's second season at Sunderland was just as successful in the Second Division and he proved that he could score at a higher level. However his disciplinary record was brought to light as he received his first red card in an FA Cup replay defeat to Oxford United. Months later, Gabbiadini lashed out and assaulted an Ipswich Town player while celebrating a hat-trick. Despite missing 11 games through suspension Gabbiadini finished as Sunderland's top scorer, notching 18 goals in 36 league appearances as well as 5 in 8 cup matches. He also became Sunderland's first player to win the North East Player of the Year award, which was decided by football writers.

Gabbiadini's third season on Wearside would see his prowess in front of goal continue as his 22 goals in 49 league appearances helped clinch Sunderland's place back in the top flight. Highlights of that season included a hat-trick against Watford at Roker Park on 9 September 1989, and the goal that Gabbiadini is most fondly remembered for, the 2nd in a 2–0 win over Newcastle United at St James' Park on 16 May 1990, in the play-off semi-final clinching Sunderland's place in the Wembley final, although Swindon Town won the game 1−0 through a Gary Bennett own goal, Sunderland went on to claim their place in the First Division as Swindon were refused entry due to a series of financial irregularities by the Swindon Town board.

Gabbiadini found it more difficult in the First Division, with Gates having left and the partnership Gabbiadini created with new signing Peter Davenport struggled to live up to the glory days of The G-Force and he would struggle to score as regularly as previous seasons. He notched just 9 goals in 31 games, which at the time was his lowest total for any club season and Sunderland were relegated on the last day of the season.

He started the 1991-92 season still at Roker Park, and scored five goals in nine Second Division appearances, including a spectacular six-minute hat-trick against Charlton Athletic at Upton Park on 17 September 1991. Those goals would prove to be his last for the club. His final appearance in a red and white shirt would come four days later in a 2−1 defeat to Grimsby Town at Roker Park on 21 September 1991 in front of a crowd of 16,535. Only two days later Gabbiadini broke Wearside hearts by leaving the club.

In total Gabbiadini made 185 appearances for Sunderland scoring 87 times, an average of a goal every 2.13 games.

Crystal Palace

Shortly after the start of the 1991–92 season, Gabbiadini was sold to Crystal Palace for a club record transfer fee of £1.8 million. He was seen as a replacement for Ian Wright, who joined Arsenal for £2.5 million in September 1991.

Derby County

However, Gabbiadini failed to live up to expectation and he made just 25 starts and scored just seven goals before transferring to Derby County for £1 million four months later, which made Derby the third club that he had played for in the space of a season. In a bid to mount a serious promotion challenge, Derby County invested heavily in players around the period of Gabbiadini's arrival. Gabbiadini's first full season at the Baseball Ground, saw him featuring up-front alongside fellow million pound strikers Paul Kitson and Tommy Johnson, signings from Leicester City and Notts County, respectively. During Gabbiadini's first full season at Derby, he was named Derby's Player of the Year. He would become an established first team player for Derby up until the team got promoted to the Premiership.

In order to survive relegation Derby sought to bring in new players and Gabbiadini found his first team opportunities limited and he was also hampered by knee injuries. He played just 14 games for the Rams and saw himself being loaned out to Birmingham City and Oxford United. His loan spell at Birmingham was cut short after he suffered another injury.

Panionios

Gabbiadini then decided to move abroad and signed for Greek side Panionios on a one-year contract. He became unsettled and moved back to England.

Stoke City

He was then offered a contract at Stoke City on a monthly basis. Gabbiadini failed to impress for Stoke and scored just once in nine appearances and he was not offered a permanent contract.

Return to York City

This saw Gabbiadini return to York in order to resurrect his career. However while at York he only made seven appearances, scoring one goal. York manager, Alan Little, told the board that Gabbiadini was "past his best" and they decided not to offer him an extended contract.

Darlington

Gabbiadini then joined his eighth club Darlington, where he spent a further two-years of his career. Gabbiadini was an immediate success for Darlington and he went on to score more than 50 goals for the club. During his second season, Gabbiadini helped Darlington reach the play-offs. However, after the first semi-final leg against Hartlepool, Gabbiadini was assaulted by a fan. During that season he was also named as Sky Sports Division Three Player of the Season and he would later be named as Darlington's greatest ever player. Despite his success at Darlington, Gabbiadini decided to leave the club in order to play at a higher level with Northampton Town.

Northampton Town

During his first season at Northampton, Gabbiadini established himself in the first team and played in all of their league teams and scored a memorable goal against Cardiff City at Ninian Park where he managed to score from the halfway line. However, he only managed to score six league goals. During the next two seasons for Northampton, injuries stalled Gabbiadini's progress and he would find it more difficult to establish himself as a regular first team player. He also found himself often used as a midfield rather than as a striker. At the end of Gabbiadini's third season his contract was not renewed despite him scoring 14 goals and finishing as Northampton's top scorer. Gabbiadini participated in over 100 league and cup games for Northampton and scored over 30 goals.

Hartlepool United and retirement

Gabbiadini's availability alerted his former club, Darlington, who offered him a contract and even let him train with them. However, Gabbiadini decided to sign for archrivals Hartlepool United instead. Gabbiadini's signing was initially met with discontent as a Hartlepool fan had previously assaulted him and he was considered an enemy of the club. However, Gabbiadini won the fans over by scoring seven goals in 12 starts and six substitute appearances. His final two goals were in Hartlepool's 4−0 FA Cup victory over Whitby Town. Gabbiadini then suffered knee injuries and was advised by doctors not to continue playing and was then denied to play against his old club Sunderland in Hartlepool's FA Cup match. Gabbiadini announced his retirement in January 2004 after making over 750 appearances in all competitions.

International career

Gabbiadini represented England U21 in the 1989 Toulon Tournament, which was won by France, his first appearance came in a 3−2 loss against eventual finalists Bulgaria on 5 June 1989, his second coming in another loss, this time 2−0 to the USA team in the third place play-off game on 11 June 1989. Gabbiadini would go on to represent the England B squad. The game was played at Roker Park on 24 April 1990 against Czechoslovakia. England won the game 2−0.

Life after football

Since retiring, Gabbiadini has run a restored Victorian hotel in York with his family. The hotel won Guest House of the Year in the 1999 York Tourism Awards. Gabbiadini has also hinted that he would be interested in television work and was a Sky pundit for Hartlepool's play-off match against Bristol City in 2004.

Since August 2009, Gabbiadini has co-presented Total Sport on BBC Newcastle with Simon Pryde and John Anderson.

Career statistics

Source:[4]

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
York City 1984–85 Third Division 1000000010
1985–86 Third Division 224001020254
1986–87 Third Division 2990040233512
1987–88 Third Division 81002100102
Total 60140071437118
Sunderland 1987–88 Third Division 35212000213922
1988–89 Second Division 36182043224423
1989–90 Second Division 46211074415826
1990–91 First Division 3190032103511
1991–92 Second Division 9500000095
Total 15774501499418587
Crystal Palace 1991–92 First Division 155106131257
Derby County 1991–92 Second Division 206000021227
1992–93 First Division 4495242966219
1993–94 First Division 39131022414616
1994–95 First Division 32111032203813
1995–96 First Division 39111131004313
1996–97 Premier League 140101000160
Total 188509313717822768
Birmingham City (loan) 1996–97 First Division 2000000020
Oxford United (loan) 1996–97 First Division 5100000051
Panionios 1997–98 Alpha Ethniki 114000000114
Stoke City 1997–98 First Division 8011000091
York City 1997–98 Second Division 7100000070
Darlington 1998–99 Third Division 40233020114624
1999–2000 Third Division 42241121424928
Total 82474141539552
Northampton Town 2000–01 Second Division 446202110497
2001–02 Second Division 357221020409
2002–03 Second Division 41123110214714
Total 1202573415113630
Hartlepool United 2003–04 Second Division 155121010196
Career Total 670226281049204420791276

Honours
Sunderland

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References
  1. Hugman, Barry J. (2005). The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946–2005. Queen Anne Press. p. 225. ISBN 1-85291-665-6.
  2. "Marco Gabbiadini". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  3. Rollin, Glenda, ed. (1999). Playfair Football Annual 1999–2000. Headline. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-7472-5975-6.
  4. Marco Gabbiadini at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
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